After the joy of Saturday lunchtime football last weekend, the National League fixture computer (sponsored by DAZN) is serving up Friday night football as Yeovil Town make the long journey to face Barrow.
FORM…
YEOVIL TOWN
The Glovers have been in fine form to start the season, with two draws and a win to kick things off. Not only have the results been good but the performances have been ones for fans to get behind.
That was shown last time out as Yeovil took on Gateshead at Huish Park. In what has been a bit of a dodgy fixture for the Glovers in recent times, this team had no such worries, dispatching their rivals 3-0 with a more than competent performance. Striker Ste Walker made it two in two as he put the home side ahead early on, the game then became Yeovil’s for the taking and on 81 minutes captain fantastic, Luke McCormick popped up to double the lead for Yeovil. The game wasn’t over there for the home side or McCormick as he bagged his brace in the 90th minute to secure all three points.
BARROW
Following relegation out of the Football League on the final day of last season, the summer has found National League old new boys Barrow starting to enjoy themselves again.
Having got rid of former Glovers’ legend Sam Foley, who took the wheel at an already sinking ship in Cumbria Lancashire (ignore the road signs!) at the end of last season, the Bluebirds brought in Adam Murray as manager, fresh from the success of guiding Kidderminster Harriers to promotion from National League North.
He managed to retain a number of those worth keeping from last season, but his forthright comments about finding a club which was “an absolute shambles” and warning of the “poison” of a losing mentality suggest he has not quite got it how he wants it.
On the pitch, things went well in pre-season with Barrow going unbeaten with wins over EFL sides Blackpool and Murray’s old club Mansfield Town, but the opening day of the National League season saw them lose 2-0 at highly-fancied Hartlepool United and then suffer a 2-1 home defeat to newly-promoted Hornchurch. The latter sparked the type of comments listed above from the manager.
However, in their most recent outing, they performed much better at Harrogate Town to grab a 2-2 draw with a last gasp equaliser on Saturday. The physical style which Murray has advocated since his arrival in the hot seat saw him earn some criticism from opposing fans captured on camera in his post-match interview. “That’s the biggest compliment I can take,” was his reply.
There are some familiar faces in the Barrow squad to knows who have watched the National League in recent seasons. Striker Alex Reid has arrived from Hartlepool – albeit he has only been used as a substitute so far – along with Halifax defender Thierry Latty-Fairweather and Altrincham duo Issac Marriott and Olly Crankshaw. The Bluebirds also snapped up Gateshead midfielder Keaton Ward in a move only announced ahead of kick-off last weekend.
KEY PLAYERS…
YEOVIL TOWN – LUKE McCORMICK
Having had his campaign cut short by injury last year, the Glovers’ new captain has once again started this season like a train. Even if his name didn’t appear on the stat sheet across the first two games, the captain made sure he did during the win over Gateshead.
Picture courtesy of Indy Pitman/Indy’s Visuals.
The combative midfielder looked every part of the player he was before a season ending injury last term, bringing energy to the midfield with that finishing touch that led him to win top goal scorer. It was after a small coming together with former teammate Kyle Ferguson that seemed to spark a light under the 27-year-old. A couple of minutes later he got his name on the scoresheet for the first time this season, before doubling that in stoppage time.
Yeovil have looked very good to date, and if McCormick can carry on producing the type of performance we saw against Gateshead, we might be in for a good season.
BARROW – MJ WILLIAMS
Defensive midfielder Williams has been made club captain in a season which sees Barrow celebrate 125 years of professional football and is one of the players Bluebirds’ fans were glad to see stay on from last season.
The stats back up why Barrow fans were so keen to see him stay at Holker Street this summer. The 30-year-old has played every minute for his team this season, whilst also producing 80% pass accuracy. It’s his calmness on the ball that could trouble the Glovers as he’ll be able to control the tempo if given the opportunity. As a defence-minded midfielder, he does that side of the job extremely well too, winning over half his duel and aerial duels as well, leading to him receiving the ball for his side 15 times this season. He will definitely be the player that could break up Yeovil’s attacking play.
He also stands at 6’2″, so is one of those who will relish hearing his manager talk up the importance of physicality as they acclimatise to the rough and tumble of non-League football, but a player who is the heartbeat of the Barrow side. If he plays well, Barrow play well.
THE GAFFER…
Adam Murray was a combative, box-to-box midfielder in his playing days and has made no secret of his desire to shape his new club in that mould having arrived at Holker Street.
The Barrow boss left just enough time to wash the champagne out of his tracksuit having earned Kidderminster Harriers promotion back to the National League before making the move to the North West. Having sealed that promotion, the Bluebirds moved quickly to trigger a contract clause which allowed Murray to join an EFL club – which Barrow technically still were at that point – and appoint him on a two-year contract.
Murray admitted he did not want to repeat the mistake he made at AFC Fylde who he took up to the same level in 2023, only to be sacked two months later when things did not go to plan. Whilst the move to a recently-relegated former League club with parachute payments in their pocket, has not enabled him to bring in every player he has wanted, he has seen himself well-backed in the summer transfer market.
LAST TIME WE MET…
It was August the last time we visited Barrow and that proved a day in 2019 to forget for travelling fans. Having seen their coach break down on the long journey up the motorway, Yeovil fans found their side already 1-0 down. A scoreline which lasted until the final whistle.
The 2019-20 season saw Barrow promoted having topped the National League for much of the campaign cut short due to the outbreak of COVID-19. They were four points clear at the top of the division when play was suspended and never even got the opportunity to make the return trip to Somerset.
Before that you have to go back to February 1999 to find another match between the two sides – a 2-0 defeat for the Glovers in Cumbria – and the last win for Yeovil came courtesy of a Darren Keeling goal at Huish Park in the reverse fixture in January 1999.
DON’T I KNOW YOU?
Ben Whitfield is on the books at Barrow. The winger made 42 appearances for Yeovil Town whilst on loan from AFC Bournemouth in a fairly forgettable 2016-17 campaign under Darren Way in League Two.
Since his days at Huish Park, he had a spell at Torquay United before becoming part of the Stockport County side which won the National League in 2022.
Whitfield never got the opportunity to play in the League with the Hatters, but managed it with Barrow who he joined in the summer of 2022 and enjoyed some success under then-boss Pete Wild.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…
Ross Martin is our match official for Friday’s televised game, check out Ben’s article – here.