Ten-man Fleet earned their second draw in four days as Yeovil couldn’t break Josh Wright’s side in 104 minutes of spirited football after the referee found an incredible 14 minutes of added time.
Fleet made three changes from the Boston trip with Tyler Cordner, Ben Chapman and Alex Aoraha in for Luke O’Neill, Callum Harriott and Franklin Domi.
The home side showed flurries of pressure in the opening stages with George Moncur darting towards the near post but firing wide of the mark. Yeovil’s Charlie Cooper then saw his shot from distance tipped behind by Mark Cousins for a corner.
The Fleet nearly capitalised from a heavy back pass by Morgan Williams which Ollie Wright just about collected with his feet as the ball threatened to roll right over the line. Next up, Ben Chapman picked out Moncur heading into the area, the ball flicked on towards Kwame Thomas but he couldn’t keep the headed effort low enough.
Todd Kane limped off after half an hour to be replaced by Jez Davies while the Yeovil physio was called on once or twice as well.
The visitors began to show a little more in the closing stages of the first half and Aaron Jarvis’s hooked effort had to be watched by Cousins. Yeovil were rewarded for their efforts on 39 minutes when Sean McGurk’s eye-catching effort put them 1-0 up. Winning the ball in midfield with a clever turn and finding space with another excellent move, McGurk pulled the trigger from distance though Cousins was unfortunate that it took a touch on the way in and then went in off the post.
Shots came in in response from Aaron Cosgrave and Cordner before the interval arrived and Toby Edser had to pull off an excellent last-ditch tackle in the Fleet box as Yeovil went in ahead at the break.
Fleet’s equaliser came 12 minutes after the break when Cosgrave found the back of the net for a second goal in as many matches. Davies’s excellent pass set Cosgrave free of the Yeovil defence and he nipped in ahead of the last man before coolly finishing past Wright.
Fleet were growing into the game but a big call from the referee came just past the hour mark when Mustapha Olagunju was deemed to be last man and shown a straight red card as he brought down Ciaran McGuckin. Fleet’s luck was summed up by losing another central defender minutes later when Cordner was stretchered off to be replaced by Anthony Stewart.
Maxx Manktelow drilled a cross into the area which Wright collected on his second attempt at his near post as the 10-man Fleet worked hard to keep Yeovil out and look for a late winner themselves. A huge chance arrived when a shot from an acute angle by Cosgrave was steered out by Wright.
Yeovil had their moments too as they enjoyed plenty of possession and McGurk blazed over from a great position.
The referee found 14 minutes of stoppage time for the various injuries – probably a record at Stonebridge Road – and his rather one-sided approach to issuing cards saw Josh Wright receive a caution two minutes from the end of one of the longest “90 minutes” most Fleet fans will have seen.
EUFC: Cousins, Olagunju, Cordner (Stewart 74), Dallison, Chapman, Kane (Davies 26), Aoraha, Edser (Manktelow 81), Moncur (Samuel 75), Cosgrave, Thomas (Bingham 87). Subs not used: Goddard, Odokonyero.
YTFC: Wright, Williams, Wannell, Cousin-Dawson, Bernard, McGavin (Greenslade 87), McGurk (Maddox 77), Cooper, McGuckin, Shaw (Nouble 77), Jarvis (Sims 60). Subs not used: Gould, Whittle, Worthington.
Attendance: 1,125 (150 away)
Photos: ©EUFC: Dave Plumb
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