Our Cup run-neth over?

Yeovil Town v Darlington

FA Cup First Round Replay

Tuesday November 23rd 2004, 7.45pm

The longest trip (Part 2). This is the punishment, lads, for not holding on until the very end. The 3-3 scoreline at the WMS was on the face of it hard to stomach, but no-one doubted that Yeovil were worth their replay at least. The Gloversl have started the season well after falling away towards the end of their first League season, after an impressive few months and after playing some incisive football.

We got a 1-1 draw here in the League here during the first week of the season in August. The Green and Whites no longer include discarded Darlo striker Kirk Jackson. Given a little unfairly the nickname "Touche Turtle" by former Quakers boss Tommy Taylor, he's gone to Hornchurch. They have though looked far afield and signed the far more exotic sounding Adrian Caceres, an Argentinian winger who has played for Southampton and Hull City, and was last with an Australian club. They also signed Polish striker Bartosz Tarachulski (who scored in the Cup tie in Darlington) and Nicolas Mirza (ex-Paris St Germain).

Man to watch
Kevin Gall Wales Under 21 striker, ex-Newcastle Utd and Bristol Rovers.

Full match previews on the D@rlo Uncovered and The Tinshed websites.

NEW HUISH: The famous sloping pitch has disppeared into footballing folklore and a Tesco car park. This is the new stadium - modern and oompact, although a bit of a trek if you're without a car. Photo: Steve Duffy/DAFTS

Ground and ticket prices

The new-ish Huish Park was a compact, modern-looking stadium on the outskirts of town. It won't win any awards, but a good atmosphere is generated. It's a bit of a trek by public transport, close to new housing developments and an industrial park, but little else is around and you feel you're heading off into the countryside on the last leg of the journey. Away fans are given the open terrace at Huish Park (signposted at the stadium) and also some seats in the Bartlett Stand, where there is also room for wheelchairs.

Prices have gone up (£3/£1) to £12 (£9 OAPs/students/£4 under 16) on the open terrace or or £14 (£11/£5 concessions) in the seats in the College Stand. Wheelchair-users £11, carers free. The programme cost £2.50 for 64 pages, but not the most interesting read. Stewards and fans seemed friendly and there was quite a good atmosphere in their Kop end behind the goal opposite.

Huish history Yeovil - "The Glovers" - were famous in football folklore for their sloping pitch at their old Huish ground but they moved to the modern Huish Park in 1990. Their FA Cup exploits were legendary, taking the scalp of Sunderland (when the Mackems were good too!) in 1949, before losing in the 5th round at Manchester United in front of more than 81,000 fans. The old Huish ground is now a Tesco's supermarket in the town centre - but you can still try out the famous slope with your shopping trolley in the car park... Their most famous former manager was Alec Stock, who later managed Fulham and was the inspiration for the Fast Show's Ron Manager - "Marvellous!"

Click for Streetmap of ground

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Printer-friendly versionof the guide to this trip.

By car Take the M5 south to junction 25 (Taunton). Take the A358 sign posted Ilminster until joining the A303 at Horton Cross. Head in the direction of Andover and London until the Cartgate roundabout, turning right onto the A3088 signposted Yeovil. At the first roundabout, take the first exit along Bundford Lane (opposite the airfield) over the next three roundabouts into Western Avenue. Turn left into Copse Road and you will see the stadium and car park on the left in Lufton Way. There is parking at the ground (£2), with signs directing you to "parking for away fans" - an area close to the away end. Theres is a shuttle bus/park-and-ride scheme to the council car park at Brympton Way - used by a grand total of four people on our first visit! The Supporters' Club bus is parked in an enclosure near the away turnstiles. Horrendous traffic jam after the match, the local roads can't cope, whether private or public transport - be warned.

NB: THERE ARE NO TRAINS BACK FOR EVENING MATCHES Trains: Just to confuse you there are two stations in Yeovil and neither are very central. Apparently they had a third once upon a time in the town centre, but some fool closed it. The ground is around five miles north west of Yeovil Junction station - which serves London - this station is to the south of the town centre. There is usually a "Hopper" bus which links with incoming trains to Yeovil bus station in the town centre (fare around £1). You can cab it from here or take the bus the 2.5 miles to the ground, that leaves at around 2.10pm on Saturdays. If travelling from Bristol, Swindon or South Wales you arrive at Yeovil Pen Mill, which is about 1 mile east of the town centre.

Taxis Taxis from Pen Mill station into the town centre (£3.80) or the ground (about £6.50) usually have to be ordered - numbers below or on the board outside the station. However because of traffic problems - see below - they will only pick up from The Bell pub after the game. A taxi from Yeovil Junction or the town centre to the stadium costs about £5-6. Taxi Services Yeovil 01935 433332 Radio Cabs 01935 426666 Abba Cabs 01935 431711 Roger's Taxis 01935 850082 Darlington FC Supporters' Club Coach 10.30am £25. Contact: 01325 243911. See Darlington Supporters' Club for more details.

