July 2026

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At the end of the 2025/26 season, the Gloverscast launched our end of season survey, with a wide range of questions for Yeovil Town fans to answer.

Topics ranged from the success of the manager(s) and some of the key topics that circle around the club at the moment, including land ownership, training facilities and long term prospects. Here are just some of the key takeaways that came from the 341 responses.
Thank you to each and every one for having your say, as ever with the Gloverscast polls, all results were on a 1-7 scale, where seven is the best and one is the worst.

A BIT ABOUT YOU!

Over 53% of respondents were aged 54 or over, with just 18.5% of those falling into a category that made them under the age of 35.

Over 90% identified as male. 46% were season ticket holders, with that number sneakIing above 50% for those who have had a season ticket in the last five years.

What’s more you’re a loyal bunch, when asked what makes the difference for you when buying a season, well over a third of you said you’d go regardless of how things are going on or off the pitch.

Second place consideration was the cost of tickets, followed by the quality of the squad,

HUISH PARK

Onto the place we call home, and on the whole, things feel pretty good. By the end of last season, most of you think the facilities are well looked after, with 127 of you scoring this subject a five, six or seven, that’s four more than those who scored it one, two or three combined. The mean score of this works out at almost exactly four out of seven (3.96 to be precise)

As for value for money, it’s a similar story with scores of four and five tied level in terms of responses.

Let’s get into the match day experience shall we?

Here’s some of the key scores from the survey, the vast, vast majority of you feel safe at Huish Park and that on the whole, the stewarding team are good.

Personal Safety                       ███████████████████████████████████████████ 6.4
Steward Team                           █████████████████████████████████████       5.6

When asked to break down the value and options of food and drink of a match day, there were slightly fewer high grade scores then when asked to consider overall value for money (above).
Overall Value For Money saw 167 responses offer a five, six or seven. When specific to food, that dropped slightly to 142.

Most (118) people gave the quality of food served on match days a score of four out of seven, 162 scored higher, just 61 scored lower.

Similar story with regards to the quality of drink, 111 people scored four, 179 scored higher, just 51 scored beverage quality lower than a 4/7.

Badger’s Bar at Huish Park (Pic C/O Gary Brown)

THE MANAGERS

This one might take a while!

We asked you if you were happy with the appointment of Billy Rowley – remember this was before a single player was signed and before a single pre-season ball was kicked.

Yes, was the answer – over 70% of those who responded offered the appointment of Billy Rowley and his team a six or seven out of seven. 17 votes scored the appointment below average.

We also asked you about the performance of Billy Rowley, Mark Cooper and Richard Dryden during the season as a whole, you can see below the difference between the two fully permanent managers. with most people offering a score of three for Dryden, the feeling is he probably comes out of a bonkers season on the right side of history given the tough circumstances, but that it was right to move on.

Billy Rowley | Pic by Gary Brown

THE 2025/26 SEASON

Overall, in a chaotic season, with four managers, a little too much flirting with the relegation zone but a run to the latter stages of the FA Trophy made a for a scattered, but fairly disappointing scale on the responses for this one.

THE FUTURE

Time for a big one.

There were two key takeaways from the questions regarding the future of Yeovil Town.

Glovers supporters want Huish Park back under club ownership and want to see the club return to training in Yeovil.

The Huish Park stadium situation scored almost a perfect 7/7, whilst a return to training in and around Yeovil not far behind with an average response of 6.4 out of 7.

The questions were asking supporter to say how much they agreed with the following statements;
“It is important for Yeovil Town to get ownership of the land back from the Council” and “It is important that YTFC return to training in Yeovil rather than in Bristol”

Prabhu Srinivasan
Pic C/O Gary Brown

Prabhu Srinivasan and his family, who now own Yeovil Town also formed part of the questioning, the vast majority (75%) recorded an above average score when asked if they thought the new Chairman was ‘a competent owner with the club at heart’.

Whilst there are far more of you who consider yourself optimistic about the future of the club than don’t.

