7th November 2020

Yeovil Town enjoyed another thrilling afternoon in the Emirates FA Cup, with a last-minute winner against Bromley FC.

Gabby Rogers netted his first professional goal with the last kick of extra time to secure passage to the second round for the Glovers.

In what was a valiant performance, Yeovil thoroughly deserved their victory after a strong attacking showing.

There was a debut for Town in the backline as Lincoln City loanee Alex Bradley started at right back. Luke Wilkinson, Morgan Williams and Carl Dickinson also began at the back for Town, with Adam Smith manning the sticks behind them.

Darren Sarll opted for a midfield four, as Charlie Lee, Lawson D’Ath, Albi Skendi and Matt Warburton began in the engine room.

There was a return to a striking parentship as Rhys Murphy returned to the eleven, starting alongside Joe Quigley.

A.Smith was called into action early on as Michael Cheek’s header tested the Northampton loanee, despite being in an offside position, A.Smith was none the wiser, producing a superb stop to deny the Bromley number nine.

As the half grew on, so did Yeovil’s confidence, knocking the ball about the Bromley half with real impetus.

This forward-thinking attitude did lead to chances, the first falling to the towering Quigley who hammered the ball into Mark Cousins palms.

Bromley’s backline largely did well to marshal the Glovers from open play, but some individual brilliance from Murphy almost claimed the lead. Flicking the ball over one defender and knocking it past another, Murphy fired his effort over the bar.

Set-pieces proved a valuable weapon in the Yeovil arsenal. Dickinson’s floated ball found Lee’s trademark back-post run, but heroic defending from the hosts denied Lee’s leap.

With the chances his side had, Sarll would have felt disappointed to be level at the break, but he has a simple half-time team talk, more of the same.

The same was what he got too, with Yeovil going agonisingly close again on 48 minutes. With the ball falling nicely onto his chest, Warburton fired from around 25-yards on the half volley, beating Cousins but denied by the upright.

With Bromley second best throughout, their afternoon got a lot more difficult as Harry Forster was sent off for a needless heavy challenge on Luke Wilkinson on 68 minutes.

Strangely, following the red card, Bromley enjoyed their best spell, with a succession of chances for the talisman Cheek. The first fell following a corner with the ball falling kindly just 12-yards out but the ex-Ebbsfleet man fired over.

As both sides pushing to avoid extra time, Yeovil were caught with bodies forward and Cheek pounced, dribbling beyond Williams but fluffing his lines once again, spurning the best chance of the game.

Efforts from distance became the norm in stoppage time, with Wilkinson and Warburton both trying their luck to no avail.

Extra time saw the hosts grow into the game, with Cheek’s best chance falling just moments into the final thirty. Rounding A.Smith, the forward looked like he’d finally opened his account but a last-ditch block from Williams kept the Gloves alive.

As legs began to tire, the game started to get bogged down by set pieces, but ultimately it was a set piece that separated the sides. Following a corner where Town threw all their bodies forward, the ball fell to the 19-year old Rogers who fired on the volley to score his first senior goal and win it at the death.

 

 

 

Yeovil Town: A.Smith; Bradley, Wilkinson, Williams, Dickinson; Lee, D’Ath (Rogers), Skendi, Warbuton (J.Smith); Murphy, Quigley

Bookings: Quigley, Williams

Subs not used: Palmer, Clarke, Burke,

 

Bromley: Cousins, Kizzi, Bush, Roberts, Kyprianou, Trotter, Raymond, Williamson, Hackett, Forster, Cheek.

 

Subs: Najia, Bingham, Holland, Alabi, Purrington, Arthurs, L’Ghoul.