Ben Barrett (Page 3)

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Billy Rowley has been forced into a number of changes for the Glovers’ clash with Aldershot Town.

Joe Gubbins, Loick Ayina, Zain Westbrooke, Slavi Spasov and James Daly all come into the starting XI.

We knew that injury concerns to Joy Mukena and Ben Radcliffe would force changes to the defensive line, but only Radcliffe has been declared fit enough to make the squad.

Skipper, and top scorer, Luke McCormick starts from the bench too. There is no place in the squad for Ste Walker.

Matt Gould and Jack Kingdon are both named amongst the replacements.

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Still hurting from back-to-back defeats, Yeovil Town travel to Aldershot Town for a Tuesday night fixture under the lights at The Recreation Ground.

FORM…

YEOVIL TOWN

Two defeats in our last two National League matches have taken the shine off Yeovil Town’s start to the new season.

A narrow defeat away at an impressive Southend United side the weekend before last was one thing, but the Glovers were turned over 4-1 by new boys AFC Fylde on Saturday in undoubtedly our worst display this season.

Speaking to BBC Somerset after Saturday’s defeat, Rowley said the senior players were rallying the troops ahead of this one, and the Glovers will be hoping to turn form around and refer to this run as a ‘two-match blip’.  Rowley, who had the players in on Sunday said: “We’ll train on Monday and then we’ll go and try and put the record straight on Tuesday.”

ALDERSHOT TOWN

Whilst the previous two games have seen Yeovil’s season hit a bump, our opponents, Aldershot Town, have picked up six points in their last two matches.

The Shots, now managed by one-time Yeovil loanee Scott Davies, are enjoying a good start to this season with four wins, two draws and just a single defeat in their opening seven matches.

They will be on a high after a late win at bottom club Solihull Moors at the weekend. Having gone behind to a penalty from former Glovers loanee Ben Wodskou in the first half, winger Broady Peart, who was linked with a move to Huish Park last season, levelled and then Moors’ keeper Max Metcalfe fumbled a corner in the second minute of stoppage time at the end of the game to gift the visitors the win.

That followed a 1-0 home win over FC Halifax Town the previous weekend and the most impressive win of the campaign so far came with 3-1 victory against second-placed Harrogate Town at The Recreation Ground.

KEY PLAYERS…

YEOVIL TOWN – JOE GUBBINS & ZAIN WESTBROOKE

After two defeats on the spin – and a particularly bad one at Huish Park – absence has made the heart grow fonder and the Glovers will surely be looking at the returns of Joe Gubbins and Zain Westbrooke. With Joy Mukena and Ben Radcliffe surely missing through injury, Gubbins place at the heart of defence will surely be cemented in the coming weeks, but who partners with him will be the main question.

Zain Westbrooke | Photo by Andy Preston AP Photography

As important as Gubbins will be, Westbrooke’s influence – or lack thereof – was probably felt the most in the Glovers midfield. As the elder statesman in the squad (if you can call him that at age 29) his experience and calmness is important with young players around him. Against AFC Fylde I think it’s fair to say Billy Rowley’s side lost the midfield battle and, especially in the second half, the visitors found themselves with time and space in dangerous areas. We’ve said it early, Westbrooke is the perfect foil to the Brett McGavin metronome in midfield. His return will hopefully provide that energy in the middle of the park to free up McGavin to dictate the game.

ALDERSHOT TOWN – TRISTAN ABRAHAMS

The man to watch is a former Yeovil loanee in Tristan Abrahams. The striker has found some form for the Shots this season and is their leading scorer with five goals, including a hat trick against Harrogate.

Abrahams has bounced around the National League since 2022 at Eastleigh, Welling United, Maidenhead, Aldershot (and a loan spell with Chelmsford) and is enjoying a new lease of life under Scott Davies.

Abrahams will be hoping to resurface the repressed Glovers memory of Yeovil’s 4-1 loss at Welling United in 2023, where he bagged an 11-minute hattrick.

