April 2026 (Page 2)

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York City go in to the final day top of the pile after a 3-0 win over a patched up Yeovil Town side who finish their away day schedule with a bit of a damp squib in North Yorkshire, here are Ben’s Five Conclusions.

We showed relatively good discipline in defence.

York have an abundance of quality in every department and move the ball with such ease and pace in the opposition half the result itself was probably no great shock. But, with so many players missing and literally nothing to play for, I was pleased with how the back three (or five) and those in front of them kept their shape and discipline in the first half to nullify the waves of attack – for the most part – not pretty, but it really was the only way we could go about it.

Brett McGavin and Dan Ellison | Pic by Gary Brown

Tired legs, tired minds.

We’re knackered. Properly knackered, and I know we’ve been saying it for weeks (months?) but I think this was the first time I’d seen tired minds too. We didn’t play to the whistle for the first goal (more on that in a moment), and assumed the play would stop for the second ball on the field, countless times we lost a battle and you could see it take that little bit longer to fight back into position. We made two or three excellent blocks in the area by players who had made the error to create the chance for York. Effort remained high, execution wasn’t always there.

The ref wasn’t very good.

In a game with such an imbalance, you need an official who keeps things level. Mr Drysdale played the occasion more than once.

The two ball situation was odd because both were in the same area of play, should Yeovil have played to the whistle? Yes. Should there have been a whistle? Probably. Would there have been a whistle if the teams attacking were reversed? Almost certainly.

Josh Stones got a yellow card for an early challenge that fit an ‘orange card’ on another occasion that’s given as a red. There’s definitely contact on Will Merry in the penalty area, he makes a lot of it, but it’s a penalty. Ollie Banks got three or four final warnings before finally getting booked for being a constant menace off the ball, there was a definite handball in the build up to the second goal. Sour grapes, yeah sure, but the least you want is a level playing field. It’s hard not to feel harshly treated.

Page showed what we might have been missing.

What a pleasant little cameo from Jonathon Page. Some neat little touches in midfield, a real little terrier attitude in the battle, against some giants he more than put himself about and you have to wonder if he might have been something of an asset all along had he been fit.

Merry showed why he’s an option beyond this season

Will Merry didn’t really get into the game first half, playing right in front of the dugouts, he had a tough time getting on the ball, but in the second period he really upped it getting at the York defence on a number of occasions. The more I see of him the more I think he’s exactly the sort of player who we should be looking at to supplement our attack next season, glides with the ball, attack minded and has a physical element to his game too.

Will Merry on the attack

I could write about Jed Ward being ridiculous for the level, but you knew that. I could write about 200+ fans in the away end who drew praise from the home side’s press pack at the end of the game, but you knew that. I could talk about our injury problems mounting up again with McCoy-Splatt’s shoulder popping out, but you knew that.

I’m exhausted (you knew that too), the lads are exhausted, the gaffer is exhausted, let’s get this post-season friendly against Solihull out the way and get next season rolling… after a little nap though, yeah?

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Billy Rowley said his side are ‘limping over the line’ as the Glovers fell to a 3-0 defeat to top of the league York City. A(nother) tap in from Ollie Pearce, a Josh Stones strike and a stoppage time goal from Joe Grey consigned Yeovil to defeat, but was not enough to clinch the League for York as Rochdale grabbed a late winner at Braintree.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins, Rowley, who added Terrell Works to Delano McCoy-Splatt to the injury list, said his side didn’t do themselves ‘justice’.

“We’ve lost to potential champions today. You can see that they’re obviously a top team. Every single player – including all subs that came on – are incredible footballers. They can handle the ball, you can’t really get close to them, they just roll you and spin and twist and turn and [are] unbelievably comfortable in possession, really well coached. Some of their timings of movements and stuff are excellent and in order to match that, you have to be the very best version of yourself with all players available,” he said.

“I said it a couple of weeks ago, we’re sort of limping to the line at the minute. We’ve got another injury yesterday in training, Terrell felt his hamstring, had to be left out the squad. We’ve got two young academy boys on the bench. Even Dak, today he was told he could only play like 45, 60 minutes. So look, I’ve got the violin out here a little bit. We’ve been beaten by a far better team, far more equipped to win this division than we are. And rightfully 3-0 winners.

