DARLINGTON'S new home had never been able to appreciate the romance of the FA Cup before Saturday.

Still only a bairn in the big wide world of football, the Williamson Motors Stadium made its competition bow with aplomb.

Six goals and incident aplenty, Quakers and Yeovil Town provided a crash course in why the FA Cup is widely celebrated as one of the world's most attractive fixtures in the football calendar.

And while League Two adversaries David Hodgson and Gary Johnson may beg to differ on the performance of referee Phil Joslin, to the neutral, Saturday's 3-3 draw was the epitome of the tournament.

Perhaps the only disappointment was that there were just 3,698 there to witness arguably the most entertaining game the WMS has hosted in its 15-month existence.

If substitute Clark Keltie's 86th minute strike to put Quakers 3-2 up was dramatic, then Bartosz Tarachulski's injury-time equaliser was verging on the ridiculous.

The draw means Quakers now face a 620-mile round trip to Somerset on November 24, with Southern League outfit Histon waiting in the second round.

With a great deal of justification Hodgson felt the journey could have been avoided had Joslin not moved play forward with the kind of generous yard gain the San Francisco 49ers would be proud of.

Joslin's decision to move the play after dismissing Brian Close for deliberate handball brought Yeovil within shooting distance.

And after Lee Johnson's free-kick was pushed away by Sam Russell, Tarachulski followed up to score and earn his side a replay at Huish Park.

Hodgson said: "At 3-2 I was thinking to myself 'Oh good, we don't have to make that long trip down to Yeovil'.

"The referee suddenly decides Yeovil are not going to get a free-kick where Brian Close handled it. Instead he moves play forward about 20 metres.

"That allowed them a shot on target which led to the goal. Sam Russell made the save, the ball bounced about and bang, the ball is in the back of the net and it's 3-3.

"Now we have to spend six hours on a coach to Yeovil. That is a joke."

The club will be appealing against Close's red card.

The Irishman was adjudged to have been the last man when he deliberately handled to deny Tarachulski a scoring opportunity. However, Hodgson insists Close was not the only defender tracking back.

He said: "Matt Clarke has stated straight after the game that he was behind Brian Close when he handled the ball. If that's the case then Brian was not the last man and shouldn't have been sent off."

Despite the return of skipper Craig Liddle, the Quakers defence looked far from assured early on, with Tarachulski and Kevin Gall both testing Sam Russell.

But for all Yeovil's impressive invention going forward, it was Quakers who broke the deadlock in the 19th minute - Alun Armstrong scoring the first FA Cup goal at the WMS and his fifth goal of the season.

After Darren Way's foul on Australian Adrian Webster, making his full debut, Ryan Valentine whipped over a teasing cross from the right and Armstrong threw himself at the back post with a diving header.

"I thought we began the game reasonably well with an early goal, but even at that point they'd had a couple of chances on the break," said Hodgson.

"Yeovil are a fantastic little footballing team and very quick at going forward. They've been together for a few years and it is evident in how they play.

"We were fortunate to be coming in at half-time one-nil up."

Indeed, Quakers were lucky not to be reduced to ten men when Glovers midfielder Lee Johnson went down in the box under a challenge from Russell in the 25th minute.

Johnson was subsequently booked for his part in the incident and Hodgson said: "The referee made a decision that Yeovil wouldn't have been happy with, but by all accounts Sam stated he never brought the lad down."

There was little Russell could do just a minute after the restart when the visitors levelled through Colin Miles.

After Ian Clark and Ryan Valentine cleared off the line, Miles was able to stab home from close range.

Miles' first goal of the season only inflicted more blows on the Quakers defence as Yeovil continued to attack with some flowing moves.

Inevitably, after exposing more cracks in the Quakers rearguard, the visitors - third in League Two - took the lead for the first time in the 55th minute.

The impressive Johnson - son of Glovers boss Gary - pierced the Quakers back-line with a pin-point through-ball for Tarachulski, who was allowed time in the box, before stroking the ball in off the post past Russell.

And just as home fans were contemplating a second successive first round exit - with last season's capitulation at Hornchurch still in the memory - Armstrong claimed his second goal of the afternoon in the 73rd minute.

Clyde Wijnhard's volley was only half-cleared and Armstrong showed his goal-scoring instincts to tap Quakers level from inside the six-yard area.

After Keltie appeared to have clinched victory four minutes from time, it was Polish striker Tarachulski - only starting the game in the absence of League Two leading scorer Phil Jevons - who had the last laugh when, with Close taking the walk down the tunnel, he popped up at the back post to earn a replay.

Result: Darlington 3 Yeovil Town 3.

Read more about the Quakers here.