The graph skews slightly to the left when asked to consider if the club ‘has a clear plan’, and how the club communicated throughout the season. Suggesting there is a fair amount of trust, and belief that the ownership is helping the club in the right direction, but a little more clarity and communication wouldn’t go amiss.

Media & Broadcast Consumption

The survey shows that the majority of those who responded visited the Gloverscast website daily (44.5%) whilst almost two thirds consider the Gloverscast a main source for Yeovil Town news and content (61.6%) – (We’re blushing here a bit, thank you….)

A huge majority (62.%) watched a grand total of 0 Yeovil Town games via the DAZN streaming platform last season, but plenty of you did take advantage of local radio output.

Only 20% of those who responded listened to 0 Yeovil Town games on the radio, almost a third of people listened to 11 or more fixtures via local radio. Proving that the support of local BBC continues to provide a vital resource for Glovers fans.

For those who did watch some of the DAZN output, the feeling of the quality was, at best, neutral, whilst the local Radio Coverage scored far more positively.

IN CONCLUSION

After a fairly crazy season, the sentiment is definitely on the turn to the positive following a chaotic season which saw just about every possible combination of feelings hit Yeovil Fans.

Yeovil fans, or at least the ones we survey, want to believe there is a positive future for the club both on and off the field, but have sent clear messages on Stadium Ownership, first team presence in the community.

There’s excitement around the appointment of Billy Rowley and people think there remains a connect between club and supporters whilst acknowledging that in terms of communication, community and value, there’s never any harm in saying more is more on these factors which form part of the fabric of the club’s philosophy.

Finally, we wanted to say thanks for the feedback that was Gloverscast, you said you enjoyed certain content – including the monthly quizzes (sorry, Dave) – you want more from us in terms of player interviews, more space for opinions and stats.

We hear your feedback and will look to develop more of the things you love seeing, hearing and reading.

We also asked you one question which really stood out to us. Are you proud of your club?

Well, this one speaks for itself.

The Thatcher’s Gold Stand at Huish Park. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

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Yeovil Town boss Billy Rowley admitted his side’s 2-2 draw at Merthyr Town will not teach them much about the National League Premier Division season which is in front of them.

The Glovers came back from going 2-0 behind to a double from former player Sam Pearson inside the first hour in South Wales with a superb strike from winger Mason Obeng and a penalty from striker Stephen Walker earning them a draw.

The game was played on a dry 3G pitch and Rowley admitted that neither the surface nor the style adopted by their opponents is likely to match many of the sides they will face when they kick-off their league campaign.

Talking to the club’s social media after the match, the manager said: “There was some boys who have never played on a 3G pitch before and we took our time to adapt, there are tricks of the trade which you can learn when you play on these pitches. You can spin balls around the corner and it grips, but it is quite difficult to get adjust to. But I did feel we lacked a bit of personality in the first half, we needed to get to the ball a bit better. I overheard some of the boys talking about that at half-time and one thing which contributed was some of our turnovers which is not something you want to be doing as much of. It’s our second friendly and some of the boys played in the first half, it is their second 45 minutes in the last three or four months, so not something I will look too deeply in to but it is something we can learn from.

“Second half we were decent. We had a bit more balance in the team with the positions we can play, we have completely mixed the teams up in both halves and I felt the second half we had a bit more balance. Full credit to Merthyr, they have had some good success here in the last few years and it was a difficult test for us. It was a unique game and not something we will face too often this season, but it was a good work-out.”

A beautiful view from the terrace at Penydarren Park on Tuesday night. Picture courtesy of Matt Howell.

Rowley confirmed the withdrawal of midfielder Luke McCormick after 37 minutes was a pre-planned move as the player continues his comeback from surgery on a groin injury which kept him out at the end of last season. He was replaced by trialist Jonathon Page late in the first half.