There was a moment before half time where Will Merry could have had a penalty and Rowley – albeit clutching at straws – felt a decision there could have made a difference.

“I think back to just before half-time – I’m clutching a little bit – but Will Merry goes in the box and I think if you’ve got the home advantage there, it’s probably a penalty. So you go in at 1-1 and it’s like, “okay, game on.” But instead, they go down the other end two minutes later and score, and you’re now 2-0 down and it’s game over really. So look, really disappointed. Fantastic place to play football. Didn’t do ourselves justice, but like I say, we’re kind of limping over the line at the minute.”

McCoy-Splatt joined the injury list during the game with a dislocated shoulder, meaning the Glovers boss introduced Jonathan Page earlier than planned, but Rowley though Page did well: “[I] thought he was really good when he came on. He’s a very intelligent footballer. I think him and Brett [McGavin]…[it’s a] shame they haven’t played more together. They’ve got two really good football brains and I think they’ve got a good relationship and understanding of how they see football. So [we] could probably play some nice stuff with them in the team and it’s not been a lot of minutes we’ve had them on the pitch together. Pagey got us in a couple of times, some decent balls over the top. It’s nice to see him back out there.”

That was Yeovil’s final away trip of the season, with next week’s match at Huish against Solihull the last in what has felt like a long season, and Rowley said he’s learned a lot.

Yeah, [I’m] pretty exhausted. It’s been really tough. Coming in in the winter time where it’s, 4°C outside [and the] pitches aren’t amazing, you’re trying to implement new ideas and new styles every day. We then hit a spell in the season where we were doing well in the Trophy and we were just playing every three or four days, so we didn’t have a chance to train loads. I’ve learned loads about the league, about what it takes to win at places like this. So it’s been an incredible experience for me and I’ll definitely be starting next season a lot stronger for it.”

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Yeovil Town lost their final away game of the season 3-0 to York City, who thought they had the league wrapped up at the LNER Community Stadium.

Here’s how things fared in North Yorkshire.

First half

Within the opening five minutes, York carved out two chances with Ollie Pearce going close and then Josh Stones stinging the palms of Jed Ward.

The front two harried the Yeovil back line throughout the opening 15 minutes with Stones a physical presence. He picked up a yellow card in the 18th minute for a over-zealous tackle on Dakarai Mafico.

Josh Stones on the turn inside the opening stages.

With 23 minutes played the inevitable happened as the visitors’ defence switched off from a quick throw in and Ollie PEARCE popped up with a header for his customary goal against Yeovil. Controversial though as replays appear to show there were two balls on the pitch just before the ball hit the net.

Ten minutes later, an error from Mafico almost gifted York a second as Malachi Fagan-Walcott tried to showboat inside the area, giving Yeovil the opportunity to clear.

There was a period as the game progressed we at least had a spell of pressure but, aside from a corner thanks to the efforts of James Daly, it did not lead to much. A hush fell around the LNER Community Stadium – which was pretty quiet as it was – as news of title rivals Rochdale taking the lead at Braintree Town filtered through.

But with two minutes remaining until half-time, they were back on their feet as Josh STONES doubled their lead. Unsurprisingly it was all about the power and persistence as he thumped home a second.

Half time: York City 2 Yeovil Town 0

Second half

If the task was not great enough, it got tougher as both Mafico and Delano McCoy-Splatt were withdrawn replaced by Harvey Greenslade and the lesser spotted Jonathon Page.
The first chance of the second half actually fell to Yeovil with Troy Perrett firing over the bar with two minutes gone.
But, with 52 minutes on the clock Jed Ward had the opportunity to show the television cameras what an excellent keeper he is. First making a great stop to push away an effort from Banks and then an even better one to keep out the rebound effort from Stones.
York defender Mark Kitching put an effort in to the side netting on the hour mark before Ward did well to deny another effort from Stones with his feet. Going the other way, Will Merry was against a bright spark down the left side. I like that his first instinct is to go forward whenever he gets the ball.
Will Merry on the attack
As the game pressed towards its conclusion, York brought on four substitutes with quality additions including Joe Grey and Greg Olley coming.
With two minutes of normal time, the previously silent (we’ll put it down to nerves) home support exploded in to life as news came from Braintree that they had pulled level against Rochdale. The title was coming to Yorkshire.
Two minutes in to second half stoppage Joe GREY curled home a third to add to the fervour inside the stadium.
The final whistle sounded with the home crowd waiting expectantly for the final whistle to sound a Braintree – only to hear that Rochdale had got a winner in the ninth minute of stoppage time. The title will be decided next Saturday when the two meet for a winner takes all tie.

