A trio of Yeovil Town representatives in a duo of Team of the Weeks.
The Non League Paper have decided that McMidfield is the way to go, (alongside former YTFC trialist Teo Kurtaran) whilst Brett McGavin’s goal also gets into the Enterprise Sponsors’ team of the week too.
Morgan Williams also makes that team, in the heart of the defence.
Luke, Brett and Morgan – nice work!
Yeovil kicked off 2026 with three goals, three points and a contract renewal for one of the Alice Band Collective, Luke McCormick. Not a bad start to the year eh?
Ian, Ben and Dave chat about all that and a bit of Eastleigh and take your GCQs.
Huge thanks to Stoney and Andrew Foot, Jimmer, Chris Fox and Tim Hubble for their voicenotes.
In form midfielder Luke McCormick has extended his contract at Yeovil Town until the summer of 2028.
The former Bristol Rovers’ man has been in sensational form for the Glovers since joining following his release from the Memorial Stadium last summer.
He netted his eighth goal of the season in the 3-1 home win over Braintree Town on Saturday.
In a video published on the club’s social media following the announcement on Sunday, the 26-year-old said: “The conversations I have had with the manager and the hierarchy at the football club align with my vision for this club to push it further up the food chain in seasons to come, so hopefully I can play my part.
“The management team’s enthusiasm for the game and values and view on the game align with mine and it is a really exciting time to pin myself down (to a new contract) and hopefully kick on.
“The main goal is to push this club forward and hopefully higher up the food chain whether that is this season, next season or the one after that is the goal and we are going to need help and guidance along the way and I think we have the right people in place to do that.”
In a statement, manager Billy Rowley added: “Luke embodies everything we want this football club to be about. His commitment, mentality, and leadership on the pitch have been outstanding, and he sets the standard every day. Keeping him here long term was a priority for us, and this is a really important moment as we continue to build for the future.”
McCormick signed on an initial 12-month contract by former manager Mark Cooper at the start of August having impressed on trial in the summer and has been a regular fixture in the starting XI under the procession of managers which have followed.
He got his first goal in the 3-1 home defeat to York City at the start of September and is currently in a patch of good form with five goals in his last six appearances, including a brace in Rowley’s first game in charge at home to Boston United last month.
McCormick is now under contract until the end of the 2027-28 campaign with captain Jake Wannell, defender Dan Ellison, who is currently on loan at National League South side Weston-super-Mare, and winger James Daly all on contract until the end of next season.
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.
Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley was pleased to see the work on his side’s attacking play make it off the training ground and on to the pitch in the 3-1 home win over Braintree Town.
The Glovers started 2026 with a comfortable victory courtesy of goals from midfielder Luke McCormick, his eighth of the season, James Daly’s first for the club before a late own goal wrapped up the three points.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins after the game, Rowley said: “It is something we have been working on in training, trying to get in to the final third more often and trying to give the boys clearer pictures about how we might create goals and it won’t always be pretty. Some of our organisational stuff was good, we needed a little reminder at half-time and we showed the boys a couple of clips about what we wanted to see more or less of.
“I thought we were decent all round, there’s loads to improve on still and I fully appreciate that but we saw some good signs there. Some of the set piece deliveries out there were top drawer, Brett’s right foot was brilliant and every time we got a free kick or corner, I thought we might score.”
He added: “I would not say it was massively convincing, there were some good spells from Braintree, but I thought we had decent control of the game for large parts and I thought the only time they looked like threatening us was from our sloppy giveaways particularly in the middle or final third of the pitch when we weren’t set up correctly. We left our defence quite isolated in those transitions, but we dealt with that and I thought we were pretty worthy winners.”
Despite the victory, Rowley said he expects to bring in new faces next weeks with left back Alex Whittle having been out for almost a month through injury. He also revealed midfielder Josh Tobin, who is on loan from League Two side Bromley, is also injured and was only named among the substitutes on Saturday to make up the numbers.
The manager had also spoken about how he expected “some changes” following the 1-1 draw at home to Eastleigh on Tuesday night.
On new arrivals, the Glovers’ boss said: “We might have a couple of ideas coming along next week. I think the boys just need a bit of help and support because we are light on numbers at the moment. Whitts has been out for a couple of weeks, Josh Tobin was injured tonight, Jacob Maddox has not played any minutes in a year, so I want to have more depth and players challenging for slots. We are working hard on that, but I think it is important we get the right players and the right characters in and I want to make sure they are good people and fit the system.”
