March 2026 (Page 2)

Yeovil Town boss Billy Rowley urged supporters to stick with his team after they picked up another vital three National League points with a 2-0 home win over Tamworth at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

The Glovers responded to the disappointment of Saturday’s FA Trophy exit at the hands of lower league Southport with a controlled performance which was settled by a superb solo goal from Ryan Jones just before half-time and a strike from loan defender Declan Skura ten minutes after the break.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins after the game, Rowley said: “I think it’s important to remind everyone, Darren (Simpson, assistant manager) and I, have only been here just over three months, we have not had loads of time to work with the players and the position we are in the league we have been in a little bit of a scrap at times.

“Confidence was is low and it’s been hard to  really embed our ideas on the pitch and that’s natural. Being the fourth manager this season and (with the players) having had so many different voices. So, it is obviously two good (league) wins and I would say, stick by us because I feel like we’re going to come good.“

Facing an organised Tamworth side, Yeovil had to bide their time to find a breakthrough and it came from a moment of magic from Jones who took a superb first touch to control a sumptuous pass from Brett McGavin, then beat two defenders who rocketing in the opener with 40 minutes on the clock.

Rowley said he had “a really good feeling” about his side from the opening minutes of the game and described Jones, who joined in mid-January, as “a wizard.” He added: “I was watching hours of him a couple of months ago. Jamie (Hedges, Yeovil’s Head of Recruitment) nudged me on him and I was watching him for ages and that’s what you see with him, like he glides with the ball. He’s very rare because he’s a left-footed player that can play on the left and still drive both ways, which is quite rare to see. He opens up a lot of options for us and he was really good tonight.“

Skura added the second ten minutes after the half-time break when the on loan Wycombe Wanderers man struck home after visiting keeper Jas Singh had turned McGavin’s free-kick on to the bar.

Rowley said: “I said in my first interview when Declan arrived, once he gets fit and familiar with the place and the boys, he’s going to be a top centre-back for us and I think he’s proving that. I can’t really think of a bad game he’s had really. For him to step into the building after four or five months on the treatment table, he’s now fit, he’s feeling good and he’s able to play 90 minutes and yeah, he looks like a Rolls Royce at times.

“I thought we got good early pressure on their back line and it resulted to them flipping a lot of balls in the air and I felt like we covered each other well and we dealt with first contacts well. And then I think Brett (McGavin), Dak (Mafico), and then Finn (Cousin-Dawso) when he came on were really good at mopping up and smoothing out the second ball. All-round it was really pleased with the defensive display, we were well organised and everybody’s dug in and done their job.”

The result moved Yeovil up to 14th in the National League Premier Division table and re-established an eight point gap from the relegation places with games in hand over many of the teams below them.

They face sixth-placed Scunthorpe United at Huish Park on Saturday with the Lincolnshire outfit without a midweek fixture.

Rowley said: “When you lose games things are looked at as excuses and when you win they’re reasons, but we haven’t really been able to train too much at all since the Telford game (at the end of January). All the boys have been able to do is recover, play, recover, play. We have we’ve got a few new boys in there and we’re trying to teach them through video and illustrations and we haven’t been on the grass too much. Hopefully we can get through Scunthorpe and then we willhave a whole week of being on the training ground and being more familiar with what’s being asked. But I felt like the boys delivered everything that was asked today and really happy for them.“

Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has told his side to “roll our sleeves up and get some results” as they take on Tamworth looking to add to their National League Premier Division points tally.

The Glovers dropped to 18th place in the division, five points above the relegation places albeit with games in hand, as they played in the FA Trophy last weekend.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins ahead of kick-off, Rowley said: “Sadly we are not really training that much because of the schedule. Those not familiar with a professional footballing schedule, sadly, you know, you can’t train every day. You obviously play on a Saturday, you rest on a Sunday, you recover on a Monday, and then you go play again Tuesday. So we haven’t trained anywhere near as much as I’d like and sometimes that shows on the pitch. 

“We need to just sort of roll our sleeves up and get some results at the moment. We’re still massively interested in playing a good brand of football and we want to like be better with the ball. But without loads of training time, that’s obviously hard.“

The boss confirmed young Fulham attacker Terrell Works misses out tonight as he is suffering with the flu whilst striker Tahvon Campbell, who started the penalty shoot-out defeat at Southport in the FA Trophy last weekend, is on the bench after picking up “a slight knock on his calf.”

Rowley said: “I just tried to freshen up the legs of the team. Sadly, Terrell Works has the flu and a sore throat, so he can’t be involved tonight, which is a real shame because the last couple of games he’s been really good for us and adds a lot of creativity in the team.”

Asked about the decision to send defender Dan Ellison back out on a one-month loan to Weston-super-Mare despite the Glovers struggling for numbers, Rowley described the decision as “a bit of miscommunicated” saying Ellison’s return to the squad at Southport and immediate return to Weston was always the plan.

He said: “Dan came back just to help us out with the FA Trophy game. We obviously have a decent amount of defenders, so rather than him sit and watch us play, he obviously wants to go out and play some minutes, which he’s been doing well there. That’s it really, he’s gone back to carry on his loan.“