Friday Lunchtime saw a severely depleted squad set off for the WorldNet 2008 IFA Competition, following the late withdrawals of some key players.

The squad convened in the student bar at Leeds University Boddington Hall Campus for team 'instructions' from stand in Gaffer Shaun Ennever, before taking on Darlington (last year's Plate Finalists), Castlerock (last year's Cup Finalists) and Hearts (currently 15th in the IFA table) in what has been widely tipped as the most difficult group of the day.

After some team bonding between both the squad, and that of the visiting Airdrie Team, the boys retired to their rooms to prepare for the tough task ahead.

Saturday morning saw the lads take on Darlington in their first game of the day, and can consider themselves unlucky to have lost 1-0 following a goal from a free kick in the last minute of the game.

The game swung from end to end with both defences on top, until the last few minutes when a break away resulted in right back Rich Swaine hauling down the Darlington left midfielder by the corner flag.

Expecting the referee to stop play after the shin pad of Centre Half Rob St Paul had come off, the Yeovil Team switched off while Darlington took a quick free kick to the edge of the box, which they coolly slotted home, despite the efforts of St Paul (although these efforts were limited to throwing his shin pad at the ball).

A dejected and angry squad remonstrated with the referee, but to no avail, and the game was lost. A dejected squad then headed off for a friendly with Derby County.

The pack was shuffled for the friendly with Gaffer Ennever dropping out to referee, along with Andy Downton, to make way for Matt Taylor and Chris Johnson. the game started well for Yeovil when an Elliot Axtell corner was diverted into his own net by a Derby County player.

However,within minutes Yeovil left back Johnny Pardoe decided to return the favour by deflecting a Derby header past the stranded 'keeper Tom Balch.

Half time saw Taylor replace Balch in goal, and Ennever pass the whistle to Duncan Sparks, and Yeovil again started brightly with Ian 'Soapy'Gardiner swinging in cross after cross to try and force a breakthrough, however Yeovil were caught on the break and when stand in centre back Swaine misjudged a bounce in the mud, Taylor let the ball slip through his hands and left the Derby forward with a tap in to complete a 2-1 victory.

An embarrassing attempt at the famous 'Crossbar Challenge' ended with no successful hits, and some woeful tries from the Yeovil defence!

A mix up in the administration result in a last minute panic to field a team for the second game with Hearts, having expected the game to kick off at 1.20, only to find out it was in fact a 1pm kick off.

As the Yeovil team took to the field with only 6 players, the rest of the squad suddenly realised that queuing for the burger van was a bad idea and managed to make in onto the field in time for the game!

A very even game finished 1-0 to Hearts after their striker latched onto a ball over the top which caught the Yeovil back line flat footed and the striker chipped Balch to score.

Yeovil responded brilliantly and were the better team for the rest of the game, with Downton forcing the keeper into a couple of good saves and Axtell narrowly putting one over the bar from just outside the box.

Hearts were a very good team and Yeovil could be pleased with themselves for matching them throughout the whole game.

The final group game with Castlerock saw the pack reshuffled again with Swaine and Downton dropping to the bench to be replaced with Taylor and Johnson.

Unfortunately Yeovil never really started and found themselves quickly 3-0 down. With fitness waningand injuries setting in, Yeovil found themselves 4-0 down at half time and a man down after Soapy had gone down with cramp, to be replaced by Swaine.

The second half didn't get any better, and Yeovil found themselves 6-0 down by the end of the game, with Swaine, Sparks and Chris Medland also suffering from strains and cramps.

It was a tough game against a good team, which left the Team looking forward to the evenings festivities starting with a curry and ending with plenty of drink!

The first round of the plate draw saw Yeovil vrs Port Vale in the early kick off, 8am. Both teams made it on time and were ready to start, only to find out that the Referee's had decided that 8:00 was too early, and so decided to stroll over at around 8:30.

The game got underway and Yeovil immediately went on the front foot, playing some good football with John Mills, Sparks, Medland all having good chances to open the scoring, but a combination of good goalkeeping, solid defending, and wayward finishing saw the half time score 0-0.

A better performance in the second half saw Vale come out fighting and only a last ditch challenge from Swaine deflecting a tap in onto the post and a goal line clearance from Pardoe keeping the score at 0-0.

Some more good football form Yeovil followed and Medland was unlucky not to score after beating 3 players and then chipping the keeper, only to beat the crossbar as well.

The last minute of the game saw Yeovil win a corner, and after the ball had fallen at the feet of Swaine, he was unable to convert a good chance and flashed his shot across the goal.

The game finished 0-0 and saw the first Golden Goal period of the competition. Yeovil were again the better side, however were unable to convert some good chances, and Sparks could only drag his shot wide, leaving Yeovil and Port Vale facing the lottery of the dreaded Penalty Shoot Out.

Great penalties from Axtell, Sparks, Balch, Medland and St Paul, 4 good pens from Vale and an unlucky attempt from Balch saw the score at 5-5 and sudden death ensued.

Vale scored and left John Mills with the all important last penalty. He confidently stepped up and unfortunate put his penalty over the bar, sending Vale through and condemning Yeovil to the long trip home.

Report by Richard Swaine