Midfielder Jacob Maddox, who has not featured for almost a year due to an injury which required an operation in the summer, was also named on the bench against Braintree. Rowley said he had spoken to the former Forest Green Rovers man about going out on loan to build his match fitness.
He said: “Naturally any time a footballer has been out for almost a year, it is really difficult. Mentally training on your own, but then when you start playing you are naturally worried about re-injuring yourself but I think he is over that stage now. He is competing in training, going in for duels and looking fit and strong.
“He is a very technical footballer, my type of footballer, he can receive the ball in tight spaces, he sees a pass as well, so I hope we can offer him some minutes in the short term. I have spoken to him about potentially going on a very short loan to get some minutes because it is difficult just coming on for 10 or 15 minutes with us, but he is someone I think can help this team when he gets fit.“
Winger James Daly said he was “delighted” to get his first Yeovil Town goal since arriving at Huish Park in the summer in the 3-1 home win over Braintree Town.
The 25-year-old headed the second goal of the night after 65 minutes in front of the Thatcher’s Stand and admitted he had been thinking about the moment whilst he was out through injury for more than two months.
He told BBC Somerset reporter Josh Perkins: “It was very long overdue and I am delighted with it, it always was going to be a header. You just have to keep knocking on the door when you go so long without a goal because goals are a big part of my game, so to go this long without scoring was disappointing for me. I am just delighted to get off the mark.
“When I had those dark days, I was thinking about how I could get on the pitch and scoring goals. It has been a long journey with being out for ten weeks, so I am delighted to be playing again and scoring a goal.”
The former Bristol Rovers’ player said he felt Yeovil should have gone in ahead at half-time after a header from defender Kyle Ferguson was ruled out after 25 minutes with Luke McCormick adjudged to have been offside.
Daly said: “The first half was good I thought, we created chances and I think we should have gone ahead, I thought it was a poor decision from the linesman which would have given us some momentum going in at half-time. But we knew that in the second half we would just keep doing what we were doing and the goals would come, we kept knocking on the door and they came.
“At half-time we said we needed to be ruthless when we did create the chances, it was a matter of being patient, and in the second half we knew we had to not get too hurried and take our chances.”
Daly has started every match since the arrival of manager Billy Rowley at the end of November and said he believes the best is yet to come.
He added: “It has been a whirlwind of a season so far with everything that has gone on, and we are just looking to get some consistency about how we are going to play and we can only get better. The foundations are there and I think there is a lot more to come.“
Yeovil Town started 2026 with a comfortable win at home to Braintree Town on a freezing night at Huish Park.
After a non-event of a first half, the Glovers took the lead when midfielder Luke McCormick stabbed home just after the hour and James Daly headed a second after Jake Wannell’s initial header had been superbly kept out by the visitors’ goalkeeper Mason Terry.
Braintree pulled one back through striker Lewis Walker with 20 minutes remaining, but an 86th minute superb Brett McGavin free-kick restored the two-goal advantage.
The changes which Glovers’ boss Billy Rowley alluded to following Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Eastleigh did not come as soon as the 5.30pm kick-off time with the only change being Finn Cousin-Dawson coming in for loanee Max Jolliffe. On the bench, Jacob Maddox made his first appearance in a squad since February 2025. In a similar way that Jolliffe did four days earlier, FC-D started on the right side of defence. It looks like 4-4-2 when we are in possession and 3-5-2 when we are out of it.
With eight minutes gone, James Plant had a press down the left and fired in a shot which went wide, but was not seriously troubling Mason Terry in the Braintree goal. A shot at goal even if it wasn’t on target.
The first meaningful effort came in the 20th minute with a nice bit of football from Yeovil. Jarvis lifted a ball across which was touched down by Luke McCormick to Josh Sims whose effort was pushed away by Terry. Moments later Brett McGavin linked up with Jarvis and Sims and McGavin did not quite have the pace to get on the end of it and then Daly had an effort in to the midriff of Terry soon after. Daly showing what his left foot can do when he cuts in from the right side.
Yeovil were the in the ascendancy and thought they had taken the lead when McGavin’s corner was met by the head of Kyle Ferguson. But the assistant referee had his flag up seemingly against McCormick on the line. Was he interfering with play? Referee Zack Kennard (son of) Kettle sided with his official.
Just before the half-hour mark, Terry was called in to action again to deny McCormick’s effort from the edge of the box before Chay Cooper fired one high in to the Thatcher’s Stand at the other end.
