Glovers boss Steve Thompson once again kept faith with the starting line-up that has done the business for him in recent weeks, and with Colin Miles passing a fitness test following his calf muscle strain last week, that meant the addition of Liam Fontaine to the bench was the one and only change to the side that travelled to Colchester.

Macclesfield has not been a happy hunting ground for the Glovers since they joined their former Conference rivals in the Football League, and with previous meetings having ended up 3-1 and 4-1 in the home side's favour, Macclesfield's lowly position within League Two was an irrelevance within most Yeovil supporters eyes when the draw for the First Round was made.

Mark Bailey flicked a near post corner over the bar for the home side in the 6th minute, but it was largely Yeovil producing the first half chances. A nice set-piece from a Lee Johnson corner found Terry Skiverton ghosting in late and firing the low ball just past the outside of the right-hand post. Yeovil went even closer a couple of minutes later, when Phil Jevons curled a beauty towards the top corner from the angle of the area but somehow home keeper Alan Fettis, who was to be a thorn in Yeovil's side all afternoon managed to get a single hand on the ball and turn it around for a corner.

Macclesfield were really struggling to get anything of note going, and their attempts to set up any of their players mainly landed in the stands and out for throw-ins, and their fans were getting more than a little bit frustrated about the amount of possession that the Glovers were gaining without any form of interception. It took them 26 minutes to put forward any sort of a flowing move together, but the attempt to breach the Glovers back line ended with a poor finish as Danny Whitaker volleyed the ball completely out of the Moss Rose ground.

Paul Terry continued the Glovers attack as he forced Fettis into another save as his shot from the edge of the area was beaten out by the goalkeeper to stop it heading for the bottom right hand corner after Pablo Bastianini's low cross was only half-cleared by the Macclesfield defence.

Macclesfield fans were incensed on 39 minutes when they had claims for a what they thought was a penalty turned down when Colin Miles tangled with Clyde Wijnhard in the box, but referee Mike Pike looked uninterested, and to these eyes it could have been given either way - Wijnhard's grappling with Milesy made it difficult for any decision to be confidently given. In the end 'advantage' was the easiest one decision to make with the ball breaking loose to Paul Harsley but his shot struck the outside of the goalframe.

At the other end, the Yeovil pressure continued to mount in spades. Another Lee Johnson corner saw Matt Harrold's header head for the bottom corner only for that man Fettis to palm the ball away and a Maccy defender hack the ball clear. Three minutes before the break, Phil Jevons had his own appeals for a penalty turned down after Danny Swailes put in a wild challenge in the box, although the match referee presumably ruled that Jevo had already lost control of the ball as it spun out for a goal kick. Jevo then had another shot deflected for a corner, and as he took it himself, Paul Terry's header went just wide of the post. Half time, but how on earth was this game still stuck at 0-0?

After 45 minutes worth of battering the Macclesfield goal, the last thing that could have been expected by anyone would have been for Macclesfield to take the lead. But such is the perverse nature of football that this actually happened within three minutes of the restart. With Yeovil having commenced the half as they completed the first period, camped in and around the home side's penalty area, a 50 yard punt up field looked harmless enough. Colin Miles left the ball, perhaps feeling it would go straight to Chris Weale, but the ball bounced into no-man's land allowing Clyde WIJNHARD to race onto the ball. Wealey came off his line, but the on-loan Darlington striker got there first, and lobbed the ball high over the Yeovil keeper and wish a single bounce into the back of the net. 1-0 and about as against the run of play as a goal could ever be.

Worse was to come for Yeovil. With Wealey having been hurt in a collision with the Macclesfield scorer, he lay prone on the deck, and after a lengthy delay, he was helped gingerly to his feet and off the field, with Steve Collis replacing him directly from kick-off. It is perhaps just as well that Yeovil are one of the few Football League clubs though that can boast that losing their first choice keeper does not weaken their line-up and with most of the play still at the other end, the question was more about whether the Glovers could get the ball past the one-man brick wall that was Alan Fettis in the opposition goal.

Terry Skiverton struck the foot of the post as Yeovil began their attempts at a comeback as he shot through a crowded goalmouth after Macclesfield couldn't clear a corner. At the other end Wijnhard hooked the ball over the bar in an increasingly rare Macclesfield attack after he received the ball down the left channel. To be fair, Macclesfield were holding possession a lot better since scoring the goal and although they rarely got much further than Yeovil's eighteen yard line, they were making it harder for Yeovil to put pressure on them, with the Glovers amount of possession cut significantly, and thus the middle portion of the second half turned into a brief lull in the game. Thommo's answer was to introduce Kevin Gall for Matt Harrold to try and scare the Macclesfield back line a bit more.

Pablo Bastianini became the latest player to be denied by Alan Fettis when the keeper beat out his shot from an Arron Davies cross. Fettis managed the same minutes later, parrying Pablo's shot again, this time from a Kevin Gall cross. Liam Fontaine became Yeovil's final substitution when he replaced Colin Miles as the clock ticked out and Yeovil began to push up in numbers.

Just when you thought it was never going to go right for Yeovil, suddenly a moment of madness within the Macclesfield back line gave Yeovil the lifeline that was needed. A cross in from the left was headed towards goal by Phil Jevons and Macclesfield defender Danny Swailes lost his composure and blocked Jevo's header with a clear 'goalkeeper save' even though one of his team-mates was stood behind him. An inevitable penalty and an even more inevitable red card resulted, and up stepped Phil JEVONS to place the ball on the spot. After plenty of 'gamesmanship' from the Macclesfield players trying to put off the Yeovil striker, up he stepped, but almost inevitably keeper Alan Fettis guessed the right way and parried the ball up into the air. Jevo had the last laugh though, throwing himself at the inviting ball and heading it home on the rebound. At last Fettis had been proved to be human and Yeovil had the goal their play so richly deserved.

Now, with Maccy down to ten men, it was all about could Yeovil grab a late winner? Kevin Gall thumped a volley just over the bar after he received a ball over the top. And as referee Pike awarded five minutes of injury time, mainly for Wealey's injury, Paul Harsley tried to do the improbable and win it for the home side with a shot that whistled over the bar, deflecting off Kevin Amankwaah for a corner. But in the opposite area, the ball was playing pinball. Firstly Pablo Bastianini had his shot cleared off the line by Kevin McIntyre and then in the resulting melee, Arron Davies saw his thunderbolt crash off the underside of the bar, with McIntyre having not had time to leave his position from his previous clearance, leaving him perfectly placed for another hoof out of danger.

Somehow Maccy survived. That they were even in a position to survive would not have happened were it not for the one-man goalkeeping show on display in the home side's goal. If Yeovil had won the game 6-1 it would not have flattered them based on the way they peppered the Macclesfield goal. But the FA Cup does that kind of thing. The heroics of Bertie Bossu, having his finest hour in the Hayes goal in the FA Cup four seasons ago, or West Auckland keeper Andrew Sams continually thwarting Yeovil Town in 1998 before he finally succumbed to penalty kicks. This season, Alan Fettis is the new scourge of Yeovil Town, and the Glovers will have to be patient if they are to breach the Maccy backline in the forthcoming replay.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Overall match rating: 7.2 / 10
Performance: 7.1
Entertainment: 7.3

15 votes received.

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