AS JOE Murphy cast a despairing gaze into the Glanford Park turf six minutes from the end of the Iron's FA Cup lesson at the hands of Everton on Saturday, the Irishman must have felt the loneliest man in the world.

Beaten for the fifth time by the Premier League Toffees there was nowhere to hide, particularly given the large amount of open space in front of him, one reason why, time and time again, the Blues had been allowed to test an overworked Scunthorpe United keeper.

Sympathy from the stands at Glanford Park was in short supply, but from a former Iron custodian it will have been plentiful.

That's because Tommy Evans has been in the exact same position.

A rookie 20-year-old, schooled at Sheffield United, Evans was thrown into the limelight when United travelled to Goodison Park looking to overturn a 1-0 first leg defeat in the Coca-Cola Cup over 13 years ago.

A head injury to experienced number one Tim Clarke during a 2-0 win against Hull City days earlier was the reason for the Yorkshireman's sudden elevation to the starting line-up.

Reluctant to accept the task was daunting, despite lining up against established names such as Dave Watson, Graham Stuart and Gary Speed, as well as opposite number Neville Southall, Evans was beaten five times on Merseyside.

Yet despite the scoreline, it is an occasion that he insists is memorable for all the right reasons.

"I managed to get a video of the game, though I've honestly not watched it for many, many years," Evans recalled to the Telegraph.

"Had I not known I'd had a decent game, it could possibly have affected my confidence, but I thought I played well, which made it easier.

"Had I had a bad game, it could have affected me, because no-one wants to concede five goals, especially on your debut.

"I really enjoyed our game, despite the scoreline. Because it was my first game, I'm obviously going to have very fond memories of it.

"It's always easier looking back, but I'm sure at the time I was really nervous, but I'd known I was going to be playing because Tim Clarke had picked up a head injury a couple of days before which helped me get my head around it.

"I remember a lot about the game. We'll not say that Brian Laws had a bad game, but I think he did!

"Obviously we got tonked 5-0, so 5-1 the other day is actually a slight improvement."

To read about Evans' highs and lows during his nine years at Glanford Park, why the 34-year-old has fallen out of love with football and for a look back at the Iron's 1997-98 season, see the latest Whatever Happened To.... feature in Wednesday's Scunthorpe Telegraph.