Ian Perkins

It was a cold one at Huish Park but fans turned out in force as Billy Rowley’s Glovers scored three against a poor Braintree side to secure a valuable three points. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions.

We improved. It wasn’t a totally polished performance by any stretch, but it was an improvement on the performance against Eastleigh. I’ve hated the phrase ‘final third entries’ every since Darren Way used it as a point to polish his abysmal team, but for the sake of this conclusion, we got ourselves into the Braintree’s box repeatedly and with plenty of players in the box too. We could have gone into half time ahead with some of our play. Braintree were poor but we’re beginning to see glimpses of what our attacking identity could be/

We got our set pieces right. If Forest Green Rovers was the low point for the set piece delivery, this was definitely the high point. We could probably count ourselves unlucky (I’m not sure many National League assistants would spot the offside) to not be ahead through Kyle Ferguson’s header after a good delivery into the box from Brett McGavin that was flicked on by Williams. The second came from a wicked McGavin delivery that Jake Wannell nearly made perfect with his header that Terry could only divert to Daly who headed home. Finn Cousin-Dawson could have made it a third after another excellent delivery but could only head straight at the keeper. McGavin earned his own celebration before the final whistle with deliberate delivery whipped towards goal hoping for any form of contact to help it on its way.

James Daly had a better night. One of the big takeaways from Billy Rowley’s first few games in charge is his use of inverted wingers. James Daly, all left foot, playing on the right and James Plant, mostly right-footed, on the left. It’s fair to say that against Eastleigh Daly struggled to get involved and like many of his teammates on that night, was sloppy with possession. Against Braintree things clicked more, he managed to cut inside and get shots away, was far more involved in the attacking moments too. It was great to see him finally find the back of the net in a Yeovil shirt and hopefully there’s more to come.

It’s still not instinctive for these players. You can forgive these players for not finding their groove with their fourth manager of the season. You can see them revert back to the old ways and slow things down while Billy Rowley gets frustrated on the sideline. It’ll come and we still need to have patience. But, I get the feeling that the manager will be proactive in the changing the squad if he needs to. The lack of an alternative to Alex Whitte – who seems to be struggling with injuries more frequently now – means we can’t ever shift to a back four (#downwithwingbacks). It was interesting to hear the manager talk about Jacob Maddox and how he’s ‘his type of player’. Everyone will get their chance, and they will have to take it.

It was a great turnout at Huish Park. I didn’t expect more than 3,500 people to turn up to cheer on the Glovers at that awkward kick off time in sub-zero temperatures, but maybe somethings changing. That an increase of approximately 400 compared to Eastleigh and Forest Green Rovers (who both brought more fans with them) and more than 500 compared to Rowley’s first match against Boston United. It was a good night to bring in a crowd and score some goals with the FA Trophy next weekend.

The Glovers finished off 2025 with a 1-1 draw against Eastleigh at Huish Park. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from the sub-zero press box.

We’re not creating yet. We showed moments, we saw glimpses in the final third, especially in the second half but if it wasn’t for Eweke’s slip, I’m not sure we would have found the back of the net. Certainly after we scored we didn’t push on. In the second half we looked the more likely to find a second goal, but other than the McCormick and Daly two v one, I never felt confident that there was another one coming. Which is a problem when…

We’re conceding sloppy goals. The way in which we conceded the penalty was entirely avoidable. The goal on Boxing Day was really sloppy, the second goal Forest Green Rovers scored was poor, as was the defending for Maidstone’s equaliser in the FA Trophy. As a defensive unit we’ve shot ourselves in the foot so many times this season and when you’re struggling to score, you can’t afford any slip ups at the back.

Luke McCormick made the difference again. Yeovil’s number 8 has another man of the match trophy to his name and yet another goal. He finishes 2025 with more goals for Yeovil than anyone else. He’s really made his mark in green and white and without his goals Yeovil would be in a very different position. But, we can’t rely only him.

Eastleigh have a striker in Aaron Blair. If you we’re looking at adding a different kind of striker to bolster the front line, we witnessed it last night. Blair chased down everything, bothered our back line and confidently put away his penalty. He worked hard for his team and reminded me of those strikers Gary Johnson always relied on his teams. If we were looking for another type of striker to bolster the front line, someone of Blair’s ilk would fit the bill.

It’s clear reinforcements are needed. Billy Rowley said there would be changes ahead his post-match press conference. The loans of James Plant and Andrew Oluwabori are expiring and Rowley has inherited a squad that three managers have had an input on before him so and he needs to build it in his vision. January will be a big month and hopefully the manager has the means to balance out this squad and build some momentum in 2026.