Full time: York City 3 Yeovil Town 0

Match Details

Venue: LNER Community Stadium
Date: Saturday 18th April, 5.30pm kick-off

Competition: National League Premier Division

Scorers: Ollie Pearce 23 (0-1), Josh Stones 42 (0-2), Joe Grey 90+2 (0-3)

Pitch: Overall good despite the funny blue lines
Conditions: A beautiful Spring day

Attendance: 8219 (209 away supporters)

Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Dan Ellison 58
York City: Josh Stones 18, Hiram Boateng 76

Referee: Darren Drysdale

Yeovil Town

Substitutes: Jonathon Page (for Dakarai Mafico, 46), Harvey Greenslade (for Delano McCoy-Splatt, 46), Jaydon Biss (not used), Ollie Hughes (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

York City: Harrison Male, Ollie Banks, Hiram Boateng, Ben Brookes, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Alex Hunt, Zack Johnson, Jeff King, Mark Kitching, Ollie Pearce, Josh Stones.

Substitutes (not used): Daniel Batty, Ryan Fallowfield, Joe Grey, Callum Howe, Alex Newby, Greg Olley, George Sykes-Kenworthy.

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Cardiff City loan midfielder Dakarai Mafico returns to the Yeovil Town starting XI for today’s trip to title-chasing York City (5.30pm kick-off).
There is no place for Terrell Works with a hamstring worry keeping the Fulham loanee out of the squad.
There are just five players named on the Glovers’ substitutes bench for the fixture.

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It’s the final away game of the season as Yeovil Town travel to York City for an evening kick off.

FORM…

YEOVIL TOWN

The Glovers have been very up and down all season and with the campaign drawing to a close it is no different. However, over the last five fixtures it has been more down than up, as they have lost three, won one and lost one.

It was in the last game that Yeovil provide that single draw, as they took on FC Halifax Town at Huish Park. The game was far from a fun watch, with it finishing 0-0. Neither side really threatened to break the deadlock with Halifax’s goalscorer-in-chief Will Harris being kept quiet by a none other than Jed Ward. Now, that is an achievement in itself to be fair to Billy Rowley‘s men, but as the story has been all season with Yeovil, finding the back of the net was a struggle.

Ryan Jones vs Halifax
Pic C/O Gary Brown

YORK CITY

It’s been a story of success for the Minstermen this season, as they top the league with just the four defeats in 44 games. If that record wasn’t enough for the Yorkshire side, they have scored 110 goals to date, yes you read that right. Both those impressive records have led to 104 points for City, two points ahead of second place Rochdale.

Last time out for York, it was a more quiet affair for them on the goal front with just a 0-1 win over a strong Tamworth side. The Minstermen only goal of the game came through Ollie Pearce, more on him later.

KEY PLAYERS…

YEOVIL TOWN – JED WARD

Once again, I’m picking the brick wall that is Ward. As with every other week, he is key to whether Yeovil get a good result or not. Unfortunately for him, he can’t really rely on the defenders in front of him to keep Ollie Pearce at bay, due to more rotation of the backline and the quality of Yorks attack. The way the Glovers will ruin the party is if the young shot stopper plays one of his best games of the season.

From selfish point of view, Ward will be wanting to put in a top performance to prove to his parent club, Bristol Rovers, he is worth the chance or potentially a move elsewhere. Ward vs Pearce will hopefully be a very good matchup for both sets of fans.

YORK CITY – OLLIE PEARCE

Picking just a single player in a side that could go onto break many of the National League’s records is hard. But it was impossible to overlook Pearce when it comes to the most influential player. The striker has been in no uncertain terms out of this world this season, bagging himself just the 33 goals to date.

Ollie Pearce in action against Yeovil.
Pic – Gary Brown

The 30-year-old has been on a bit of a baron spell, if you can call it that, with just three goals in his last five games. Last time out he even broke a drought of two games without a goal. The Glovers defence will have their backs against the wall this Saturday facing one of the most feared strikers outside the football league.