He also revealed that Bristol Rovers’ midfielder Kian Young, who featured from the start as Trialist D and then came back on in the second half to win the penalty kick, was on “a youth experience loan” at Huish Park. The 17-year-old featured in the 4-1 win at Melksham Town in the opening pre-season friendly on Saturday.

The manager said: “Macca has been out for a while following his groin operation. He is still fine but he has not done anything for five months, so playing on this surface was going to take too much out of him and we wanted to manage his minutes a little bit. It affected some of the roles and the balance of the team. Young Kian (Hill) helped us out, he is on a youth experience loan from (Bristol) Rovers and I thought he did well, but he also played out of position. We just needed to find a bit more balance in the second half and we did that.”

Having found themselves 2-0 down after an hour courtesy of two Pearson strikes, both set up by former Glovers’ midfielder Jacob Maddox, Yeovil began to find their feet and pulled a goal back through Obeng. Rowley believes the winger, who he managed at Walton & Hersham before his arrival in Somerset, will be a fans’ favourite.

He said: “He is a bit of a Brazilian really. He has that flair and he is an exciting player to watch, he had a lot of skill, he can use both feet and I thought his goal was excellent. I was right behind that goal, it started about three or four yards outside the post and he whipped it back in, great technique and that is something I have seen him do many times.”

There was also praise for Walker who scored his second goal in as many friendly appearances. Rowley added: “Ste is another I really enjoy watching play. He still looks like he needs another few weeks to get fully match fit and he is fully aware of that, but he took his penalty well.”

Yeovil’s pre-season campaign sees them face Cardiff City Under-21s in their first friendly fixture at Huish Park on Saturday with a 1pm kick-off. Rowley said he will learn the lessons of Tuesday night’s work-out against Merthyr, but reiterated he was not expecting to learn too much from the game.

He said: “I look forward to watching this game back, we put a drone up in the air to film it and the view looks incredible. This game is stylistically not what we are going to face much, a lot of National League teams are more direct and target players in the team. Merthyr are coached really well and switched the ball a lot, it will be nice to watch it back but it is probably not going to be as relevant as we need it to be.“

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Second half goals from summer signings Mason Obeng and a Stephen Walker penalty cancelled out a brace from old boy Sam Pearson to earn Yeovil Town a draw against National League North side Merthyr Town on Tuesday night.

The Glovers were undone by nearly identical goals with two former players, midfielder Jacob Maddox and Pearson, combining to put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time before doubling the advantage on the hour mark.

But, with the visitors’ XI change completely at half-time, fresh legs began to tell in the second half with the impressive Obeng reducing the advantage with a fine finish before trialist Kian Hill, the Bristol Rovers academy player, was brought down inside the box with ten minutes remaining and Walker stepped up to convert from the spot.

The trialists on display in South Wales were three of the four which we saw in the victory at Melksham, namely:

Trialist D – Kian Hill, a product of the Bristol Rovers academy who featured in the second half at the weekend, started at Merthyr and then came on again late in the second half to win the late penalty.

Trialist A – Jonathon Page, the midfielder who had an injury-plagued spell at Huish Park last season, appeared in the second half.

Trialist B – former Arsenal academy defender William Lannin-Sweet who was among the changes at half-time.

There was no place for Trialist C, experienced striker Rhys Healey, who went off with what looked like a knee injury at Melksham and was not risked on an artificial pitch at Penydarren Park. We will see if he re-appears when Cardiff City Under-23s come to Huish Park for the next friendly on Saturday.

First half

On a glorious night in South Wales, Yeovil shuffled the pack from the starting XI which began the 4-1 win at Melksham Town in the opening friendly on Saturday. Defenders Jack Kingdon and Loick Ayina, midfielders Johl Powell and Hayden Muller and striker Slavi Spasov all started alongside Bristol Rovers’ youngster Kian Hill, going under the codename ‘Trialist D’.

There were also plenty of familiar faces in the Merthyr line up with former Glovers Jay Foulston, Sam Pearson and Jacob Maddox all starting for the home side.

