The old adage says "never change a winning team". Yeovil perhaps showed how seriously they are taking this competition by making wholesale changes from Saturday's winning team. Ellis Wilmot made his first start for the club, and Chris Sparks enjoyed a rare first-team outing, alongside fringe players Paul Steele and Anthony Tonkin in the back three. Paul Tisdale returned after injury and Steve Thompson began his first game since the Christmas period. Jason Eaton kept his place alongside Adrian Foster up front, Warren Patmore being rested on the subs bench, where triallist Leon Hapgood was chosen for the first time.

A first half that took a long long time to warm up as Yeovil played with a nippy wind in their favour. Jason Eaton and Adrian Foster were linking well up front but there was very little going their way or for the Hayes front line of Stevens and Charles. The first action was a worrying one, with Leon Hapgood replacing Steve Thompson after just 18 minutes.

Hayes then took the lead on 24 minutes with the first real chance for either side as Nick RODDIS was allowed to go unchecked inside the Yeovil half and his 25 yard shot was as sweet as you can get, flying past Yeovil captain for the night Tony Pennock.

Yeovil were still keeping the ball in the Hayes half, but Hayes breaks into the Yeovil end were proving far more fruitful even if they were rare. Rob Cousins intercepted a dangerous left wing cross on the six yard line with a hefty boot. Then a minute later Brendan Gallen provided another good left wing cross whih Dave Stevens put wide.

Finally all of Yeovil's knack of getting the ball to bobble around the Hayes penalty area paid off. Ellis Wilmot produced a low cross from which a Yeovil shot was blocked. When the ball was fed back into the area, Jason EATON spooned his 39th minute shot, but the result was enough to confuse and wrong foot Paul Gothard in the Hayes goal and Yeovil were level.

This was the sign for the game to finally liven up and the final five minutes of the half saw Dave Stevens blast another great chance wide, Tony Pennock block at Lee Charles' feet, then at the other end a through ball to Adrian Foster saw the Glovers' frontman shoot wide from 12 yards.

Hayes started this half by far the better team and nearly netted when Lee Charles charged down a Tony Pennock free kick. Wayne Carter cut in from his right back position on a dangerous run but his shot was blasted high and wide. Sixty seconds later Adrian Foster managed the same.

On the hour mark, Paul Steele made a great sliding block on a Hayes goalbound shot and shortly afterward Hayes had a penalty appeal turned down after the ball slapped against Chris Sparks body with the home crowd and players claiming it had hit his arm.

With 20 minutes left, Dean Coppard made an awful hash of a pass in the centre of the field and Adrian Foster robbed him of the ball, but his shot was beaten out by Gothard to his left.

The game could have gone either way at this stage and this was demonstrated two minutes later as Chris Sparks was carded for a foul and from the free kick Dave Stevens struck Tony Pennock's right hand post.

Hayes brought on Neil Trebble for Neil Roddis then two minutes later Warren Patmore replaced Adrian Foster. Patmore got into the action straight away as from Paul Tisdale's left wing cross, he hooked the ball from behind him, with his shot beating Gothard, but not centre back Alvin Watts, who capped a superb personal second half by clearing the ball off the line.

As the play continued to alternate between the ends, Dave Stevens' ambitious bicycle kick went wide. Rob Cousins was booked for dissent for complaining about a delayed offside decision, and with six minutes left James Bent replaced a tired looking Jason Eaton.

Despite the first half carrying two out of the three goals, it was a turgid affair, livened up only after Yeovil's equaliser. This led to a fascinating last 45 minutes that was completely end-to-end with both sides missing chances that could have won the game long before the final minute. Instead, Yeovil had to put up with the familiar sight of yet another 90th minute Hayes goal that sealed their fate. Suggestions in the bar were that the West London side should change their name to 'Hayes 90' when playing Yeovil Town.

In reality, Yeovil didn't need this competition, and the two-legged semi-final against Kingstonian would have been a nightmare to arrange, with the FA Trophy and League matches against The K's coming up soon. That said, it was a shame to see Thommo make so many changes to the team, to watch that team match Hayes for pretty much the full match, but to then be hit by Neil Trebble's sucker punch.

I'm disappointed that we lost the game. In the first half I felt we were poor at times, but in the second half, I thought we were a lot better and deserved something from the game. But the last minute goal deflated us a little bit, and so we're out of that competition.

They scored their first with a long shot, where I felt the player was allowed to run too far up the field. Jason Eaton then got what I would call an opportunist's goal, and then we looked the team most likely to grab the win in the second half. Unfortunately, they got their goal in the last minute after Neil Trebble was left unmarked at the back post.

I felt it was important to play a few different people to see how they were going and how they would cope at first team level. The young lads overall did reasonably well even though we lost the game. Leon Hapgood came on after 20 minutes, and did very well in midfield. Paul Steele had an excellent game at the back, and for Paul Tisdale it was an excellent chance for him to get a bit of fitness back. I felt that he looked a little bit off the pace, but it will have done him a lot of good.

It was a useful 90 minutes for a lot of players. If we are going to achieve anything this year, these players are going to have to come in at times and they will need to be used to the pace of the game.

Regarding my substitution, it is the same injury as before (calf muscle) and it is very frustrating and annoying. It is something that has been going on for so long, I might have to consider leaving it for the rest of the season. By allowing the three months now and the two months over the summer break, I can try and clear the problem, which at the moment, we can't get to the bottom of.