THE GAFFER…

Blink and you might have missed Aldershot Town manager Scott Davies’ spell on loan at Huish Park. The then-Reading midfielder made just four appearances during a spell towards the end of the 2009-10 season, but nevertheless he is someone with some links to Yeovil.

Having finished his playing career at Slough Town, Davies took charge of the National League South side initially in caretaker control before being given the job permanently in 2023. He went on to make a name for himself before taking the job at Aldershot, a club he had a couple of spells at during his playing days, at the end of last season.

His assistant Mark Jones also has Yeovil connections having been part of the coaching team at Huish Park under Mark Cooper.

LAST TIME WE MET…

The last time Yeovil Town travelled to face Aldershot Town on a Tuesday night in September, the Glovers were at a far lower ebb than they are now.

Less than 24 hours after the news of Danny Webb’s departure as manager after just 11 days at the helm last season, Richard Dryden took the side to a club he had been on the coaching staff with since the previous season – and conjured a 4-1 win. Striker Tahvon Campbell netted twice with Junior Morias and Luke McCormick also on target.

Tahvon Campbell celebrates his second goal and in front of the travelling supporters at Aldershot last September.

The reverse fixture at Huish Park was a less memorable one for the Glovers on a Tuesday night in February. Billy Rowley’s side went behind to an early goal from Olly Scott before Fulham loanee Terrell Works equalised, but a second half strike from Shots’ striker Sean Patton saw the visitors take all three points.

DON’T I KNOW YOU?

As you will already have read in this preview, Aldershot manager Scott Davies is one man with Yeovil Town on his CV as a player, but there are other ex-Glovers in the squad.

Striker Tristan Abrahams is one who has enjoyed an impressive start to the season with four goals in his first six games, including a hat-trick in a 3-1 home win over Harrogate Town. Abrahams was part of the Yeovil side which exited the Football League in 2019 when he was on loan from Norwich City in a half-season spell which saw him score three goals in 15 appearances.

Michee Efete
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown

Defender Michee Efete joined the Shots at the end of last season having been without a club since being released by Yeovil last January. The 29-year-old started the first five matches of this season but was not in the squad for the weekend’s win over Solihull Moors.

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…

Niall Smith will be our referee, find out more about him Ben’s article here.

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Niall Smith knows all about refereeing Yeovil Town away games at Aldershot Town, he took charge of this exact match in May 2025.

That game ended 2-1 to the Shots, a late Dom Bernard goal not enough to take a point for the Glovers.

The only Green and White name he took that night was Harry Kite, for a booking in the second half.

We also saw Mr Smith at Huish Park last season, he sent off Aaron Jarvis in a 1-1 draw with Rochdale – no complaints on the red card here, by the way.

That was the only card, of either red or yellow variety, that came out of his pocket that day.

This season he’s been in the middle for three games in the National League, dishing out 11 yellows and one red, to Angus MacDonald of Kidderminster.

He will be assisted by Andrew Hickman and Dan Frizzell, whilst Nicoleta Bria – who has WSL, Champions League and International experience as an assistant official gets the privilege of looking after the dugouts.

Referee Niall Smith gives Aaron Jarvis his marching orders

Aldershot Town (First Team) v Yeovil Town FC (First Team)
National League – Premier
Referee: Smith, Niall
Assistant Referee: Hickman, Andrew
Assistant Referee: Frizzell, Dan
Fourth Official: Bria, Nicoleta

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Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley described his side’s 4-1 defeat to AFC Fylde at Huish Park as a “freak game,” insisting that while the result is deeply disappointing, the overall performance showed promising signs as his side continues to evolve.
The Glovers fell behind in the first half and found themselves trailing despite controlling periods of play and entering the opposition penalty box roughly 20 times before the break. The crucial turning point came just before half-time when Archie Davies hit the post from close range, only for AFC Fylde to break down the opposite end and double their lead seconds later.

“There’s probably two sides of it for me, really,” Rowley told BBC Somerset’s Chris Spittles after the match. “There’s the side where I felt like some of our defensive stuff, particularly in transitions and counter-pressing moments—wasn’t great… But the second part, I actually just think it was a bit of a freak game.”