The first meaningful opportunity for either side fell to Luke McCormick who tried to catch out the Martyrs’ keeper Jaimie Cogman with a quick direct effort on 20 minutes and Pearson forced Jos Barker in to a save just before the half-hour mark and the winger flashed another effort wide a couple of minutes later.

Football is back and so are the terrible mascots, folks.
Picture courtesy of Rhys Rosser.

Hill/Trialist D came off with 32 minutes on the clock, replaced by Ryan Jones and then five minutes later it was McCormick who was replaced by Jonathon Page, aka Trialist A. Zain Westbrooke took the armband and it appears nothing more than protecting the star midfielder who missed a chunk of the end of last season with a groin injury on a very dry artificial surface.

With five minutes of the first half remaining, Kane Simpson hit an effort just wide and moments later Johl Powell burst through and forced a good stop from Cogman. No shortage of chances for both sides here.

But it took until the stroke of half-time for the deadlock to be broken and, no surprise, it was one of the former Glovers. In fact it was two who combined, midfielder Jacob Maddox caught Yeovil in possession on the halfway line and fed a well-timed pass through to Sam PEARSON who finished well for his first Merthyr goal.

Half-time: Merthyr Town 1 Yeovil Town 0

Second half

There was another shake-up of the starting XI with only trialist Jonathon Page remaining from the side which ended the first half for the Glovers. One of the new arrivals Mason Obeng showed his intent within five minutes of the restart as he got past the Merthyr defence and curled an effort which Cogman pushed behind for a corner.

Johl Powell went close soon after before Will Spiers caught trialist William Lannin-Sweet napping and his half-volley was tipped over the bar by goalkeeping coach Matt Gould, who was on Jos Barker at the interval.

But, on the hour mark the visitors created an repeat of the goal at the end of the first half to double the advantage. It was from a Yeovil attack and there was a lot of space down the left side for Maddox to feed Sam PEARSON and the Welshman coolly finished past Gould. The goal was against the run of play with Yeovil having started the half the stronger, but perhaps a sign of a defensive unit getting to know each other for the visitors.

Merthyr made a flurry of substitutions just after doubling their advantage making five changes before both Pearson and Maddox departed in separate changes.

It was a glorious night in South Wales.
Picture courtesy of Matthew Howell.

With 71 minutes played, Yeovil pulled a goal back. A  great move down the right with Ryan Jones making a beautiful driving run and picking out Mason OBENG who shot first time to put a beautiful curling effort in. Great move, great finish, that was what the visitors have been trying to do all night.

Eight minutes later, the Glovers were awarded a penalty after Kian Hill, who appeared to have snuck back on to the pitch without even the club’s social media noticing (got to love pre-season!), found himself inside the Merthyr area and was brought down inside the box. Stephen WALKER stepped up and fired it straight down the middle with Cogman diving.

The home team had the better of the first half, but the changes in both teams just after the hour mark saw Yeovil make the most of their fresh legs.

Full time: Merthyr Town 2 Yeovil Town 2

Teams:

First half – Yeovil Town:Jos Barker, Jack Kingdon, Loick Ayina, Hayden Muller, Jordan Norville-Williams, Zain Westbrooke, Johl Powell, James Daly, Kian Hill (for Ryan Jones, 32), Luke McCormick (for Jonathon Page, 37), Slavi Spasov.

Second half – Yeovil Town: Matt Gould, Dan Ellison, William Lannin-Sweet, Joe Gubbins, Archie Davies, Brett McGavin, Jonathon Page, Ryan Jones, Johl Powell (for Kian Hill, ??), Mason Obeng, Stephen Walker.

Merthyr Town: Jaimie Cogman, Callum Ryan-Phillips (for Matthew Harris, 62), Jay Foulston, Aneurin Livermore (for Trialist 2, 62), Ben Margetson (for Jay Williams, 62), Jacob Maddox (for Charlie Caswell, 73), Kane Simpson, Sam Pearson (for Trialist 1, 68), Jack Evans, Kian Evans (for Morgan Wigley, 62), Jamie Spiers (for Lee Lucas, 62), .

