Yeovil Town gained revenge for their Carling Cup exit, with a penalty shootout victory over Hereford United. The initial 90 minutes saw an equal game, with neither side failing to break the deadlock before both Trevor Benjamin and Dean Beckwith were unsuccessful from the spot, leaving Yeovil to win 4-2 on penalties.
Full debuts were handed to Michael Ingham, John McCombe and Simon Johnson for United, with Luke Webb and Trevor Benjamin also handed starts. Included in the Yeovil line up were experienced striker Marcus Stewart, and former Wycombe star Kevin Betsy, on loan from Bristol City. The first chance of the evening fell to Beckwith, when he rose to meet a Clint Easton corner, but the defender's effort was well off target. A weak Lloyd Owusu shot gave Ingham a chance to warm his hands, whilst a long Anthony Barry shot went over.
A neat turn and strike from Easton was well held by Romain Larrieu. Owusu again threatened, but had little end product, despite showing good strength on a number of occasions. Toumani Diagouraga, impressive once again in the centre of the park, set up Kris Taylor to powerfully strike from long range, but Larrieu was again equal to the danger. At the other end, Barry tried his luck from a similar range to Taylor, with Ingham forced to scramble the ball past the post. Minutes later, Matty Rose also tried his luck, but it led to a comfortable save for Ingham. The best chance of the half fell to Trevor Benjamin, and the recently awarded player of the month should have done better. Good work from the lively Johnson, and a neat through ball saw Benjamin in on goal from the angle, but he took the shot early, and it flashed wide. Just before the interval, Owusu failed to hit the target with a free-header from a Barry corner.
Easton nearly broke the deadlock early in the second half, with a fine curling free-kick, which Larrieu failed to get near, but the ball landed the wrong side of the post. Yeovil put on the pressure as stages, and good work from Owusu saw Betsy cross from the right hand side with power, and with Paul Warne waiting, Ingham dived to make a good catch. Just after, Owusu turned on the edge of the area and shot, but Ingham held the ball. Simon Gillett replaced Warne, and nearly scored with his first touch after a mistake from Diagouraga. A short back-pass from the Frenchman allowed Owusu in, but Ingham reacted quickly to make a tackle. The ball though fell to Gillett, who struck from 20 yards. The last means of defence was McCombe, who made a fine block to stop the away side from taking the lead.
A long ball into the Yeovil box saw Easton flash a volley past the post, before Ben Smith and Theo Robinson were introduced to liven the game up, taking the places of Richard Rose and Easton. Half chances fell to both Webb and Robinson, but neither caught the ball sweetly, and neither chance threatened Larrieu's goal. Sam Gwynne made a short appearence, replacing Diagouraga, whilst Craig Alcock and Richie Jones were bought on for Yeovil, with Nathan Jones and Matty Rose making way. A powerful drive from Gillett went past the post, as the game petered out, and penalties were to be the decider.
Stewart went first, and scored with ease. The first two Hereford penalties were to be missed however. Benjamin saw his spot-kick saved, before Beckwith placed his strike wide. In the middle of these two, Barry tucked away to make it 2-0 to Yeovil. Owusu then made it three, and Yeovil looked comfortable. Robinson though scored, and there was hope for Hereford, when Betsy struck weakly against the post. Webb added another for Hereford, but the chances were ended when Jones placed the deciding penalty in the top corner, and out of reach of Ingham.
The penalty defeat, in front of 1859, with 125 from Yeovil, spells the end of the Johnstone Paint campaign, after just one game. Although it would have been nice to have progressed, few will be worried about the defeat. The Bulls return to League Two action on Friday, with an exciting game in prospect at Chester City. Tonight's game saw fringe players like Ingham, McCombe and Johnson stake their claims for a starting berth, and all three will be pushing for a start in the next few weeks.
Hereford: Ingham, McClenahan, Rose, McCombe, Beckwith, Webb, Easton, Diagouraga, Taylor, Benjamin, Johnson.
Subs: Brown, Gwynne, Smith, Palmer, Robinson.
Yeovil: Larrieu, Lynch, Jones, Guyett, Forbes, Betsy, Warne, Barry, Rose, Stewart, Owusu.
Subs: Jones, Alcock, Gillett, Domeraid, Hughes.