Sunday, November 11, 2007

FA CUP "Giantkillers" Yeovil Town

London, UK

Poor old Yeovil. For years they stunned the football pundits by their several shock FA Cup victories over clubs from the Football League. The most famous being the 2-1 defeat of Sunderland in 1949.

But today, as a League club now themselves, they suffered the humiliation of being defeated 4-1 by Blue Square side Torquay United, who lost their League status after 80 years last season.
So the famous "giantkillers" were "giantkilled" themselves. But I do find the term "giantkillers" in relation to Yeovil a tad incongruous. Yeovil is a market town in south-east Somerset with a population of not much more than 40000.

I've never liked the "green slime" from down the A303 - it all goes back to a nasty incident involving their goalkeeper just after the final whistle in a match against my team, Margate FC. It was a Southern League fixture at Hartsdown Park on December 2nd, 1967. Coincidentally, Margate had already drawn Yeovil in the First Round of the FA Cup. The fixture was meant to have taken place at Huish on Saturday, December 9th. Inclement weather and an icy pitch meant that hundreds of Margate fans had to curtail their journey at Paddington Station. But just a few days later, in front of over 6000 fans, Margate dented West country pride by winning 3-1 in the re-arranged tie. A gallant 4 made the journey from Margate.

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