Preview: Yeovil Town v Exeter City

The difference being, of course, that Yeovil have since stepped up a division with one of the Football League’s most unthinkable promotions, taking the play-off route to make the step up to the second tier for the very first time – just a decade after first entering the Football League.

When the Glovers hosted the Grecians 12 months ago, the sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.  The Grecians went ahead twice through Scot Bennett and John O’Flynn, but were pulled back on both occasions by Ed Upson and then Reuben Reid, who would later join Plymouth on loan.

The two clubs have also each faced Swansea City on their West Country tour during the past few days – Exeter held the Capital One Cup holders down to a 2-0 defeat, whilst Yeovil had shipped five goals without reply just two days prior.

Each side has a familiar face amongst their opposition, too.  Current City man Arron Davies played for three seasons at Huish Park before later returning on loan from Brighton, whereas Dan Seaborne – former City captain Dan Seaborne claimed the newest peg in the locker room when he joined the Somerset side last week.

And while results don’t matter during the pre-season, both Gary Johnson and Paul Tisdale will have half an eye on the start of the season and getting an XI in mind for the opening weekend.

Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson: “The game against Exeter is important to us.  We’ve got to go out and try to score a couple of goals – we might get beaten and then we’ll know we’ve still got more to do.

“It gives us that opportunity to show whether we can put on that sort of power and pace.”

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale: “They’ve certainly taken it up a level.  They got promoted and they’ve brought in players like Dan Seaborne, who we know, and good for them – they’re certainly improving their team and it will be a really good test.”

While the two sides met last year in pre-season, the previous time the two clubs met for Football League points was in the 2011/12 season.  After City dumped Town out of the Carling Cup with a 2-0 win, the sides took a point apiece with a 2-2 draw in November in Somerset.  In the return fixture at St James Park, just after the turn of the year, Richard Logan scored with 15 minutes to go to cancel out Andy Williams’ opener to give City a 1-1 draw.

Tickets

The ticket prices for travelling fans will be as follows:

Adult: £10
Concession: £5
Under-16: £2