Rowley likened the clinical nature of Fylde’s performance to the defeat to Solihill on the final day of last season, pointing out that the visitors scored three goals from their first three meaningful attacks, but that a pivotal few minutes just before the break turned the game on it’s head.

“That would have made the game, 1-1 just before half time, we would have had a positive team talk, the fans would have been on our side and we’d probably go on to win the game.

“That’s football, you go down the other end, it goes 2-0 and it’s very different, a slightly steeper hill to climb.”
“We’ve hit the post from two yards. You score a couple of those chances, you’re sitting there thinking this is a really good performance. But you miss those chances and then every shot they hit goes in, and you’re like, ‘Well, this is an absolute shambles.’ It’s easy to zoom in on this result and think it was really bad—it obviously was—but there are parts of the performance I liked.”

Joy Mukena and Ben Radcliffe. Picture courtesy of Indy Pitman/Indy’s Visuals.

Adding to Yeovil’s frustrations on the pitch was the loss of both starting centre-backs. Ben Radcliffe was forced off injured at half-time, while Joy Mukena was substituted in the second half after feeling tightness in his hamstrings.

“I’m hoping that Joy was just a precaution with his hamstring,” Rowley explained. “I’ll go catch up with those two lads now and hopefully they’re not too serious.”

Luke McCormick pulled a goal back for Yeovil in the 75th minute to make it 3-1, sparking brief hope of a late comeback before Fylde added a fourth on a swift counter-attack to seal all three points.
With two games coming up in less than a week—starting on Tuesday night—Rowley emphasised that senior squad members, including midfielder Brett McGavin, have already rallied the group – and said that the group would be in on Sunday to ensure that the recovery and focus on Aldershot starts as soon as possible.

“We’ve got a game Tuesday. We’ll obviously be really disappointed for the next 24 hours. We’ll review, we’ll improve, we’ll recover tomorrow, train on Monday, and then we’ll go and try to put the record straight.”

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Billy Rowley has made three changes to his Yeovil Town side for today’s visit of AFC Fylde. Ste Walker, Hayden Muller and Ben Radcliffe are in for Slavi Spasov, Zain Westbrook’s and Joe Gubbins, who are all on the bench today.

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We’re not sure if it was the early kick off or the gut punch of a result, but a low turnout on this week’s Man of the Match vote.

Nevertheless, someone has to take the crown and that honour went to goalkeeper Jos Barker.

There wasn’t much in it, with Archie Davies getting just a couple of votes less and as such taking second spot whilst the Skipper Luke McCormick was back in third.

