Gloverscast #511 – “He’s got 5 A-Levels Grade B and above…”
2026-07-20
After a 1-0 win over Cardiff-21s and a change to the Perkins House bedtime routine, Ian joins Ben and Chris Fox to catch up on pre-season friendlies and GCQs.
Rowley: Training ground work is paying dividends
2026-07-18
Yeovil Town boss Billy Rowley was pleased to see the work his team has been doing on the training ground come to fruition as they picked up a 1-0 pre-season friendly win over Cardiff City Under-21s at Huish Park on Saturday.
Striker Stephen Walker settled the contest with a stunning strike after just two minutes, but the Glovers created a number of other chances and the boss believes this is a sign of their work bearing fruit.
Speaking to the club’s social media after the game, he said: “We did not look like a side which has only been together two-and-a-half weeks or eight training sessions, we were a lot more fluid than we were on Tuesday (in the 2-2 draw at Merthyr Town) but I think the pitch and being at home helps that. Loads of positives, some of our movement, our runs and timing to get in behind was excellent, some of our switches of play, a lot of the stuff we spoke about in training this week which was good.
“It is such a great place to play football, the pitch is looking immaculate, even getting the sprinklers on for us during the water breaks and at half-time, which I am a big fan of. The lads really enjoy playing here and the supporters seemed in really good spirits, but that is natural in pre-season, it is a nice time of year when the sun is shining and everyone is seeing new players. We are going to have ups and downs with this group and it is just about sticking together and improving.”
Walker’s goal was his third in as many pre-season games after strikes in the 4-1 win at Melksham Town last weekend and a penalty in the 2-2 draw at Merthyr on Tuesday night.
Of his new striker, Rowley said: “He is a joy to watch, he is such a talent and that finish is a joke, he just took the sting out of the ball and curled it in the top corner which is top level technique. All the lads enjoy his personality as well and I have to say the same for Slav (Spasov) as well, those two are really good number nines for this league and they are going to strike up a decent partnership and fight for that shirt. I am really pleased with both of them.”
The boss added: “We are playing against a possession-based team which wants to play through the midfield and had some good ideas in build up, so we felt in front of our fans we wanted to get more pressure on the ball, defend higher up the pitch. That will change game to game based on who we play and what they do, but we felt it would be a good chance to get after the ball today. I thought the press from Ste (Walker) and Macca (Luke McCormick) and Jonesey (Ryan Jones) and Mason (Obeng) joining in on that was really good, Brett (McGavin) and Zain (Westbrooke) covered a lot of ground in midfield and the backline stepped up and played together really well. We let in a couple of chances, but that is natural against good players and sometimes you have to accept that will happen.”
The Glovers kept nine of their starting eleven on the pitch for the first hour of the match before making wholesale changes, but goalkeeper Jos Barker was one of only two players who completed the full 90 minutes.
Rowley said: “When the whistle blows you want to score as many as you can and not let in any and we did that today. We created a lot of chances and I thought defensively we were good. We made some good late blocks, defended some decent set pieces and I thought Jos (Barker) was excellent. He made a decent save at the end with his left foot, so a really pleasing day for the defenders and the defence will be happy with the clean sheet.”
Having admitted that he had not learnt much about his squad, which features 12 of his 13 summer signings with midfielder Joe Haigh missing until September following an operation, at Merthyr, the sense was that Rowley was pleased with what he saw from them against Cardiff’s youngsters.
They will now have a full week of training at their base near Bristol before travelling to League One side Wycombe Wanderers for a behind-closed-doors friendly next Saturday.
Rowley said: “We need tests, like Merthyr did on Tuesday on an artificial pitch, today we wanted to defend in a different way which worked. Wycombe, depending on what team they field, there may be spells when we are pinned back and have to defend more set pieces, so every game has its challenges and we will see how we approach that game tonight or tomorrow.“
Match Report: Yeovil Town 1 Cardiff City Under-21s 0
2026-07-18
An early goal from striker Stephen Walker earned Yeovil Town a win in their first pre-season friendly at Huish Park on a warm Saturday afternoon.
The frontman, who took his tally to three goals in his three friendly appearances, curled home a beautiful strike with just two minutes on the clock in front of a crowd of 772 in the Somerset sunshine.
There were some impressive attacking moves from the Glovers throughout the performance with Ryan Jones looking particularly effective with many of the starting line-up given an hour rather than the wholesale changes we have seen in the opening two friendlies.
In keeping with pre-season tradition, there was an appearance from three trialists including former Arsenal academy defender William Lannin-Sweet, Bristol Rovers academy player Kian Hill and a new face in Brentford B attacker Kyrie Pierre, who played down the left side for the final 30 minutes.