Scorers: Sam Pearson 45 (0-1), Sam Pearson 60 (0-2), Mason Obeng 71 (1-2), Stephen Walker pen 79 (2-2)

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Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has mixed up his starting XI for tonight’s pre-season friendly visit to National League South side Merthyr Town (7.30pm kick-off).

The Glovers boss hands starts to defender Jack Kingdon and Loick Ayina, midfielders Johl Powell and Hayden Muller and striker Slavi Spasov, who all featured in the second half of Saturday’s 4-1 win at Melksham Town in the opening friendly.

There is also a place for Trialist D which, if the unnamed men are taking the same letters as they did three days ago, would be Bristol Rovers youngster Kian Hill.

Yeovil Town: Jos Barker, Jack Kingdon, Loick Ayina, Hayden Muller, Jordan Norville-Williams, Zain Westbrooke, Johl Powell, James Daly, Trialist D (Kian Hill?), Luke McCormick, Slavi Spasov.

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Yeovil Town Women will play six friendlies and take part in a pre-season tournament as part of their 2026/27 preparations, starting with the visit of Bournemouth Sports on Sunday (19th July).

Dave Court’s side – fresh from winning the South West Regional Division One South title last season – will welcome the Dorset side to Huish Park, where they’ll face off on the 3G pitch at 2pm.

The game won’t be ticketed, but fans are encouraged come along to show their support, and pay what they can to see the action.

MAPS, Wimborne and Ridgeway will also visit Somerset, while away trips to Bridgwater and Barry, as well as a triangular tournament which will see the Glovers face Feniton and Appledore, have also been scheduled.

OppositionKick OffH/ACompetitionLocation
19.07.2026Bournemouth Sports2pmHomePre-Season FriendlyHuish Park 3G
26.07.2026MAPS2pmHomePre-Season FriendlyHuish Park 3G
02.08.2026Bridgwater Town2pmAwayPre-Season FriendlyTBC
09.08.2026Barry Town2pmAwayPre-Season FriendlyTBC
16.08.2026Wimborne Town2pmHomePre-Season FriendlyTBC
23.08.2026Feniton/Appledore12:30pmAwayPre-Season TournamentTBC
27.08.2026Ridgeway7:30pmHomePre-Season FriendlyTBC

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Yeovil Town boss Billy Rowley believes that midfielder Luke McCormick is on a mission to prove he is “one of the best players” in the National League in the coming season.

The 27-year-old missed the final two months of last season with a groin injury and returned with two goals in the first half of the Glovers’ 4-1 win at Melksham Town in their opening pre-season friendly on Saturday.

McCormick was handed the captain’s armband from the start and netted either side of new striker Stephen Walker’s opening goal for Yeovil before Brett McGavin added a fourth with a superb free-kick with 15 minutes remaining.

Speaking about McCormick to the club’s social media after the game, Rowley said: “It is so good to have Macca back. I feel there is a new lease of life in him, it was really devastating to lose him in the position we were in fighting for our lives last season. He is a top pro, he looks after himself and he has a hunger for football and scoring goals and we saw that in the first half.

“Daz (assistant manager Darren Simpson) and I were speaking at half-time and we felt like we had signed a new player that is better than (National League) level so I think there is a fire lit in him, he wants to be one of the best players in the league and I think he has that ability.”

Luke McCormick
Pic c/o Gary Brown

The boss also had praise for Walker, signed from National League North side Scarborough Athletic last month, for his finishing ability. He said: “The first thing I noticed when we were scouting Ste was he has the best chop in football. I spoke to an old friend of mine who played with him at MK Dons and that is the first thing he said about him, so we will get used to seeing that. I thought he was going to shoot with the second one and he’s chopped again, so he has even done me there. He is a real talent, his upbringing and pedigree speaks for itself and you can see the talent that he has.”

