Striker Ste Walker scored his first Yeovil Town in the Glovers’ 1-1 draw with Carlisle United, speaking after the match, he said it would fill him with confidence to kick on and keep scoring.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Chris Spittles after the game, the frontman said: “It’s a great feeling to get off the mark, especially in your first game. It fills me with confidence, so hopefully I can keep this going. I was just trying to create an angle for myself really,and find the best angle to shoot from. So, yeah, it worked out in the end, yeah.

​“The fans were amazing today. They kept us going all the way through, even when we went down to 10 men and, our back were up against the wall a little bit. They were loud all the way through the game, and they kept us really going. I wish we could get the three points for them at the end, but obviously it’s football, so unfortunately we didn’t, but they were top today.”

Speaking about his move to Huish Park, Walker said a visit from the manager inspired him to pack up his northern routes to move to Bristol in the summer.

“I got a call from the gaffer. He wanted me to come down. I came down here, met him, and then within two weeks, we were back for pre-season. Obviously a move, packed my stuff, and moved to Bristol, and I’ve really enjoyed it, coming to a new level that I’ve never played before, and, speaking with the gaffer and speaking with the new lads and new teammates, I think we’ve got a really good group here. And even like, we’re disappointed obviously in the changing room, but we’re looking around and we really think we can, go and do something good this year. So, I mean, that’s all positive. We just want to kick on from this.

“[The goal] fills me with confidence, so hopefully I can keep this going”

We need the full squad of 20, 21, 22 boys. Obviously people are going to be disappointed, like I was disappointed that I didn’t get to play last week, but it’s just one of those things. When you’ve got a squad full of quality and talent, and I mean, when we put performances on that are really good, there’s going to be people competing for shirts, and obviously, it’s only positive because it boosts everyone else’s performance up.
So, yeah, it’s healthy competition, which creates an environment that people are pushing each other.

[The result] was gutting, but I mean, we went down to 10, the lads were grafting their socks off. Like, I couldn’t have asked any more from any of the lads. You could see in their faces the effort that they were giving and the heartbreak obviously when that goal went in. They were absolutely devastated, but yeah, we’ve got a good group that, all graft their socks off for each other and work as hard as possible, and you can see it today, How much, when their backs are against the wall with the 10 men, how much they worked for each other and for this team.”

Yeovil Town were denied their first win of the new season thanks to another late, late Carlisle equaliser.

Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset’s Chris Spittles after the game, manager Billy Rowley said that he couldn’t hide his frustration, but felt so proud of his side after playing 20+ minutes with 10 men.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s part of football. It’s a long season. I’m nothing but proud of the lads on the pitch today. And it’s a shame obviously, we couldn’t have the music on at the end with a 1-0 win. And for the second week in a row, we’ve conceded, a goal out of nowhere, really.

You’d obviously say that when we went down to 10 men, Carlisle had their share of ball and territory, but that’s natural. But I think they entered our box once or maybe twice the whole second half, and in the 96th minute, one of those is a goal.

And I said to the boys inside, you know, we’re going to be giving out some of those late equalisers and winners this season.

We had one here against Sutton late last season, and it’s just part of the game. But I’ve got nothing but pride, really, for the lads. I’ve just had a supporter come up to me, who was probably in his 60s, and he said he’s been coming here for 30 years. And it’s the most sort of connected and, I don’t know, most sort of joy he’s been watching this team in many years, and I said that to the boys, and I think that’s part of this journey we’re on.

I’m just really happy with every single player that’s come on the pitch; they’ve completely finished on empty. They’ve worked hard, you know, we’ve played against two teams that have played in the play-offs last year and, both top managers, and, you know, some players that are incredible for the level. So, for us to be bitterly disappointed with two draws kind of shows, you know, we’re on the right path, but still really, really frustrated that we’ve not won that game, and we’ll be working very hard to make sure we continue to try and put on good performances.”

“We’re going to be giving out some of those late equalisers and winners this season.”

“I can’t speak highly enough of the support today. The crowd here, they’ve been incredible for us since we’ve come in.

