Rowley: “Good times will come here”
Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has said that if his team continue to put in performances like Saturday’s then Glovers fans will soon see good times at Huish Park.
For the first time this season, Yeovil secured a point from a losing position, whilst at the same time, ensuring that Rochdale dropped point from a winning position, also for the first time.
Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset’s Jack Killah after the game he said that he was proud of his side.
“We went down to ten men for the second game in a row, which has obviously infuriated me and some of the boys, but look, that’s part of football.
So, we had to deal with it, we had to adapt, and I’m really proud of the boys that were on the pitch. You saw boys pulling up with cramp, they were trying to galvanise each other, they were sticking together, and it’s just everything you want to see in the team. So I’m really proud of the lads to hang on against a team that I’ve just been told haven’t given up a leading position all season.
It’s a great header from Finn, and then we actually played some decent enough football, I thought Dak [Mafico] and Brett [McGavin] really controlled the game in some of our build-up, I thought they were really brave and took the ball well. I thought Macca was very clever, and Troy was very clever with how they were trying to like create attacks for us.
But look, putting the whiteboard away, it was just about heart and endeavor when we went down to ten, sadly for the second game in a row, and we’ve hung on.”
The game took a dramatic turn when Aaron Jarvis was shown a straight red card barely ten minutes after coming on to the pitch, leaving the Glovers with just ten men for the final 20 minutes. The gaffer said that he is frustrated to have lost a player for the second game running.
“I have to be honest, I’ve not seen it back, so I’m going to have to go and watch that back before I can comment. In terms of how we’ve deal with that internally, I’ll always deal with that with the lads in the dressing room and the club.
But naturally, as well as everybody that cares about this football club, I’m, I’m frustrated by it, I’m annoyed by it, but I can’t really, I can’t really say much more until I see it.”
Yeovil’s goal came from Finn Cousin-Dawson, who’s looping header drew the Glovers back level minutes after going behind.
[it’s a] great header, great loopy header. It was almost perfect, really. I think if you power that header, the goalie’s going to save it.
It’s a great header, but it was probably a bit lucky. But it’s a great goal, and yeah, it gave us, it gave us a bit of confidence and it’s something that I obviously mentioned in my post-match after Boreham Wood. I want the lads, I really want the lads to play with more bravery and courage, and I felt like we did that today. I felt like we were happy to, to take the ball, felt like some of Jed’s bravery and his starting position was really good, and I appreciate that modern football is a little bit, it’s cat and mouse at times and it can be quite boring, but I can promise our fans that we’re always looking to score goals.
Like, we’re always looking to score goals, and that’s sometimes dependent on how much the opposition press or give us space in certain areas. But you know, we’re, we’re definitely a work in progress still. I saw loads of positives today, and and I think that, you know, the supporters, if they stay behind us and they support us like they did today, they’re going to see some good times here.
Pic c/o Gary Brown
On Declan Skura’s second half debut, he said;
“He had to defend his box and and, you know, I know of Dec, I actually coached some players, I think I might have coached Dec when he was about 12 years old, when I used to work at an academy, and we bumped into each other one or two times, and then I’ve obviously followed his career, and the guys that I know at Wycombe are convinced that he’s a, he’s a football league player. I think you can see that, I like everything about him, his composure, his stature, the way he stays on the ball and defends, and he hasn’t really played much football because of injuries this season, but you know, we have 17 left, he’s obviously eligible for the Trophy as well, which is going to be massive for us, and I think, I think after three, four, five games, we’re going to see, you know, an incredible defender in this shirt.
Joy [Mukena] came in from Crawley a few weeks ago, he’d had a couple of hamstring injuries himself, he was, he probably shouldn’t have been playing as much as I’ve needed to use him, but due to injuries and because Joy’s played so well, I’ve probably picked him more times than I should have.
So he was really fatigued after Boreham Wood, he probably shouldn’t have started that game, but he dug in deep and the plan was today always to play 45 each.”
Injuries are starting to play a part for the side with Josh Tobin expected to have an elongated spell out of the side, but Billy Rowley said that there will be players back in contention soon.
“I’ve got to give a massive shout actually to Josh Tobin, who came in on loan, and I think Josh is, is one of the most unlucky players with his injuries ever. He got a knock on his ankle at Altrincham, and I think he’s basically out for the season now.
So, it was great timing that we got Dec, we worked really hard to get that sorted. We didn’t know Josh was going to be out for as long as he was, so that leaves us a body short. John Page managed to sit on the bench today, probably shouldn’t have, but he will be back for Tuesday if not definitely Saturday. Whitts is very close to full training, Jarvs was obviously back until today, so we’re going to be okay.”
