THE national media descended on Huish Park for Yeovil Town's big FA Cup Third Round showdown with Liverpool - all of whom were hoping for the Glovers' to conjure up yet another giant-killing act.

And although Liverpool paved their way to an uncomfortable 2-0 victory, the visiting press reporters certainly showered praise on Yeovil for the way in which they gave the Merseysiders a real run for their money.

Here is what some of the Monday papers said the day after the match.

Henry Winter, of The Daily Telegraph, said: "Yeovil's players left their lawn of a pitch beaten but proud; proud that they had kept passing and building, kept taking the game to renowned opponents, household names who earn £50,000 a week set against their £800.

"Proud, too, that Huish Park had laid on such a show; the fans were dressed to the nines and beyond with faces painted green, hair dyed and voices filling the air with songs and chants.

"Emile Heskey has been called many things in his time but he has never been linked with Weymouth before.

"Yeovil lost, the but cup won. Inspired by the admirable Lee Johnson, Yeovil were deft in possession and defiant at the back and, for 45 minutes, were far more watchable than Liverpool."

Matt Lawton, of the Daily Mail, said: "From the moment the Liverpool bus rolled up outside a stadium seating a record 9,348 spectators, there was a feeling among those dressed in green and white that an upset was a distinct possibility.

"The BBC cameras were in position, and as the mist rolled in across the pitch, memories of 1949 flooded back. Well, for those old enough to remember."

Matt Barlow, writing in the Daily Star, said: "Yeovil played all the best football in the first half hour, passing the ball with a tempo that unsettled Liverpool's burly back four.

"Hobbit-sized midfield duo Darren Way and Lee Johnson dominated midfield, and 6ft 8in defender Hugo Rodrigues and Terry Skiverton kept the Premiership strikers quiet."

Chief sports writer of The Sun, Steven Howard, said: "At £11-million, Emile Heskey had cost more than 200 times as much as the side Yeovil manager Gary Johnson had cobbled together for £45,000.

"The record 9,348 who packed the ground yesterday made the most of it.

"The local heroes - for who skipper Terry Skiverton and 5ft 6ins midfield star Darren (aka The Weasel) were outstanding - had emerged to that old Wurzels favourite I Am A Cider Drinker."

Simon Barnes, sports writer of the year, said in The Times: "Yeovil Town yesterday showed themselves to be a thoroughly impressive club - fit, organised, professional. Above all, competent.

"Yeovil didn't look like a side four divisions away from Liverpool. They never do. They looked like the sort of side that Liverpool play every week - only not quite as good."

Sarah Edworthy, of The Daily Telegraph, wrote: "Well organised on the pitch, Yeovil were equally well drilled in the stands as, for the full 90 minutes, Huish Park resounded to a full medley of we're-on-the-telly songs from the home support.

"Yeovil are not some Hicksville outfit but a professional club with a good, modern ground, League status and a manager who, by the by, helped lay the foundations for Latvia to qualify for this year's European Championship finals."

Matt Dickinson, writing in The Times, said: "Gerard Houllier's men needed something to liven them up because, for the opening 45 minutes, they looked so laboured that they might as well have been playing up Yeovil Town's old slope."

Chief sports writer of the Daily Express, John Dillon, wrote: "The Third Division side's neat domination of the early part of the game could have been turned into an historic rampage in the record books."

Mark Irwin, of The Sun, wrote: "That the task proved beyond them was no shame on Yeovil, who can now go back to chasing promotion to the Second Division at the first time of asking.

"For 45 minutes, Yeovil harried and hustled their millionaire opponents with the enthusiasm of a team who sensed this could be their day."