“I love coming here every, you know, every time we do. That only lasts as long as performances and results are good, of course. I know that, I know what business I’m in. They were probably man of the match today for us. You know, I know the boys were clawing on at the end to get to the ball. We just ran out of energy to get to the final cross, and, you know, the only time they’ve entered our box, like I say, they’ve scored from it.

“Jos Barker again today silenced a few more people, I think. He was unbelievable for us in goal. Zain Westbrooke covered so much ground, it was ridiculous. I thought Radders [Ben Radcliffe] was unbelievable. Jordan Norville-Williams, Mason [Obeng] did a bit of a job like wider of a five today, and all across the pitch, all across the pitch, the boys have, you know, ran their absolute socks off, worked incredibly hard.

Could we have been a little bit better with the ball? Maybe, but that’s, you know, a chance to review that on Monday and Tuesday. But yeah, support was excellent. It’s just such a shame we couldn’t hold on.

Ste Walker got the Glovers’ goal on his debut in the first half and the gaffer was delighted to see him get off the mark.

​”Yeah, really good. I thought he overran it, and when he took it onto his left foot, I thought it was a tricky chance to take, but that’s what he’s got in his locker. He’s very calm in front of goal. Everywhere he’s ever been as a kid and, you know, moving into non-league football, he’s always scored goals everywhere he’s gone. His ball-striking’s incredible; he’s got different sort of shapes to his shots. I mean, I’m not going to say I had no doubt that he would score, but, it was a really good finish and—and something we’ve seen a lot of him in training.

We’re not the finished article in possession at the moment. You know, ideally we would like to make 12 passes every time we get the ball and put them on the back foot, but we’re not there yet. So, we need players that can get to the ball, and Ste did that for 60 minutes, but he obviously didn’t get on last week at Scunthorpe. He’s not fully match fit yet, and I thought he was superb today. But it was just, a couple of subs to try and inject a bit of energy to get to the ball.

​Joe Gubbins saw red for the Glovers, in the second half after two yellows and Rowley said that the vice-captain had been apologetic towards his team mates.

Gubbs, he’s very apologetic, I admire all players that do that after a red card. But obviously, Joe isn’t a stupid lad, he’s not a selfish lad.
He will blame himself for that, and, you know, in an ideal situation, yeah, we wouldn’t have wanted to get sent off, but these things happen.
You know, we’re all supporting him in that. The goalie’s got the longest kick I’ve ever seen. He can hit the ball about 150 yards, and he’s caught him off guard, and he’s got into a scrap and a race with the forward, and he’s got wrong side, and yeah, as a defender, you either like let the player have the ball, and then if he scores, someone will say, “Why didn’t you bring him down?” So, it’s a lose-lose for Gubbs there in that situation. Uh, it is what it is, yeah.”

Looking ahead to next weekend and the Glovers welcome Gateshead to Huish Park, a chance once more to get that first win on the board.

“Very early in the season. We could be stood here now with six points. Arguably should be. We’ve got another 44 games left, and every time we play, we’re going to be aiming to get three. The lads in the changing room are fully on board with that, and I’m really happy with what I’m seeing in there with that group. You know, everything they’re saying and doing and—and leading by shows me a lot of good signs, I don’t want to let a 95.52 header, first entry into the box, deflate too much from the good things I’m seeing here. So, yeah, it’s a shame we’re not stood here with six points. We’ve got two, and we’ll be trying to get many more in the future.”

Yeovil Town manager boss Billy Rowley has said that he is learning more and more about his side with each passing training session and match as his new group of players prepare for the first home game of the season.

Speaking to Josh Perkins of BBC Radio Somerset, he said that he’s excited to see what the ‘best version’ of this side looks like as they prepare for the visit of title favourites Carlisle United to Huish Park on Saturday.

He was asked about his feeling about 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe United on the opening day of the campaign last weekend and what he learned from seeing his side in competitive action.

Rowley said: “[The result was] so frustrating. I was obviously planning training last night and re-watching that game again, along with some Carlisle stuff, and I’ve seen two or three movements where we’ve got one-on-one with the goalie that at least two of them should (not have been flagged offside), and we should probably score another goal.

“I said on Saturday, if you go 2-0 with 30 minutes to go, I feel that leaves us in a really good place to win the game. We very much hope these things are swings and roundabouts, and hope that they all level out across the season, but… I don’t know, we’ll see.

