Ben Barrett

Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley hailed an “excellent performance all round” after his side secured a crucial 2-1 away victory against Hornchurch on Tuesday evening. Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman following the match, Rowley reflected on a challenging fixture;

​The evening began with logistical hurdles for the Glovers, who endured a lengthy journey to the stadium. “I thought it was an excellent performance all round, we sat on the coach for up to, probably over three hours on the way here, hit a bit of traffic, got here a little bit late,” Rowley explained. “Prep wasn’t incredible, but it was decent enough”.

The manager also noted the unique conditions of the pitch, describing the surface as “quite slippery” and tricky to adapt to. Despite these early obstacles, Rowley was deeply satisfied with how his side handled the challenge, especially given Hornchurch’s formidable home record. “Obviously a loss Saturday… Hornchurch’s home record, Daryl’s done a great job here. They’re really difficult to beat,” Rowley noted. “But I felt like our use of the ball, our timing of some of our movements… [we] adapted”.  

​Yeovil’s impressive depth was on full display as Rowley made six changes to his starting lineup. Rowley noted that the tight turnaround following Saturday’s match meant fresh legs were vital. “I felt it was a good chance for the lads that deserved to play, really,” Rowley said. “When you’ve hit back-to-back league six-nils, it’s hard to drop players… and I think boys that perform so well week in, week out, they deserve to keep their shirt”.

​The match featured standout displays from newcomers, including Bristol City loanee Seb Naylor, who earned glowing praise from his manager on his debut. “Seb is an unbelievable footballer. Really, really top footballer,” Rowley said. “For a young lad, I’m pretty sure this is his first loan. He’s had an incredible grounding at Manchester City… his positional understanding is first class”. adding that Naylor’s maturity and footballing IQ are so advanced that “he could probably be a coach at 21”.

​While Yeovil controlled large portions of the game a late goal from the hosts created a tense finish.

“I felt like the boys dealt with that adversity really well in the last 10-15 minutes,” he stated.

​The only major negative of the evening was an injury to Jordan Norville-Williams, who was forced off. Rowley provided a reassuring update on the defender: “He’s got a slight hamstring injury. It’s not too serious. It’ll probably be a couple of weeks max”.

​With the victory pushing Yeovil’s goal tally to 50 across all competitions for the season, Rowley emphasised that the milestone is a testament to the squad’s relentless daily work ethic. “We’re trying to create training sessions and ideas to score goals, and it’s credit to them to train so well every day,” he said.

​Rowley also made a point of thanking the traveling Yeovil faithful, who turned out in large numbers to support the team on a demanding midweek trip. “Unbelievable. I could stand out there and listen to them sing for ages, really,” Rowley smiled. “Love seeing so many familiar faces. I appreciate the distance they travel… first class. Absolutely love them”.  

Following Yeovil Town’s hard-fought 2-1 victory away at Hornchurch, midfielder Zain Westbrooke caught up with BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman.

​After a disappointing result on Saturday, the Glovers knew they faced a stern test against a physical Hornchurch side on a Tuesday night.

However, Westbrooke felt the team handled the challenge maturely. “I think it was a really good performance, a good way to bounce back from Saturday,” Westbrooke said. “I think we knew it was never going to be easy coming here… they’re a physical team. They put it on you a lot and I think we dealt with that really well.”

​Westbrooke marked his return to the starting line-up, having recently recovered from injury, with a well-taken goal. Describing his strike, which followed a deep cross from Joe Gubbins, he noted: “[I] Don’t really remember too much. I think the cross came in from Gubbo, like a deep cross and it just landed at me and luckily I took my time and picked the spot… and yeah, it was a good goal for me, brings me some confidence moving forward.”

​The timing of the goal proved vital, coming just after manager Billy Rowley made a triple substitution, Westbrooke praised the immense strength in depth within the squad this season, pointing out how the substitutes consistently alter games. “We know that we’ve got a really strong bench to come on and impact the game,” Westbrooke said. “Today the starters did really well, moving the ball, working Hornchurch and making them run, tiring them out and then subs came on and to a man, everyone was outstanding.”

​Westbrooke is Yeovil’s 12th different goal scorer and for a side with 50 goals across all competitions this campaign, Westbrooke emphasised that the attacking responsibility is shared across the entire pitch. “We’re always going to create chances, I think we’ve shown that in majority of the games,” he explained. “I think all of us need to sort of take that on our shoulders, that we need to score from all areas of the pitch if we’re going to do something positive this season.”

​Reflecting on his move to the club over the summer, the midfielder highlighted the positive atmosphere behind the scenes at Huish Park. “It’s been really good, working with the staff, working with this group of players,” Westbrooke shared. “There’s a lot of belief in the building, a lot of positivity. You know, we’ve got off to a good start, but we know nothing’s done yet. We need to keep pushing and we know that there’s a lot more in that dressing room.”

​Finally, Westbrooke acknowledged the loud backing from the traveling supporters who made the trip to cheer on the team, concluding: “Really big travelling support coming to watch us… and we need to repay those fans. They show up in their numbers and we need to give them performance and I feel like we did that tonight.”