THE GAFFER…

Stuart Maynard is the man in charge at the York Community Stadium. The 45-year-old is no stranger to putting up title challenges after guiding Notts County to the League Two playoffs last season. Maynard could be considered unlucky in his dismissal at County after losing in the semi-finals to AFC Wimbledon.

Before joining The Magpies, the former midfielder spent three years as manager at Wealdstone United, in what was his first step into first team management.

LAST TIME WE MET…

York have had the run of the results when the two sides have met in recent seasons. In the most recent fixture between the two teams, York won convincingly 1-3 at Huish Park. Ollie Pearce opened the scoring that day with a penalty in the 25th minute, Ollie Banks then doubled the lead nine minutes later. The Glovers looked to get back into the game on 77 minutes when Luke McCormick pulled one back, before Jake Wannell scored an own goal to seal the game for York.

Luke McCormick scrambles the ball home against York
Pic – Gary Brown

When the previously faced off at the York Community Stadium, the game finished 4-0 to the Minstermen. An Ollie Pearce hat-trick and a Tyrese Sinclair goal that day saw off a depleted Yeovil side.

DON’T I KNOW YOU…

There is one very familiar face in the York side, Morgan Williams. A tough one for the Glovers to stomach, as this will the first time we will have seen the defender since he joined York from Yeovil in January.

Williams was a stalwart for the Glovers amassing 172 appearances across a seven year spell. Those seven years started with two loans in the 19/20 and 20/21 seasons, before joining on a free in from Coventry in the summer of 2021.

I think I can speak for all fans in giving a warm welcome to Williams when he faces off against us on Saturday.

Morgan Williams celebrating Yeovil Towns National league out title win.
Morgan Williams celebrating Yeovil Towns National league out title win.

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…

Darren Drysdale will be the man with the whistle on Saturday, for more on him and his team read Ben’s article here.

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Striker Harvey Greenslade is hoping he can finish the season with Yeovil Town well, but has admitted he will have to “see what happens” about his future at Huish Park.

The former Bristol Rovers frontman was the first signing of the summer of 2024 when he joined on a two-year deal following his release from the Memorial Ground and is one of a number of players who is out-of-contract this year.

He has managed just two goals in his 39 appearances this season, the same tally he managed last season, and his last goal came back at the end of August.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins ahead of Saturday’s trip to title-chasing York City, he admitted playing under four different managers – Mark Cooper, Richard Dryden, Danny Webb and now Billy Rowley – and not made it easy.

He said: “It’s been a bit hectic, I’ve not really had that before. I’m still young, so maybe I’ve not been as experienced as some of the other lads. With all the managers coming in, you want to play well for them, but they have all been really good to me. I wouldn’t say it has felt unstable, but we’ve all been a little bit in limbo at points, but now the ship’s a little bit steadied (under Rowley) and we want to make some progress and finish as high as we can. For me, I feel like I’ve played well at points and at times I could have been better, but I just want to do the best I can while I’m here for the last two weeks and see what happens going forward.”

Harvey Greenslade celebrates a goal.
Harvey Greenslade celebrates scoring his first goal of the season against Gateshead on Bank Holiday Monday. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

The 22-year-old, who celebrated his birthday last week, has been asked to fill a number of different positions including at right wing-back in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at home to FC Halifax Town following a late injury to defender Kyle Ferguson in the pre-match warm-up.

Asked about his role, he said: “Whenever you’re called upon you’ve just got to give your all. Obviously, I’m a striker, but then I’ll be thrown in at right wing-back and you’ve got to do a job.  As long as I can help the team out, I’m not going to complain and I think people know that.

“It’s all about learning,  I just turned 22 and it’s all about getting more experience and helping the team while I’m here. I am just trying to improve as much as I can, taking on new things from some of the more experienced lads like Brett (McGavin) and Jake (Wannell). It’s just going to be a bit of a learning curve this season, but anything can help me improve then obviously I’ll take it on board.”

Yeovil have just two more fixtures remaining of the National League Premier Division season and travel to title-chasing York City on Saturday knowing their place in the division is already secured. The Minstermen could seal promotion to the Football League after more than two decades away if they win and second-placed Rochdale do not get maximum points at already relegated Braintree Town at the weekend.