First half
The Glovers, wearing their new pink away shirt despite being at home, started with a full complement of permanent players – with the exception of loanee defender Loick Ayina, who on loan from Salford City until the end of the season – with trialists left on the substitutes’ bench. Read more about the team news – here.
The game did not take too long to warm up on the pitch with Stephen WALKER opening the scoring with the Glovers’ first attack. Brett McGavin won the ball fed Ryan Jones who picked out the striker and he curled home his third goal of pre-season with a beautiful effort after just two minutes.
Mason Obeng tried to get in on the act two minutes later as the winger made a driving run before trying a low effort which went just wide. A bright start in their first pre-season outing in front of their own supporters from the Glovers.
On 16 minutes, Archie Davies went on a run from inside his own half and made it in to the Cardiff area and found Walker inside the six-yard box, but his effort came off the post but was cleared away. We look strong in wide positions with Obeng and Jones particularly dangerous and that was a sign of what Davies can do going down the right side.
There was another good run from Davies shortly after the first half hydration break which led to Obeng’s effort being tipped wide for a corner which Loick Ayina headed wide with 28 minutes on the clock.
On 34 minutes, Luke McCormick pushed forward and had a deflected effort turned wide by visiting keeper Jake Dennis and Walker had the ball in the net four minutes later, but was denied by an offside flag. McCormick tried a audacious long range effort after spotting Dennis off his line, but he was a couple of feet over the bar and the ball landed on the top of the net.
Cardiff’s first chance fell to Roko Simic with five minutes of the half remaining when some sloppy Yeovil defending from gifted the young Croatian the opportunity who did not enough contact on it, before McGavin’s free-kick was pushed behind by Dennis. Good save.
Half-time: Yeovil Town 1 Cardiff City Under-21s 0
Second half
There were only two changes for Yeovil at half-time rather than the entire change of eleven we have seen in the previous two friendlies. Johl Powell and Slavi Spasov replaced Luke McCormick and goal-scorer Stephen Walker for the second half with Westbrooke taking the captain’s armband from McCormick.
Five minutes after the restart, a beautiful passage of passing from Yeovil saw Jones and Davies link up well for the latter to get a cross which picked out Spasov inside the box, but the summer signing could not get the ball under control. Two minutes later, Jones curled an effort just wide. A bright start for the Glovers.
Goalkeeper Jos Barker, playing his first second half minutes since arriving in pre-season, made a great save with his legs to deny Mannie Barton after a swift break from Cardiff. Powell broke away down the right soon after and found Jones who put it just wide and then (yet) another burst forward from Jones squared it to McGavin on the stretch but his effort was straight at Dennis in the Bluebirds’ goal.
On the hour mark the wholesale changes usually reserved for half-time came from Yeovil boss Billy Rowley with only keeper Jos Barker, defender Joe Gubbins and midfielder Zain Westbrooke remaining from the starting XI, the revised line-up is:
Jos Barker, Hayden Muller, Jack Kingdon, Joe Gubbins, Dan Ellison, Zain Westbrooke, Johl Powell, Slavi Spasov, Kian Hill (Trialist A), William Lannin-Sweet (Trialist B), Kyrie Pierre (Trialist C).
Pierre, described as “an attacker” by his parent club Premier League Brentford, played down the left wing. He joined the Bees from Aston Villa last summer on a free transfer and played for them in the Premier League 2 last season.
There were a raft of changes from Cardiff and one of them, Hayden Allmark, was denied by a good stop from Barker after 67 minutes and a hydration break which followed saw Gubbins replaced by Joy Mukena.
On 74 minutes, Spasov found Powell whose effort went just wide before Barker was called in to action to keep out substitute Gabriel Keita with ten minutes remaining.
Full time: Yeovil Town 1 Cardiff City Under-21s 0
Teams:
First half – Yeovil Town: Jos Barker, Jordan Norville-Williams, Loick Ayina, Archie Davies, Joe Gubbins, Brett McGavin, Zain Westbrooke, Ryan Jones, Mason Obeng, Luke McCormick (for Johl Powell, 46), Stephen Walker (for Slavi Spasov, 46).
60 minutes – Yeovil Town: Jos Barker, Hayden Muller, Jack Kingdon, Joe Gubbins (for Joy Mukena, 70), Dan Ellison, Zain Westbrooke, Johl Powell, Slavi Spasov, Kian Hill (Trialist A), William Lannin-Sweet (Trialist B), Kyrie Pierre (Trialist C).
