What might have been as hearts of Histon are broken

Histon 1 - Yeovil Town 3

So often giant-killers themselves, Yeovil slipped comfortably enough into Goliath's shoes yesterday, seeing off a spirited late comeback from Histon, of the Southern League, to progress to the third round of the FA Cup.

"We know how dangerous these games can be, but it was a good, professional performance," the Yeovil manager, Gary Johnson, said. "They were always going to put us under pressure and we spent the whole week preparing for the aerial bombardment we knew they were going to throw at us."

It wasn't, though, the Route One siege that might have been expected from a side coached by the former Cambridge United manager John Beck. Histon were quick to get men behind the ball and they didn't exactly underuse the long throw, but there were few signs of the doctrinaire functionality for which Beck was once famous. Nor was there any tampering with the radiators in the away dressing-room, spiking of Yeovil's tea or any other of the dirty tricks of old. "The only surprise was that everything was hunky-dory," said Johnson, who played for Histon two decades ago. "Tea, papers, fruit. Without meaning to be patronising, it was lovely."

Lovely tends not to lead to shocks, but, in the first half, particularly, Histon troubled the League Two side. Their fans will wonder what might have been had the referee, Mick Thorpe, awarded a penalty when Ian Cambridge, chasing a thorough-ball from his cousin Adrian, seemed to be hauled back by Colin Miles. Falling backwards, Cambridge got his shot off, but could only direct it into the body of Chris Weale, the Yeovil goalkeeper.

"I was a bit disappointed with one or two decisions," said the Histon manager, Steve Fallon. "That definitely could have been a penalty. If it had been, he'd have had to have sent him off, and that has a big effect on the game. I think the referee played an advantage, but he did that a couple of minutes later and then pulled it back. The big decisions cost us."

As if to rub in Histon's grievance, it was from a penalty that Yeovil took the lead after 52 minutes, Phil Jevons converting after a clear handball from Colin Vowden. Five minutes later Bartos Tarachulski - a very modern journeyman whose career has taken him from Poland to Somerset via Israel and Belgium - broke down the right and squared for Gary Johnson, the manager's son, to guide a classy finish past Lance Key.

Only two fingertip saves from Key, a goalkeeper whose ability to make himself big can never be in doubt - his waistline a legacy, perhaps, of his days as Kevin Pressman's understudy at Sheffield Wednesday - prevented Yeovil from stretching their lead, but the introduction of the former Cameroon Under-21 international Charles Libam with 20 minutes left gave Histon renewed verve.

Two minutes after coming on, Libam made inroads on the left, creating space for Jamie Baker to cross. Neil Kennedy's initial header was saved, but he followed in to set up an enthralling finish.

Time and again the ball was pumped into the Yeovil box, and time and again it was headed clear, the knock-downs never seeming to fall to a red shirt. When one finally did, with six minutes left, Robbie Nightingale steered his side-footed effort over. Libam was taken off on a stretcher in the final minute after a clash of heads with Terry Skiverton, and although six minutes of injury time were added, with him had gone Histon's hopes.

Yemi Odubade finally put the game beyond doubt, chasing behind a tiring Histon defence and rolling his finish in off a post.