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Yeovil 2-0 Bradford: Marcus Barnes scores on debut to send Yeovil into FA Cup fourth round

Marcus Barnes scores for Yeovil against Bradford
Image: Marcus Barnes scores for Yeovil against Bradford

Southampton loanee Marcus Barnes had a debut to remember for League Two's Yeovil as he scored in a 2-0 FA Cup third-round victory upset against Bradford.

The Glovers were the stronger side in the first half and Bradford had to put bodies on the line as Matt Kilgallon chested a fiercely-struck Tom James half-volley away inside the six-yard box.

Their League One visitors improved after the break but it was Yeovil who made the breakthrough on 61 minutes - Otis Khan playing in Barnes one-on-one on the counter and the man who only joined on Friday coolly slotted in.

Paul Taylor was inches away from an equaliser when his dipping shot from distance hit the underside of the bar before goalkeeper Artur Krysiak recovered brilliantly to save Shay McCartan's follow up.

And that proved a pivotal moment as a few minutes later it was 2-0 to the hosts when Francois Zoko broke forward with purpose and set up Jordan Green (76) to sidefoot in a second, before James denied the Bantams a consolation by heading a Daniel Devine shot off the line late on.

Yeovil manager Darren Way hailed his side's "extraordinary achievement" following the win, saying: "An incredible amount of effort and energy has gone into fielding a team, let alone winning a football match.

"The players must take great credit for sticking together through tough times and having faith that we could come through today.

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"On Wednesday I only had 10 players available but four signings later we were able to get a motivated team together to knock out a team from a higher division.

"The players had to believe they could do it and they took the opportunity to create a little bit of history for a club which has a great record in this competition.

"This result will be remembered for a long time at this club and now we wait to see who we get in the next round."

Stuart McCall praised Bradford's opponents for their performance, adding: "We got everything we deserved today. Yeovil were terrific and full credit to them. They were young, hungry and wanted it more than us. On the day they deserved to go through.

"We didn't come out of the traps and our first-half performance was as poor as we've been. They won every battle.

"Second half we were better but got done by two counter-attack goals but they thoroughly deserve to be in the next round."

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