After getting the better of a team one division above us, can Boro’ keep their FA Cup run on track at a team one division below? Well, there are two things that worry us in this Round Two tie. The first is that we’re off to a ground where our record isn’t all that great. We’ve failed to win three of our past cup ties at Huish Park – including a match at this stage of the competition in 2015. More on that shortly. The second worry is that Yeovil Town have some ex-Boro’ names who might well be after some sort of point-scoring demonstration. It doesn’t sit well with us.
Mind you, they are faffing around in mid-table in the National League. So, you never know…
Yeovil Town v Stevenage
Huish Park, Yeovil — 04 December 2021 — FA Cup R2
So, what back story are the Beeb cameras tapping into when they get to Huish Park? For Yeovil, this is the first time they’ve welcomed us for more than three years; the Glovers winning 2-0 on 25 August 2018 to enjoy a bit of early-season joy before plunging out of the Football League. A 1-0 Boro’ win at the Lamex on 02 February 2019 may have contributed to that. But we’re quite content with that. It’s not like they didn’t have their days in the sun many times before that.
First stepping out in the early days
Our paths first crossed after we were promoted to the GM Vauxhall Conference in 1994. And we had a very enjoyable first encounter too, we might add; smashing the Glovers by five goals just before Christmas on 17 December 1994. A 0-0 draw at theirs on 14 March 1995 wasn’t exactly the most remarkable result for us. But it also didn’t help Yeovil’s cause either as they ended up bottom at the end of the season and heading for the Isthmian League.
We’d also dumped them out of the FA Trophy that season after a replay.
We welcomed them back after a two season absence in 1997. For us, our golden era was on the wane; a 2-1 away defeat on 16 August 1997 – the opening day of term – giving us an insight into how our league campaign was going to pan out. We won the return game on 07 February 1998 by two goals to one, however. It was our first league outing after our epic tussle with Newcastle United had ended in defeat.
The Glovers get good
From the 1998-9 campaign onwards, Yeovil started to become a real force in the Conference. In three of their four next campaigns, they would’ve qualified for the playoffs in today’s currency. Our head-to-head form didn’t quite go pear-shaped straight away. But our 3-1 away victory on 01 May 1999 was the last time we’d beat them until we met back up with them in League One. That’s 10 games leading up to their 2002-3 title win, if you were wondering.
Of course, that does include our grand day out at Villa Park on 12 May 2002 when the Glovers were comfortable winners of the FA Trophy at our expense. Mind you, that Wayne Turner team and what we were up against were poles apart. And it certainly didn’t help that ex-Boro’ scorer supreme Carl Alford was doing what he did best for them. In our defence, however, we claimed draws in five of the 10 that we failed to win in that era of Glovers dominance.
Up there in League One…
Now, as we said, it wasn’t until we caught back up with them in League One that we finally beat them. After a 0-0 draw at the Lamex on 22 October 2011, a sensational performance saw us run out 6-0 winners at Huish Park on 14 April 2012. Even Patrick Agyemang scored! The next season saw us claim another away win as we triumphed 3-1 on 06 November 2012. But our luck didn’t go much further and Yeovil remembered how they used to have a hold on us.
We parted ways for a bit at this time too. They went up to the Championship would you believe at the end of the 2012-3 campaign. While it was only a one-season stay, they returned to League One to find that we’d gone down ourselves. It was a second successive relegation that would be the reason for us meeting once again. And, for good measure, we were even sent to their gaff for a FA Cup Round Two clash on 05 December 2015. We lost 1-0.
That’s the sort of omen we could do without, ta.
… and back down in League Two
Once paired up in League Two, our first four meetings in the league ended all square. That came to an abrupt end on 28 October 2017 when we were walloped 3-0 at Huish Park. On the flip side, however, we did win the home fixture 4-1 on 17 February 2018 to level things up. Away goals in the league are obviously not a thing.
Our unhappy memories of Huish Park came back once more to haunt us in the 2018-9 season as we lost 2-0 on the road on 25 August 2018. By the time they came to ours on 02 February 2019, the Glovers were on their way back to the Conference. Boro’ won 1-0 thanks to Alex Revell’s goal and made things even more uncomfortable for the Somerset side. Come the end of term, they’d already had their fate confirmed; ending four points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table.
Even now, however, you wouldn’t bet against them to cause us more grief.
Head-to-Head-to-Date…
| Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts* | WR% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 44 | 40 | 4 | 32 | 25% |