The Glovers lost defender Joy Mukena after just 26 minutes with the manager saying the defender has a hamstring issue. He said: “We were aware that Joy had been struggling, he has got a bit of a neural hamstring injury. He saw a specialist yesterday and we think we have got to the root of it and we are going to try and patch him up for the next few weeks. It is not massively serious, it is just something we are going to have to manage with him and figure out how we can get the best out of him without doing more harm.”

His replacement was William Lannin-Sweet, a 19-year-old defender released from Premier League champions Arsenal’s academy in the summer, who was one of four trialists who appeared at Melksham. Here’s the who’s who of Trialists A-D:

  • Trialist A – Jonathon Page: The midfielder is a familiar face to Glovers fans having spent the second half of last season at Huish Park, but his spell was dogged by injury and he managed just six appearances. He was spotted in pre-season training videos ahead of the opening friendly and Rowley explained his return. The boss said: “Jon came in to help us out last season and got injured in his first game which he was devastated about and he probably rushed back because he was desperate to play, probably a couple of weeks earlier than we should have. Then against Sutton, a game we won 3-2 late on, he had to come off in injury time with the same injury, he got a whack on an ankle ligament, he tried to get back again and played the last couple of games. He wanted to come back and prove himself and try and earn something. He is a top lad, all the boys love him, he looks top draw in training, so it was nice to see him out there.“
  • Trialist B – William Lannin-Sweet: Despite them being codenamed for the purposes of pre-season, Rowley was happy to discuss Lannin-Sweet’s performance. The teenager replaced Mukena and then re-appeared in the second half meaning he played more than an hour, more than any other player. The manager said: “Will Sweet. Brilliant, he has been at Arsenal all of his youth career so he has a top upbringing, he has a lovely left foot, he is very composed and despite being fairly slight he is very strong and uses his body well. I thought he was excellent.“
Trialist C Rhys Healey in action at Melksham Town.
  • Trialist C – Rhys Healey: Trialist C’s name was kept under wraps but is known to be the former Cardiff City striker who suffered a knock in the second half at Melksham and played on before coming off with a minute of normal time remaining. The 31-year-old has also been training with the Glovers after his contract at Huddersfield Town was cancelled by mutual consent in June after struggling with injuries. Healey’s pedigree is undoubted, he was top scorer in the French second division, Ligue 2, in the 2020/21 season and has a string of League clubs on his CV. But a knee injury has troubled him much of his career.
  • Trialist D – Kian Hill: A young Bristol Rovers midfielder who replaced Healey in the 89th minute of the match. The teenager made his debut for the Gas’ first-team last season and had impressed during a spell on loan at Step 4 side Bristol Manor Farm last season.

In summary, Rowley was pleased with his side’s start to pre-season, praising a number of players who appeared in a completely changed second half XI – with the exception of Lannin-Sweet who remained.

The boss said: “We have trained maybe eight times and, considering that we have only trained that many times, I thought we looked quite familiar with each other, some of our movement, timing and understanding of what we wanted was good and, apart from the 35 degree heat, the fitness levels were top. All in all it was a really good day for us.

On the second half XI, he added: “I thought Slavi (Spasov) dropping down and connecting the game was excellent, Mason (Obeng) was great off the left, Johl Powell was top draw in the pocket. We asked Jack Kingdon to play high and right in the second half which is not natural to him, but he is probably the fastest player in the squad, so we felt we could utilise his speed with that. Brett and Hayden (Muller) were maestros in midfield, the pitch is quite sticky and hard but they managed to play out really well. I have not got a bad word to say about anyone, attitude was excellent, supporters were brilliant, nice to see so many of them, it was a really good day for us.”

Yeovil continue their pre-season campaign with a trip to National League North side Merthyr Town on Tuesday night before facing Cardiff City Under-23s at Huish Park next Saturday.