“I think you can learn a lot. I learn every day in training, so I had to join in there for 20 minutes, but you learn about, you know, players who can talk and organise defensively, you learn about players who want to run in behind more than others. So, I’m learning every day when I watch the game back, when I’m watching opposition, when I’m watching us play Scunthorpe late on in the game.”

The manager has said a few times during the pre-season campaign  – including on the Gloverscast Episode #514 – that the team will need time to produce their best football, he said it’s reasonable to expect to see things improve for a few months yet.

He said: “I would say probably around November time, you’ll probably see like the best version of us. That’s not to say that we’re not going to play well and win games until November, but I think back to my last club (Walton & Hersham), we were sort of in and around sixth or seventh place around Christmas time, and then we went on a four-month crazy winning streak. It took us that long to figure out balances in the team, who likes to play against certain opposition, who handles certain occasions, and then just learning how we play, learning new patterns and new shapes. So I think October-November time you’ll start to see a really good version of us here.”

This weekend’s opponents, Carlisle United, made a losing start to the new National League Premier Division season as they were beaten 3-2 at home to Worthing, but Rowley is wary the Cumbrians could be a wounded animal ready to bite back.

He said: “We’re expecting a very good team. Rob [Eliot] is a top manager and I know how he plays, how he wants to play, he’s got some superb ideas, and their players are technically gifted.

“All it takes is us to switch off at one moment, or get a press wrong and they can get the other side of you. I can expect them to be one of the top teams in this league. I’d have them in the like top five or top three this season, so I expect a very difficult game. I’ve re-watched all of their game against Worthing and, on another day, they probably could have been two or three up, so, we’re not going to look into that result too much and they’ll obviously have a point to prove..”

Rowley revealed on loan Salford City defender Loick Ayina suffered a knee injury which meant he was not in the squad at Scunthorpe last weekend.

Looking ahead, he wouldn’t be drawn on a potential finishing position for the Glovers, but Rowley said he was ‘quietly confident’ about a positive campaign, especially with a couple of players to come back into the fold properly.

He said: “We’re quietly confident. This is such a boring answer to this, but we literally have to take every week as it comes. We’ve got to keep improving. We’ve still got Joe Haigh, who’s sat on the sideline for another four weeks, so there’s players that are not available at the moment that will make us stronger when they come back. We’ll just take each week as it comes.

“Joe’s obviously a massive part of how we’re going to play this year, so we’re not at full strength yet, and we’re not fully learning what we’re trying to imprint here. It’s going to be a bit of a process, this, but I’m sure the supporters will see us improve most weeks. It should be a really interesting and fun journey for us.

“I always say this, but I love going to Huish for matchday, especially at the moment, the pitch is incredible. Fans feel like they’re really buzzing to be back and watch this new team play. It’s our job now to turn up and put on a good performance and all stick together and deliver.”

We welcome National League title favourites Carlisle United to Huish Park on Saturday and we will also welcome referee Lewis Sandoe to take charge of proceedings.

We’ve had Mr Sandoe three times at Huish Park, most recently a 1-0 win over Truro at the back end of last season, where Will Merry scored a late, late winner in game which ultimately sealed the Cornish sides’ relegation.

Kyle Ferguson and Harvey Greenslade both saw yellow that day.

He took charge of a 3-1 defeat to York City, where he gave Tap-In Merchant Pearce a penalty.

As far as I can tell he’s never taken charge of a Carlisle game – which given his location in and around the South of the country makes sense.

He was the man in the middle for a bit of a thriller on match day one, Forest Green’s 3-2 win over Halifax, where he booked three players – all in the first 45 minutes.

Overall, his stats for the 25/26 season in the National League read; 11 games, 41 yellows (turning one of those a red card) zero straight red cards and three penalties awarded.

He will be assisted by Anastasiya Voloshchuk and Thomas Staten, Richard J. Morris is on 4th official duty.

Yeovil Town FC (First Team) v Carlisle United (First Team)
National League – Premier
Referee: Sandoe, Lewis
Assistant Referee: Voloshchuk, Anastasiya
Assistant Referee: Staten, Thomas
Fourth Official: Morris, Richard J.