Yeovil Town were dumped out of the FA Cup by a late winner at lower league Chesham United on Saturday.
With the game seemingly drifting towards a replay at Huish Park, Jack Cawley’s header at the back post from a late corner gifted the National League South side a win and a place in the competition’s first round.
Here was how Dave saw it from the away end in Buckinghamshire…..
First half
A booking for loan striker Ciaran McGuckin was the only action of the opening 20 minutes with neither side able to do much more than try to thread a pass through a defence.
Then on 20 minutes, efforts from first Jordan Young, then Ciaran McGuckin and Brett McGavin were blocked before the ball went out for a corner. From the resulting flag-kick a Frank Nouble effort came back off the post and away from danger.
Five minutes later, McGuckin challenged with Chesham keeper Ben Goode on the edge of the area, the gloveman spilt the ball but his effort was blocked by one of the defenders back.
Without question the best chance of the half so far fell to the home side on 36 minutes. A misplaced pass in midfield saw them break away and Joe Grant’s effort forced a fine stop out of Ollie Wright.
The first half came to an end with the distinct feeling that you could have had an extra 45 minutes in bed instead. Not much of a Cup tie yet.
Half time: Chesham United 0 Yeovil Town 0
Second half
The second half started with a bit more impetus from the visitors with a good bit of quick passing leading to the ball breaking to Josh Sims inside the box with 48 minutes gone. His snap shot was well saved by Goode and two minutes later McGavin’s effort went just over the bar after being set up by McGuckin.
That same combination linked up nicely on 56 minutes to earn a corner from which McGavin had an effort over and then on the hour mark Young tried to jink in to the box but could not pull the trigger.
With 20 minutes remaining, Young, who everyone had been screaming at to ‘have a go’ rather than take another touch, unleashed one which cleared the crossbar….and the covered terrace behind the goal.
On 74 minutes, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Sam Pearson replaced Josh Sims and Ciaran McGuckin.
Five minutes later, Nouble got away and fired in a shot which pinballed around inside the Chesham area but there was no-one there to turn it home.
Three minutes from time, Young was on the wrong end of a crunching tackle in the middle of the pitch. He was replaced by Harvey Greenslade.
As the game ticked in to injury time, there was another bit of pinball inside the box with Lo-Everton among those with having an opportunity to shoot.
If like me you were at the opposite end of the ground to see what happened for the winner, the Chesham United tweet, below, will tell you what you need to know. A corner to the back post saw Jack CAWLEY out jump Araoye at the far post to head a famous winner.
THE MOMENT that Jack Cawley's back post header gave us a spot in the @EmiratesFACup 1st Round
Your Generals are waiting for the big boys, bring them on 💜💙 https://t.co/lHNZtyYEqI pic.twitter.com/wwdjzSkvSq
— Chesham United FC (@cheshamutdfc) October 12, 2024
If you play with the lack of tempo and urgency we had for the majority of the game, the risk of getting hit by a sucker punch is huge. That is exactly what happened and we honestly have no-one to blame but ourselves.
Full time: Chesham United 1 Yeovil Town 0
Match Details
Venue: The Meadow
Date: Saturday 12th October – 15:00 Kick Off
Competition: FA Cup, 4th Qualifying Round
Scorers: Jack Cawley 90+3
Pitch: In surprisingly good nick considering it had been played on Tuesday
Conditions: After a pre-match cloud burst, a glorious autumn afternoon broke out
Attendance: 1,321 (approx 250 away supporters)
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Ciaran McGuckin 7
Chesham United: Jack Connors 52
Referee: Scott Tallis
Yeovil Town (4-2-3-1)
Substitutes: Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (for Josh Sims, 74), Sam Pearson (for Ciaran McGuckin, 74), Fin Cousin-Dawson (not used), Matt Worthington (not used), Matt Gould (not used).
Chesham United: Ben Goode, Lewis Rolfe, Alex Lafleur (for Bradley Clayton, 81), Jack Cowley, Connor Stevens, T’Sharne Gallimore, Nathan Minhas (for Eoin Casey, 90+5), Mitchell Weiss (for Samson, Easan, 81), Jack Connors (for Ashley Lodge, 69), Joe Grant (for Omar Rowe, 69), Callum Adebiyi.
Substitutes (not used): Steve Brown, Avan Jones.
Shocking. Still sticking with cooper though
Great win for the chess expected to get smashed