Suggested trains: A bit pointless taking trains from Darlington as there's nothing back - or anywhere else for that matter for an evening match, even the last train to Bristol leaves at half time. Times for Saturday PM kick-offs (2003-2004): London Waterloo or Paddington. (Sugg): Waterloo: 11.03-Yeovil Junction 13.19 Dur: 2hrs 57 mins. Also services via Paddington and Castle Carey. Return: Yeovil Junction 18.04-Salisbury (18.54) 19.10-arr Waterloo 20.40. Duration: 2hr 36 mins

This is our longest trip, the "new" Torquay, without sea breezes and palm trees, so you may have little time to enjoy your time here. They have cider and helicopters though Yeoviltown.com has a links to local shops and services, including good zoomable maps. It's quite a neat little town centre, but beyond the roundabouts it sprawls out into village suburbs and out-of-town retail.

There's a Railway Centre and steam railway which runs from Yeovil Junction station on Sundays (May-Sept -so we just miss out). The town also has the Octagon Theatre. Amongst attractions in the area is the quirky Montacute TV and Radio Memorabilia Museum, in the village of the same name west of Yeovil, off the A3088. It boats a huge collection of old fashioned radios and radiograms, like your Gran used to have, as well as TV memorabilia, and a collectors' and gift shop (01935 823024, open 12pm-5pm daily, winter - call for details.) There's also the Haynes Motor Museum which includes classic cars belonging to Stirling Moss and Graham Hill. It can be found at Sparkford on the A359 (£6.50-£3.50 conc). If itchy, for a cyber cafe, try Interstep cyber cafe, 84a Middle Street, Yeovil, £1 per 20 mins.

Accommodation
Yeovil Tourism Information Centre, Petters' Way. Tel: 01935 462991/462992 Fax: 01935 434065. Not open Saturday's.

Or you may wish to stay by the seaside - Weymouth is just 45 minutes away. Tourist Information: 01305 785747 and accommodation booking

The very fine Ciderspace website has some useful directions and pubs en route. Of course, there is plenty of cider around and about in pubs and on outlying cider houses and farms. Here's a selection of pubs:

Best town centre/real ale The Armoury, 1 The Park (pictured) A good Wadsworth's central pub with an old fashioned feel, about a mile and a half from Pen Mill station, off the A30 Queensway. This serves Butcombe Bitter and had three other hand-pulled real ales on my visit, the local brew Wadsworth's Henry's wasn't bad at all (£1.85 a pint) and there was a decent Jennings' Cumberland ale being served. Food available 12pm-2.15pm, the home-made sandwiches were very fresh (£2.75) and the salad crisp although the enormous all-day breakfast (£4.75) was enough to increase the chloresterol just looking at the blackboard. A pool table and beer garden. Limited 1hr parking outside, taxi about £5-6 to the ground. DAFTS recommended Click for street map	Best near the ground: The Bell, 207 Preston Rd (pictured) A 20 minute walk, so using "near the ground" term loosely, it's a bit of a trek, although it's on the No1 bus route from the town centre towards the stadium - there's a bus stop right outside. A popular "Hungry Horse" pub with home fans, with good food served from 12pm from an extensive menu and for those who don't want conversation, there's Sky. Greene King's IPA, Abbot's and guest beer around the £2 mark. There's a beer garden and play area at the back, plus car park - though expect this would be full on match-days. About 20-25 minutes walk, south of the ground. DAFTS recommended. Click for streetmap	Outlying villages: Half Moon Inn Ham Hill, Stoke-Sub-Hamdon, Somerset, TA14 6RL. On the left as you come into the village. Click for streetmap Halfway House Inn, Ilchester Rd, Chilthorne Domer, Yeovil, Tel: 01935 840350 Between Ilchester and Yeovil, which does good food. The Phelips Arms, The Borough, Montacute, Tel: (01935) 822557 West of Yeovil, off the A3088. At the entrance to the National Trust-owned Montacute House. Food and accommodation.
Other pubs: William Dampier, 97 Middle Street, Wetherspoon's pub close to the bus station. The Arrow, The Forum, Preston, Yeovil Modern estate pub near the ground. The Pall Tavern, Silver Street Medieval pub that does food.	Near the station: There's another Wadsworth's pub, The Great Western clearly visible just right of the entrance to Pen Mill station in Cambourne Grove, a minute's walk. It's a friendly enough locals pub with Sky, a pool table and it does food. They had Butcombe and 6X ales on when we visited. While out of the main entrance and around the corner is the Pen Mill Hotel.	Catering at the ground is pretty grim - reminding me of Swansea. My burger was a pretty tasteless morsel of undefinable meat, lost in a large bap, which must have been straight out of the fridge. The coffee was warm and watery, the hot dogs looked unappealing, but you can't go wrong with a Mars bar.

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Hotels/B&Bs This Is Bristol Western Gazette County Gazette Somerset Info Somerset Tourism Yeovil Guide

Surfing there...

Look no further than the drily- named Ciderspace unofficial site, which is comprehensive and includes a superb exiles section and database and a good away fans' guide. It's also got excellent links to other clubs. Obviously a lot of work goes into this site and it does for all you'll need for this visit. It's been given a smart facelift over the Summer. The YTFC.com site is no longer updated but OK for background. Then there's the official site - which is very well organised (and doesn't seem yet to be among the PTV family of sites) and the Supportsrs Club also has its own site.

Next away match:
Cheltenham Town (Fri November 26)

Yeovil Town FC:
01935 423662

No responsibility is taken for accuracy, if in doubt check before travelling.

© DAFTS 2004