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A first half double from midfielder Luke McCormick and a first goal for striker Stephen Walker saw Yeovil Town start their pre-season campaign with a win at Melksham Town on Saturday.

McCormick, who wore the captain’s armband, gave the Glovers the lead after just nine minutes before the home side pulled level just two minutes later before Walker made it 3-1 before the break.

There was the traditional full change to the starting XI for the second half and midfielder Brett McGavin fired in a trademark free-kick with 75 minutes gone to complete the scoring.

Another pre-season tradition saw a game of ‘Guess the Trialist’ with those turning out for Yeovil understood to be:

  • Jonathon Page (Trialist A) – the midfielder who has been pre-season training with the Glovers having been released at the end of last season.
  • William Lannin-Sweet (Trialist B) – an Arsenal academy defender who came on when Joy Mukena went off injured in the first half.
  • Rhys Healey (Trialist C) – an experienced striker who has suffered with injury in a career which has seen him play for the likes of Cardiff City, MK Dons and Huddersfield Town.
  • Kian Hill (Trialist D) – a youngster from Bristol Rovers who appeared late in the game after Healey took a knock.

First half

The starting XI saw six of the new summer signings given their first outings in green-and-white with goalkeeper Jos Barker, defenders Jordan Norville-Williams, Archie Davies and Salford City loanee Loick Ayina, midfielder Zain Westbrooke and striker Stephen Walker all in the line-up. Midfielder Jonathon Page, who was released at the end of last season having been signed in the middle of the campaign, returned under the name Trialist A.

First half action from Melksham Town. Picture courtesy of Rob Manley.

The Glovers began with a back three of Norville-Williams, Joy Mukena, and Ayina with James Daly at left wing-back and Archie Davies at right wing-back, a midfield of Zain Westbrooke and Trialist A/Page with Luke McCormick, who took the captain’s armband, and Ryan Jones in behind Walker.

Norville-Williams was in the heart of the action as Yeovil took the lead after just nine minutes. The wing-back burst down the left side and cut it back to Luke McCORMICK who fired home the opener, but that lead lasted just two minutes as the home side levelled when Dan McBEAM scored the equaliser.

In the 22nd minute, Ryan Jones showed he is aiming to start the new campaign in the same way he finished the last with some great touches to break in to the box and force a good save from Melksham keeper Adam Forster. A minute later the referee called a World Cup-style hydration break with temperatures topping 30 degrees in Wiltshire.

When play restarted Joy Mukena came off with a knock and was replaced by Trialist B, believed to be Arsenal academy defender William Lannin-Sweet, and moments later Yeovil were back in front. Stephen WALKER found his way through the Melksham and fired home an instinctive striker’s finish to bag his first goal for his new club with 29 minutes on the clock.

Norville-Williams was in the heart of the action again on 34 minutes setting up McCormick to pull an effort just past the post before Westbrooke became the first Glover to pick up a booking in pre-season with five minutes of the first half remaining. Do refs even do bookings in pre-season? It appears so.

McCormick had the ball in the back of the net with 42 minutes played when he latched on to a ball over the top and lifted the ball in to the net, but could not beat the offside trap. Luke McCORMICK did get his second just before half time when he headed home a Ryan Jones free-kick to make it a 3-1 lead at half-time.

Half-time: Melksham Town 1 Yeovil Town 3

Second half

There was an entire change of personnel for the start of the second half with only Trialist B/Lannin-Sweet remaining from the team which finished the first half. with defenders Jack Kingdon and Joe Gubbins, the versatile Hayden Muller in midfielder and forwards Johl Powell, Mason Obeng and Slavi Spasov all getting their first outings.

Trialist C, former Cardiff City, MK Dons and Huddersfield Town striker Rhys Healey, who has been spotted training with the Glovers, was also in the starter line up and had a great chance to add to the advantage within four minutes of the restart. He met Brett McGavin’s free-kick with a header which was cleared off the line before Joe Gubbins tried to connect with the rebound before it was cleared by Melksham.

