Yeovil Town 1-0 Tranmere Rovers: David Beckham free kicks on YouTube inspire Ed Upson

Ed Upson watched clips of David Beckham free kicks the night before firing Yeovil Town to victory over Tranmere Rovers with a set-piece fitting of the Paris St Germain ace.

The midfielder's stunning second half goal proved the difference between the two promotion-chasing teams and meant the hosts took a deserved three points to leapfrog their rivals.

The fourth-placed Glovers bounced back from defeat at Colchester United in emphatic fashion to take their recent record to nine triumphs from 11 outings.

Upson - who has only scored once from inside the box for Yeovil - said: "I did one similar at Bristol Rovers (in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy).

"We have been working on our free kicks all week and how they set up. The gaffer (Gary Johnson) said about doing something different and a bit innovative and luckily it's come off.

"I've got a mate down and we were a bit bored so we were on YouTube watching David Beckham's free kicks.

"I can't remember specifically one he did but it definitely shot through my mind before I hit it that we'd seen them and my mate said he wanted to see a free kick."

Both Jamie McAllister and James Hayter received painkilling Injections an hour before kick off to ensure they returned to replace left back Nathan Ralph and striker Kwesi Appiah respectively.

Just two minutes had passed when Paddy Madden flicked for Kevin Dawson to surge through. However, he crossed instead of going for goal and missed the on-rushing Hayter.

Tranmere failed to clear and Zoumana Bakayogo's error saw Madden one-on-one with keeper Owain Fon Williams, only for the hotshot to fluff his lines.

McAllister had Rovers' Welsh stopper worried with a narrowly off-target curling free kick on nine minutes before the international to flapped at Joe Edwards' cross following an impressive 24th minutes run.

After the early storm Tranmere finally settled and on 36 minutes Jean Louis Akpa Akpro blazed wastefully over, turning onto Paul Corry's slide rule pass in space.

Two minutes later the former Rochdale man raced on to a hopeful clearance and as Dan Burn tried to get in a challenge, the striker was denied by Marek Stech's out-stretched boot.

As the half entered added time Dawson found Hayter who in turn linked with Madden. Under pressure from defenders, Yeovil's top scorer took his shot early and Fon Williams pushed around the post.

Eleven minutes into the second period Madden twisted and turned inside the box but with plenty of opposition company his shot was straight at Fon Williams who palmed upwas and then caught.

On 56 minutes the visiting keeper was caught out in spectacular fashion. A foul on Sam Foley gave Yeovil a free kick on the left corner of the box and with Fon Williams too far left, Upson lifted the set piece up and over the wall and beyond the keeper's desperate dive.

With 20 minutes later the former Ipswich Town youngster was given too much space to control Luke Ayling's pass. Spotting Fon Williams off his line, Upson chipped him only for the ball to come crashing back off the underside of the bar.

In a rare Tranmere attack on 75 minutes, substitute Cole Stockton got the better of Burn only to lose his bottle when faced with Stech, not even shooting.

A minute before time an overhit corner found Dawson on the far side of the box and his cross flashed across goal, with Fon Williams waving at it.

It was to prove Yeovil's final chance as they controlled four minutes of injury time to win by a margin that easily have been more.

MATCH STATS

Yeovil Town (4-4-2) - Stech; Ayling, Webster, Burn, McAllister; Dawson, Upson, Edwards, Foley; Madden, Hayter. Unused subs: Hinds, Blizzard, Williams, Stewart, Ralph, Fletcher.

Goal: Upson 57.

Bookings: Madden (unsporting behaviour).

Tranmere Rovers (4-4-2) - Fon Williams; Holmes, Goodison, Taylor, Bakayogo; O'Halloran (Palmer, 63), Corry, Power, Bell-Baggie (Amoo, 63); Akpa Akpro, Sidibe (Stockton, 43). Unused subs: Black, Harrison, Daniels, Mooney.

Bookings: Bakayogo (foul), Goodison (unsporting behaviour).

Ref: Darren Sheldrake (Middlesex).

Att: 4,826.

YEOVIL TOWN 1-0 TRANMERE ROVERS - IN PICTURES

Yeovil Town 1-0 Tranmere Rovers - match photos by Mike Kunz