Cardiff City Under-21s: Jake Dennis, Charlie O’Brien (for Caden Voice, 77), Jesper Daland (for Alyas Debono, 46), Thierry Katsukunya (for Gabriel Keita, 77), Luey Giles (for Logan Cartwright, 77), Issac Davies (for Hayden Allmark, 62), Trey George (for Tiger Tobin, 77), Troy Perrett (for Ellis Yorke, 77), Mannie Barton (for Mannie Barton, 77), Herbie James (for Jake Davies, 46), Roko Simic (for Dan Ola, 46).
Scorers: Stephen Walker 2 (1-0)
Attendance: 772
Team News: Cardiff City Under-21s (home)
2026-07-18
Yeovil Town name no trialists in the starting XI for the first half of their opening home pre-season friendly against Cardiff City Under-21s at Huish Park (1pm kick-off).
The Glovers are looking to build on their unbeaten start to preparations for the upcoming season having won 4-1 at Melksham Town in their opening friendly last weekend and drawn 2-2 at National League North side Merthyr Town in midweek.
We understand that trialists defender William Lannin-Sweet, midfielder Jonathon Page and Bristol Rovers academy player Kian Hill are in the squad. There is also a place for Brentford B attacker Kyrie Pierre, but no sign of former Cardiff striker Rhys Healey, who has not been seen since limping off at the end at Melksham.
For the visitors, midfielder Troy Perrett, who was on loan at Yeovil last season, starts but there is no place for fellow former Glovers’ loanee Dakari Mafico.
Yeovil Town: Jos Barker, Jordan Norville-Williams, Loick Ayina, Archie Davies, Joe Gubbins, Brett McGavin, Zain Westbrooke, Ryan Jones, Mason Obeng, Luke McCormick, Stephen Walker.
AWAY TICKETS – Scunthorpe On Sale
2026-07-17
Here we go!
The 2026/27 season gets underway at Glanford Park (see Attis Arena) on Saturday 8th August (3pm kick off) and Yeovil Town fans can now buy their tickets for the away end at Scunthorpe.
CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS
Yeovil Town fans will be situated behind the goal in the AMS Stand
Once you have chosen your seat, you have a number of options in terms of category, prices are as follows;
Adult tickets have risen £3 on last season, under 18s have seen their ticket price rise a whopping £4!
Under 12s remain free, which is a nice touch – but a ticket must still be acquired.
From here – it’s a simple process to check out, you don’t even need a log in, you can check out as a guest.
Post code: DN15 8TD.
Over 600 spaces are available for both home and away fans within the stadium complex priced at £5 per car. The local retail parks operate restrictions on a match day. If you would like to book your coach in for entry please call 01724 747670.
Disabled parking: Free to blue badge holders on a first come, first served basis on a matchday. These spaces in the East Car Park can also be reserved in advance by calling the ticket office during opening hours on 01724 747670 or email sufctickets@scunthorpe-united.co.uk with your request and copy of blue badge.
FLAGS AND INSTRUMENTS
You need to be granted permission to bring large flags and instruments into Glanford Park for a match. To submit your request, please email martin.hopper@scunthorpe-united.co.uk no later than 48 hours before the game.
25/26 Season Survey – The Results
2026-07-15
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.
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.
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”
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.
Rowley: That was a unique challenge
2026-07-14
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.”
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.
Picture courtesy of FMJ Sporting Visuals
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.”
Picture courtesy of FMJ Sporting Visuals
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.“
Match Report: Merthyr Town 2 Yeovil Town 2
2026-07-14
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.
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.
Picture courtesy of FMJ Sporting Visuals
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)
Team News: Merthyr Town (away)
2026-07-14
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.
Women’s Team Confirm Pre-Season Schedule
2026-07-13
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.
| Opposition | Kick Off | H/A | Competition | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.07.2026 | Bournemouth Sports | 12:30pm | Home | Pre-Season Friendly | Huish Park 3G |
| 26.07.2026 | MAPS | 2pm | Home | Pre-Season Friendly | Huish Park 3G |
| 02.08.2026 | Bridgwater Town | 2pm | Away | Pre-Season Friendly | TBC |
| 09.08.2026 | Barry Town | 2pm | Away | Pre-Season Friendly | TBC |
| 16.08.2026 | Wimborne Town | 2pm | Home | Pre-Season Friendly | TBC |
| 23.08.2026 | Feniton/Appledore | 12:30pm | Away | Pre-Season Tournament | TBC |
| 27.08.2026 | Ridgeway | 7:30pm | Home | Pre-Season Friendly | TBC |