DATEOPPONENTRESPONSES1ST
(Votes / Percent)		2ND
(Votes / Percent)		3RD
(Votes / Percent)
AUGUST
08.08.26Scunthorpe130 JORDAN NORVILLE-WILLIAMS
(91 / 70%)		Mason Obeng
(16 / 12.3%)		Jos Barker
(12 / 9.2%)
15.08.26Carlisle United152JOS BARKER
(71 / 46.7%)		Jordan Norville-Williams
(34 / 22.4%)		Zain Westbrooke
(14 / 9.2%)
22.08.26Gateshead168RYAN JONES
(57 / 33.9%)		Luke McCormick
(42 / 25%)		Archie Davies
(24 / 14.3%)
28.08.26Barrow174JOS BARKER
(114 / 65.1%)		Jordan Norville-Williams
(35 / 20%)		Luke McCormick
(10 / 5.7%)
31.08.26Tamworth156BRETT MCGAVIN
(87 / 55.8%)		Luke McCormick
(24 / 15.4%)		Jos Barker
(10 / 6.4%)
AUGUST PLAYER OF THE MONTH780 VOTES 🥇 JOS BARKER (8 PTS, 2 MOTM)
🥈 JORDAN NORVILLE WILLIAMS
(7 PTS, 1 MOTM)		🥉 LUKE MCCORMICK
(5 PTS, 0 MOTM)
SEPTEMBER--------------------------------------------------
05.09.26Southend United47JOS BARKER
(12 / 25.5%)		Archie Davies
(10 / 21.3%)		Luke McCormick
(8 / 17%)
12.09.26AFC Fylde88RYAN JONES
(47 / 53.4%)		Luke McCormick
(13 / 14.8%)		Archie Davies
(10 / 11.4%)
15.09.26Aldershot110RYAN JONES
(49 / 44.5%)		Archie Davies
(17 / 15.5%)		James Daly
(13 / 11.8%)
18.09.26Solihull Moors
26.09.26Kidderminster Harriers
29.09.26Worthing
OCTOBER
03.10.26Boston Utd
10.10.26Wealdstone
24.10.26Altrincham
27.10.26Hornchurch
31.10.26FC Halifax Town
NOVEMBER
14.11.26Boreham Wood
21.11.26Forest Green Rovers
24.11.26Eastleigh
28.11.26Harrogate Town
DECEMBER
05.12.26Hartlepool United
09.12.26Wealdstone
19.12.26Boston United
26.12.26Sutton United
28.12.26Woking
JANUARY
02.01.27Altrincham
09.01.27Hornchurch
16.01.27
23.01.27Carlisle United
26.01.27Eastleigh
30.01.27Scunthorpe United
FEBRUARY
06.02.27Forest Green Rovers
13.02.27Kidderminster Harriers
17.02.27Worthing
20.02.27Solihull Moors
23.02.27Aldershot
27.02.27Gateshead
MARCH
06.03.27Barrow
09.03.27Tamworth
13.03.27Southend United
20.03.27AFC Fylde
26.03.27Woking
29.03.27Sutton United
APRIL
03.04.27FC Halifax Town
10.04.27Boreham Wood
17.04.27Hartlepool United
24.04.27Harrogate Town

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Paul Marsden will take charge of Yeovil Town’s home game against AFC Fylde. This is his third National League game of the season, he’s averaging SIX yellow cards across the previous two.

He has taken charge of three previous Yeovil games, but not since a 1-0 defeat to Oldham back in 2024.

He sent off manager Mark Cooper that day, a red card that was rescinded by the FA after the official’s accusations were found to be not proven.

After the match the first of Dave’s five conclusions said this;

“Let’s just scrap Rule 1: I’m going to get the obvious point out of the way straight off, referee Paul Marsden had a stinker…”

Eek.

He’s only been to Huish Park once too, a 2-0 home win over Altrincham in the 2021/22 season.

His season stats for the 2025/26 season in the National League was 11 games, 35 yellows and just the one red card, a double booking for Gateshead’s Fenton John.

He awarded three penalties.

Mr Marsden’s asssitants are Scott Chalkley and Kevin Morris whilst Dean Trevealen will be hoping to have a quieter afternoon than the fourth did during that Oldham game!

Frank ‘has a word’ with referee Paul Marsden at the final whistle.

Yeovil Town FC (First Team) v AFC Fylde (First Team)
National League – Premier
Referee: Marsden, Paul
Assistant Referee: Chalkley, Scott
Assistant Referee: Morris, Kevin
Fourth Official: Treleaven, Dean

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Billy Rowley and Luke McCormick have been nominated for manager and player of the month by the National League.

The Glovers went unbeaten in August and the Skipper was key in front of goal with four goals in the month.

Billy Rowley (Yeovil Town)
P5, W3, D2, L0

D 1-1 v Scunthorpe United (A)
D 1-1 v Carlisle United (H)
W 3-0 v Gateshead (H)
W 2-1 v Barrown (A)
W 3-2 v Tamworth (H)

Luke McCormick (Yeovil Town)
A great start for the Glovers who are one of only two unbeaten sides in August. Helped hugely by the contribution of Luke McCormick who hit four goals across wins against Tamworth, Barrow and Gateshead.

Billy Rowley. Picture courtesy of Indy Pitman/Indy’s Visuals.

The gaffer is up against Luke Garrard, Chris Agutter and Daryl McMahon.

Luke McCormick will face off against Matt Rush, former Glover Tristan Abrahams and Dan Urpins.

Congratulations to both!