Saturday, 8 November 2008

FINAL SCORE - GULLS 2 EVESHAM 0

Three more minutes to go in the wind and the rain.
Danny Stevens - on for Carayol - gives us a cameo run across the pitch before setting up Sills, but Tim's shot is high and wide.
It's falling in stair rods now, and that's it. Onwards to Round Two!
Into the 87th minute now and the rain is falling steadily.
Into the 88th and Evesham have used up the last of their three subs.
This has been a goodm professional performance. Tricky opposition and tricky conditions.
Into the 89th and it's nearly job done.
There are eight minutes left on the clock now, and it looks as if the wind has finally gone from Evesham's sails.
Benyon is on for Thompson.

GOAL - GULLS 2 EVESHAM 0 75M

But there's nothing Hayden can do about Torquay's second goal in the 75th minute. Sills shoots from the edge of the box. it hits Hayden, maybe on the hands, and bounces up over Vaughan and into the net.
Now that SHOULD be enough.
What a let-off that was.
It's raining now and the wind has picked up just as the forecast said it would. The wind is with Evesham.
Dsane whips a shot in from 30 yards and it takes a deflection behind.
Nicko takes it, it falls to Carayol and Michael Hayden clears it off the line.
Penalty to Evesham! Steve Luckett shot from the edge of the box after a scramble and it hit someone's hand.
Scheppel drags it wide of Bevan's right hand post.
Dsane gets a yellow card for dissent.
Simon Fitter, who strikes a lovely dead ball, drives a lovely flat corner into the Torquay box in the 68th minute, but Woods and Hodges are untroubled in there and the ball goes out of play to safety.
Substitution coming up, by the look of it.
Roscoe Dsane has the ball in the net after 62 minutes but it's ruled out for offside. It looked as if Hargreaves came back from an offside position.
Now Evesham have taken off Fitter and brought on Lennon.
Mansell drives a shot into the side netting in the 52nd minute after a great move in which Nicky Wroe released Dsane and he rolled the ball across the field into Mansell's path.
No changes for either side at the break, and no sign of the red mist yet, either.
Hay has just sliced a shot over the bar from the edge of the box and in the 49th minute Owen drives one in which Bevan does well to hold in amongst the feet.
Best line of the day so far? Photographer Paul Levie to the St John Ambulance crew while Nathan Vaughan was rolling around on the ground: "He don't need a stretcher lads, he needs a F%$&*^%$ Bafta!"
And Exeter are losing at somewhere called Curzon Ashton. Glorious!
Apart from that mad five minutes of play-acting, Evesham have played well and the game isn't beyond them yet.
Hay and Owen are doing well, and the centre backs are coping well with Sills and Dsane. We are going to need to score again.
Maybe Benyon or Green could get a run?
Expect Evesham to come out with a bit of a red mist in their eyes.

HALF TIME GULLS 1 EVESHAM 0

And Hay has just produced a wonderful left foot shot from 35 yards which Bevan has tipped round the post for a corner.
And that's half-time - 1-0
There are three minutes added on in this first half.
The crowd are booing Hay when he gets the ball, which is a shame because he's a decent player. Still, every panto needs a villain.
Now Vaughan is rolling around on the floor after a 50/50 challenge with Tyrone Thompson , for which the Torquay striker has been booked.
The Evesham keeper was clutching his face but the pain has mysteriously transferred itself to his leg. Now he's taking the goal kick, which should have been a corner.
And now Hands is rolling around in front of the Pop side.
This is really embarrassing now. Not even Drogba would have tried that one on.
Evesham are still in this, though.
Hay, who looks their best player, swings a cross in from the left in the 31st minute and only a full-stretch punch by Bevan keeps it from reaching Steve Lutz.
Steve Woods has now been booked for a foul on Hay.
Hay gives it the full Drogba with a slump to the floor, but the referee isn't particularly bothered and Hay is back on his feet again.
He's a good player, and doesn't need it.
Now Sills and Steve Hands are squaring up in the Evesham box.
The referee is having a word with the linesman and now tells Hands and Sills to pack it in.

GOAL GULLS 1 EVESHAM 0 28 MINS

Evesham break well in the 24th minute and force a free kick after our Captain's Blogger Chris Hargreaves hauls Hay down. Fitter hoists it into the box but the Robins can't make anything of it.
And at the other end Tim Sills puts us in front after 28 minutes, heading in from close range from a Nicholson corner from the right, forced after some great play from Carayol and Dsane.
That's Tim's 10th goal of the season.
There's very little FA Cup magic about this so far. We are agreed in the press box that this is our favourite day of the whole season, but there isn't much going on out there to quicken the pulse as yet.
We are in the 20th minute, and despite some Owen trickery out on the right for Evesham, they can't get into our box.
At the other end Carayol has just fired in a great left foot shot from the edge of the box which Vaughan has tipped round the post.
In the 13th minute Nicko has a Rory Delap moment, hurling a throw into the box from the left flank.
Sills gets a flick header to it, but Vaughan gathers easily.
Bevan has just launched a mighty kick downfield, and Vaughan was grateful to catch it cleanly under his crossbar.
Eight minutes gone and no score, and very little to write about.
Torquay are playing some neat football in the midfield playing towards the Babbacombe End without making any real headway. Evesham, in red and white stripes, are defending well.
They have just attacked on the break but Danny Scheppel, whose two goals put Rushden out in the last round, has fired his shot high into the seats.

And we're off



Last of the pictures for today.
Hay looks lively and has just given Mansell a scare in the opening minute, but big Scott Bevan gathers the bouncing ball safely.
Evesham have indeed brought plenty of support with them, including a bloke wearing a shirt made up of half a Torquay shirt and half a Robins top.
And in the press box we have just fined Darryl Haggan £1 as he is the first person today to use the phrase: 'Well, it's their cup final.'
As far as interesting jobs go, we think Evesham's Vaughan and Lennon are roofers, so they'll be slated of course, and their Mark Owen is almost certainly NOT the Mark Owen out of Take That.
Gary Hay is playing with his broken hand in plaster.

And we're unchanged for the fourth game running, with Scott Bevan in goal; Lee Mansell, Steve Woods, Lee Hodges and Kevin Nicholson across the back; Roscoe Dsane, Chris Hargreaves, Nicky Wroe and Mustapha Carayol across the middle and Tim Sills and Tyrone Thompson up front.
Our seven-man FA Cup bench comprises Michael Brough, Elliot Benyon, Danny Stevens, Steve Adams, Mark Ellis, Matt Green and Jordan Charran.
Evesham will line up 5-3-2 with Nathan Vaughan in goal; Simon Fitter, Anthony Watson, Steve Hands, Steve Luckett and Michael Hayden across the back; Steve Lutz, Danny Scheppel and Mark Hands in the middle and Mark Owen and Gary Hay up front.
On their bench of just six are Danny Lennon, Michael Batchelor, Allando Davis, Leon Woodley, Joe Clarke and Tom Etheridge.
Referee is Darren Sheldrake from Surrey.

GULLS V EVESHAM

CUP fever again, this time with the visit of Evesham United in the first round of the FA Cup.
Evesham have never been this far in the competition before, and the word is that they are bringing busloads of fans for a big day out. And that's what the cup is all about.
It's fine and dry at the moment, but the forecast for later on is shocking.
Live coverage starts when the team-sheets arrive in the press box. Don't be late!