Both teams are playing the same tactics here and therefore trying to break each other down in the same way. We have had more shots on target which I assume means we are doing it better, and we had some nice patterns of play to create decent changes. But the most important statistic remains level at half-time.
Neither side came out of the blocks at the start of the second half with Yeovil attacking the Thatcher’s Stand after the break. You can see the frustration in Billy Rowley’s body language on the sidelines when his side have possession and are not moving it forward and in the opening 15 minutes of this half, there’s plenty of frustrated body language.
But with 61 minutes, Plant had a low shot from the edge of the box which Terry could not hold on to and who was there? You guessed it, Luke McCORMICK was the fox in the box there to pick up the rebound and stab it home for his eighth of the season.
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It might not have been the best start to the second half, but Yeovil definitely had the better of the chances in the first and four minutes later they doubled it. McGavin’s free kick in to the box was met by the head of Jake Wannell who was denied by a fantastic save by Terry who could only push it as far as James DALY who headed it in to the net.
Well, Billy Rowley said after the game against Eastleigh that he wanted us to look to get more goals and his side have done that. But, four minutes later, Braintree got one back and it was another sloppy goal for Yeovil to concede. The visitors brought the ball forward as the Yeovil defence stood off and let them work it out to Lewis WALKER on the right of the box and his shot took a nick off Ferguson and over the head of Jed Ward.
Rowley responded by bringing on Andrew Oluwabori and Harvey Greenslade in place of Josh Sims and James Plant, but it is another disappointing goal to concede.
There was almost another self-inflicted wound in the 82nd minute when Wannell gifted the ball to substitute Elliot Thorpe who played in fellow sub John Akinde and were fortunate to the big striker dragged his shot wide.
But three minutes later the Glovers added a third – yes, THREE goals! A great free-kick from Brett McGavin was hit hard in to the near post and it looks like it has come off Braintree’s James Vennings on its way in to the net. Definitely NOT an Own goal, but a 3-1 lead regardless.
Braintree have brought on four changes including Akinde, Thorpe and ex-Bristol City striker Jay Emmanuel Thomas and both Thorpe and Emmanuel-Thomas forced good saves out of Jed Ward as normal time was running out.
One of Yeovil’s subs Oluwabori put one over the bar in the sixth minute of second half injury time, but we started 2026 with three points, three goals and three different goal scorers.
Real improvement in the passages of play which we did not see against Eastleigh on Tuesday night or Truro City on Boxing Day, hopefully this is the start of more to come.
Venue: Huish Park
Date: Tuesday 3rd January, 5.30pm kick-off
Competition: Enterprise National League Premier League
Scorers: Luke McCormick 61 (1-0), James Daly 65 (2-0), Lewis Walker 69 (2-1), Brett McGavin 84 (3-1)
Pitch: Slippy in places
Conditions: Absolute baltic
Attendance: 3,573 (53 away supporters)
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: None
Braintree Town: Jacob Pinnington 77, Aidan Francis-Clarke 84
Referee: Zac Kennard-Kettle
Yeovil Town (3-4-3)
Substitutes: Andrew Oluwabori (for Josh Sims, 70), Harvey Greenslade (for James Plant, 70), Tahvon Campbell (for Aaron Jarvis, 87), Max Jolliffe (for Luke McCormick, 90+1), Jacob Maddox (not used), Josh Tobin (not used), Matt Gould (not used).
Braintree Town: Mason Terry, Ben Drake, George Langston, Aidan Francis Clarke, Calum Logan (for Goran Babic, 65), Harrison Dudziak (for Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 80), James Vennings, Jacob Pinnington, Chay Cooper, Lewis Walker (for Elliot Thorpe, 80), Aramide Oteh (for John Akinde, 73).
Finn Cousin-Dawson returns to the Yeovil Town starting XI for this evening’s National League Premier Division match with Braintree Town at Huish Park (5.30pm kick-off).
The defender-turned-midfielder replaces on loan Max Jolliffe who is named among the Glovers’ substitutes alongside midfielder Jacob Maddox, who is in line to make this first appearance in 11 months.
Maddox has been sidelined since being substituted in the 1-1 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge on 8th February last year. He replaces Michee Efete, who is not in the squad.
Don’t forget it’s the tea time kick off today! Dave chats to Vaughan Creer, a Braintree Town fan and podcaster for today’s Foot In The Opposition Camp!
