Yeovil Town’s FA Cup journey ended with a dramatic seven-goal thriller at League Two side Chesterfield in the First Round Proper on Saturday.

The Glovers went ahead when Slavi Spasov scored a 39th minute penalty, before the home side grabbed two goals through Jack Simpson and Josh Koromba in as many minutes to lead 2-1 at the interval.

When Simpson got his second ten minutes after the restart, the tie looked to be out of Yeovil’s reach, but they showed amazing spirit to pull one back through James Daly after 78 minutes and four minutes later Hayden Muller headed his first goal for the club to level the tie.

Then, with the game seemingly heading for extra time, Chesterfield substitute Joel Randall grabbed a winner to break the hearts of the travelling supporters.

First half

The opening ten minutes definitely saw the home side dominating the attacks moments with full back Remeao Hutton, who was weirdly booed by some of the away support, a threat down the right wing. But perhaps  bigger threat was the assistant referee on that same side who struggled to keep up with the play when Lee Bonnis pulled the best effort of the opening exchanges wide after ten minutes.

Yeovil were indebted to goalkeeper Jos Barker on 18 minutes when he reacted quickly to get down to a header from the hosts’ Louie Marsh, with Chesterfield clearly targeting Yeovil down the right side where James Daly and Mason Obeng were forming an unfamiliar partnership.
Going forward, there was very little from Yeovil with striker Slavi Spasov about the only target in an attacking position and not a lot to support him. Meanwhile, Chesterfield full back Lewis Gordon pulled an effort wide on 24 minutes and then nine minutes later Barker did superbly to deny another effort from Marsh. There was a worrying moment when the young keeper went down with an injury requiring treatment, but was fit to carry on.
There had been very little going forward from the visitors until the 38th minute when Johl Powell broke forward from the right side and was brought down in the box by Spireites’ captain Jack Simpson and referee Scott Oldham pointed to the penalty spot. Slavi SPASOV stepped up to smash the spot kick high in to the net and the Glovers were ahead with their first effort on goal.
But four minutes later, the home side were level as Jack SIMPSON made amends for his defensive error when he rose relatively unchallenged in the box to head home from inside the box. Then as the game crept in to injury time, the home side pulled level through a familiar sight as Hutton got far too much time and space down the right and whipped a dangerous ball in and Josh KOROMA was there to tap it home.
From being a goal to the good, the Glovers found themselves going in to the second half behind and, given the superior possession of their opponents, that was probably not an unfair reflection of the opening 45 minutes.

Half-time: Chesterfield 2 Yeovil Town 1

Second half

The second half started in a similar fashion to the first with the home side exerting all the pressure. Bonis putting one over the bar from a superb free-kick from Liam Mandeville, but with ten minutes of the second half gone Chesterfield added to their lead. It was a great bit of skill from Kiano Dyer to dribble his way to the edge of the box before picking out out Jack SIMPSON to stroke home his second of the match.

With an hour gone, Yeovil boss Billy Rowley decided a change was needed and made three of them. Striker Ste Walker, winger Charlie Lennon and defender Seb Naylor, on loan from Bristol City, replacing Spasov, Obeng and Westbrooke.

It was a picturesque view of the SMH Group Stadium from the away end in the second half.

The substitutions seemed to enliven the visitors as Yeovil threw caution to the wind more than they had been up until that point. With 15 minutes remaining, Owen Dean replaced Ryan Jones and three minutes later a ball into the box from one of the new arrivals Lennon found James DALY who controlled it and then fired in to the net to spark the tie back in to life.

The away end of 514 travelling fans, who had been in superb voice all afternoon, upped the decibel levels further and four minutes later they were rewarded when Hayden MULLER rose at the back post to head home a cross from Ste Walker.

Suddenly the prospect of extra time and maybe even penalties seemed real, but with a minute of normal time remaining Chesterfield substitute Joel RANDALL was inside the area to turn home the winner.

Seb Naylor came within a whisker of finding another equaliser when his shot clipped the top of the crossbar. At the final whistle, every man, woman and child in the away end stayed to applaud the efforts of the Glovers who once again showed they are a group with amazing spirit.

Full time: Chesterfield 4 Yeovil Town 3

Match Details

Venue: SMH Group Stadium
Date: Saturday, 7th November, 2026, 3pm kick-off

Competition: FA Cup 1st Round Proper

Scorers: Slavi Spasov pen 39 (1-0), Jack Simpson 43 (1-1), Josh Koroma 45 (1-2), Jack Simpson 55 (1-3), James Daly 78 (2-3), Hayden Muller 82 (3-3), Joel Randall 89 (3-4).

Conditions: Cool but dry
Pitch: Green

Attendance: 4,010 (514 away supporters)

Bookings:
Yeovil Town: None
Chesterfield: None

Referee: Scott Oldham

Yeovil Town


Substitutes: Seb Naylor (for Zain Westbrooke, 60), Charlie Lennon (for Mason Obeng, 60), Ste Walker (for Slavi Spasov, 60), Owen Dean (for Ryan Jones, 75), Liam Nardiello (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

Chesterfield: Zac Hemming, Remeao Hutton, Alfie Pond, Jack Simpson, Lewis Gordon, Kiano Dyer (for George McEachran, 83), Ryan Stirk, Liam Mandeville (for Dilan Markanday, 69), Louie Marsh (for Joel Randall, 70), Josh Koroma (for Dylan Duffy, 76), Lee Bonis (for Fraser Bryden, 76).

Substitutes (not used): Ryan Boot, Junior Eccleston, Tom Pearce, Tom Naylor

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