Greenslade said: “I think these last two games for us are about expressing ourselves. Obviously, the lads have points to prove going forward, so we can put on a good show for the fans that are going to travel up and hopefully they get to see the net bulge and we can celebrate afterwards. I feel like one thing I’ll always do is give 100%. I think whether it’s to the gaffer, I want to show that I’m a professional player who can always give his all when I’m called upon and I’ll do my best.

“To me, it’s just another game we want to win. We could be playing Brackley and it would be the same kind of mindset. I feel like everyone’s going to be watching this game and looking at it and thinking “Okay, Yeovil drew to Rochdale a couple of months back and they could do the same to York.” Obviously it’ll be a tough test, they’re a top team with some good players. Some people might want it to go down to the last day, but if we can just go there and do our bit, get our three points and make our fans happy, then that’s what’s important to me.“

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​Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has said the work to build a squad capable of challenging for the National League play-offs next season has already started.

The Glovers travel to title-chasing York City at the weekend for their final away trip of the season before finishing the campaign off at home to Solihull Moors seven days later.

But, the boss told BBC Somerset report Josh Perkins that his work will not stop when the final whistle sounds at Huish Park. He said: “We’re looking at the squad (to) rebuild for next season. We’re going to be in the office now all day looking at more things, not only on York but for the next few weeks and how that pans out. It’s a never-ending journey that we’re on.

“Obviously a lot of these lads will be remaining or some of them will be staying and we’ll be looking to bring in some fresh faces. I feel like the team is in need of a little bit of a rebuild, but we also want to reward the lads that have performed well this season. It’s going to be a mix of the two and we very much look forward to that.

“It’s something that I’ve done before personally; two years ago (at former club Walton & Hersham) I had to rebuild a team with three or four players and that season finished in the play-offs. I’m not going to say that’s going to necessarily happen next year, but that will be the aim and we’re going to aim high and we’re going to try and get some really good players in.“

On loan forward Terrell Works goes close in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at home to FC Halifax Town. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

In their first season back after at Premier Division level last season, the Glovers finished 18th and, even if they pick up maximum points in their final two fixtures, they are unlikely to break in to the top half of the division.

Asked about his play-off ambitions, Rowley added: “I would stand probably alongside another 14 to 15 managers in this division that would say the same. We don’t want to be a team, we don’t want to be a club that just turns up and makes the numbers up. When the league starts  in August, we want to be winning every match and we want to be at the top end of the league and this club and this support base deserves that.

“It’s been an incredible learning opportunity for me in these past four months to learn loads about the level and about the players that I’m working with on a day-to-day basis and the support base. There’s nothing more I would like than in this time next year we’re having conversations than to be a team at the top end of the table and not talking about achieving 50 points because that’s not where we want to be.“

The Glovers expect to have on loan Cardiff City midfielder Dakarai Mafico available for the trip to York and Rowley revealed captain Jake Wannell has been testing his injury to see whether he will be fit. Fellow central defender Kyle Ferguson, who limped off after picking up an injury in the pre-match warm-up before last Saturday’s goalless draw at home to FC Halifax Town, has also been in training and will be “touch and go” for York.

Captain Jake Wannell could return at York on Saturday. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown

The Glovers will be playing in front of a sell-out home crowd on Saturday as their hosts have a chance of clinching the title and a return to the Football League after 22 years away. They sit two points ahead of second-placed Rochdale, who travel to already relegated Braintree Town at the weekend, with the top two due to face each other in what could be a winner-takes-all final fixture.

Rowley said: “We can go to York on Saturday and play with the shackles off and try and be ourselves and cause an upset. With the greatest of respect for what them and Rochdale are trying to achieve, but we’re going there to win the game and play well.

“I think the natural thing to do when you’re towards the bottom end of the table is kick it long and play scared and play for set pieces and waste time and we’ve never done that. We’ve not been brilliant, we’ve not scored enough goals and we probably haven’t created as many chances as we’d like, but we’ve been brave in our build-up. We kept the boys trying to stay on the same patterns as we’ve been working on all season.

“We haven’t thrown those out the window and when it goes well for us, I think of like Tamworth at home, Morecambe at home we looked really good. So that’ll just be the message on Saturday really: keep doing what you’re doing, just do it slightly better.“