On 63 minutes, a great ball from McGavin found Mason Obeng who charged down the left and side and picked out Johl Powell barrelling in to the box, but it was blocked and landed in the hands of Forster in the Melksham goal.

The hydration break midway through the second half saw Healey receive some treatment to an injury he sustained in an earlier altercation. The 31-year-old has a history of injury

With 15 minutes remaining, Brett McGAVIN curled home a trademark free-kick to make it 4-1. Despite the number of goals this half compared with the first, Yeovil have undoubtedly been in charge of this half with both Powell and Obeng impressing in particular.

Healey was replaced with the game with a minute of normal time remaining, replaced by Trialist D, understood to be Bristol Rovers youngster Kian Hill.

Full time: Melksham Town 1 Yeovil Town 4

Teams:

First half – Yeovil Town: Jos Barker, Jordan Norville-Williams, Joy Mukena (for William Lannin-Sweet, 26), Loick Ayina, Archie Davies, Zain Westbrooke, Jonathon Page (Trialist A), Luke McCormick, James Daly, Ryan Jones, Stephen Walker.

Second half – Yeovil Town: Matt Gould, Jack Kingdon, Joe Gubbins, William Lannin-Sweet (Trialist B), Dan Ellison, Hayden Muller, Brett McGavin, Johl Powell, Mason Obeng, Slavi Spasov, Rhys Healey (Trialist C) (for Kian Hill/Trialist D, 89).

Melksham Town: Adam Forster, Jack Carter, Wayne Nderemani, Archie Milne, Alex Hallett, Dave Thompson, Kyle Witt, Max Williams, James Ollis, Dan McBeam, Kitan Jaiyeoba.

Scorers: Luke McCormick 9 (1-0), Dan McBeam 11 (1-1), Stephen Walker 29 (2-1), Luke McCormick 45 (3-1), Brett McGavin 75 (4-1)

Attendance: 683

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Six new signings start for Yeovil Town as they get their pre-season friendly fixtures underway at Southern League Division One South side Melksham Town today (3pm kick-off).

Goalkeeper Jos Barker, defenders Jordan Norville-Williams, Archie Davies and Salford City loanee Loick Ayina, midfielder Zain Westbrooke and striker Stephen Walker all make the line-up.

There is also a Trialist A listed in the number 32 shirt. From those in Wiltshire, it appears to be midfielder Jonathon Page who has been spotted in pre-season training with Yeovil having been released at the end of last season. We’ll let you know more when we know it. Other possibilities are former Huddersfield Town striker Rhys Healey and Arsenal academy defender William Lannin-Sweet.

There are no substitutes listed on the team sheet published on the club’s social media, but expect the usual merry-go-round of players that pre-season always delivers.

Yeovil Town: Jos Barker, Jordan Norville-Williams, Joy Mukena, Loick Ayina, Archie Davies, Zain Westbrooke, Trialist A/Jonathon Page, Luke McCormick, James Daly, Ryan Jones, Stephen Walker.

Melksham Town: Adam Forster, Jack Carter, Wayne Nderemani, Archie Milne, Alex Hallett, Dave Thompson, Kyle Witt, Max Williams, James Ollis, Dan McBeam, Kitan Jaiyeoba.

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The Green & White Supporters’ Club is planning to run coach travel to Yeovil Town’s remaining pre-season away friendlies at Merthyr Town on Tuesday night and Farnham Town a couple of weeks later.

  • Merthyr Town – Tuesday 14 July (7.30pm kick-off)
  • Farnham Town – Tuesday 28 July (7.45pm kick-off)

Travel will cost £15 per supporter for both games.

As always, all services are subject to sufficient demand, so if you’re thinking of travelling it’s worth booking sooner rather than later.

Supporters can reserve their place by contacting the Paul Hadlow on 07736 044570.

50 supporters travelling with the Green & White Supporters’ Club to the opening friendly at Melksham Town. Picture by Paul Hadlow.