Having gone down to a defeat in the rain at home to Altrincham at the weekend, Yeovil Town are looking to bounce straight back when they visit Hornchurch for the first time on Tuesday night.
FORM…
YEOVIL TOWN
Despite defeat in their last outing at home to Altrincham on Saturday, it has been a sensational start to the new season for Billy Rowley’s men who still sit in the National League play-off places going in to this one.
The Glovers last loss was only their third in 13 league matches but did expose some defensive fragilities which they will need to solidify if they are to get anything from their trip to Essex.
They will be without the services of loan defender Ben Radcliffe. The Crawley Town player is suspended for three matches after his late red card at the weekend.
HORNCHURCH
The home form table for Hornchurch looks very different to the away form table. The National League Premier Division new boys sit third in the home table having won five of their six matches, but away from home they have lost six of their eight matches.
The latest defeat on the road came at Hartlepool United on Saturday when they went down 2-1 with former Yeovil loanee Angelo Balanta on target. But seven days earlier they were 2-0 winners over Eastleigh back on home soil.
After promotion via the National League South title last season, they strengthened with experience through the likes of defenders Ryan Inniss and Joe Kizzi, winger Myles Weston, midfielder Nathan Ferguson and striker Josh Walker.
KEY PLAYERS…
YEOVIL TOWN – JOHL POWELL
As introductions to a new division go, there can be few better than Johl Powell’s arrival in the National League Premier Division this season.
The forward has made the step up two tiers of the football pyramid look easy and goes in to Tuesday’s game with eight league goals in his last six appearances – make that nine in nine if you include the FA Cup.
He has proven himself an instinctive finisher who refuses to give up on a chance when he has got a scent of goal and ford in to this match as a player on top of his game.
HORNCHURCH – RYAN INNISS
At the heart of Hornchurch’s impressive start to life in the National League Premier Division is the colossal frame of former Yeovil loan defender Ryan Inniss.
The 31-year-old arrived in Essex in the summer having been released by Forest Green Rovers where he had been a regular fixture in the backline.
Inniss has been an ever-present for the Urchins this season and will bring experience and organisation alongside his defensive qualities and threat at the other end of the pitch in the Yeovil box.
If the Glovers are going to succeed in this one, getting past the one-man wall of Inniss is something they will have to achieve.
THE GAFFER…
Daryl McMahon is not just manager at Hornchurch, he is part of the club’s ownership group.
Following promotion via the National League South play-offs (beating Yeovil Town Old Boys Torquay United) last season, the Irishman was awarded a new three-year contract at the club which saw him become a part-owner.
Announcing the deal back in June, Urchins’ chairman Alex Sharp said McMahon would help to “build a sustainable pathway to deliver EFL football for Hornchurch within the next five years.”
As a player, McMahon won promotion from League Two with Leyton Orient in 2006 and the FA Trophy with Stevenage a year later and finished his playing career at the same time he started his coaching one at Ebbsfleet United in 2015.
He got Ebbsfleet promoted from National League South in 2017 before jumping up for an ill-fated spell in the EFL at Macclesfield Town which lasted just half-a-season with the club deep in the financial mire. Within 24 hours of leaving Macclesfield, McMahon was appointed Dagenham & Redbridge manager where he stayed until February 2023.
He arrived at Hornchurch, then in the Isthmian League Premier Division, in January 2024 and guided them to promotion before following that with a play-off win in last season’s National League South final.
WE’VE MET BEFORE
We haven’t! Tuesday night’s game at the Hornchurch Stadium will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
DON’T I KNOW YOU?
Two former Yeovil loanees are among those they will face on their first visit to Hornchurch. Defender Ryan Inniss and attacker Angelo Balanta both had spells at Huish Park.
Inniss had a six-game loan with the Glovers in the 2014-15 season whilst he was on the books at Crystal Palace, whilst Balanta was part of the squad which reached the League One play-offs with the Glovers in 2013. The Colombian made seven appearances whilst on loan from QPR during that campaign.
It is not the first time either have faced their former employer with Balanta having previously faced us for Dagenham & Redbridge and Inniss whilst at Forest Green Rovers. In fact, the centre half scored an injury time winner against the Glovers on New Year’s Day 2025.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…
Harry Wager is no stranger to refereeing Yeovil Town matches. He was the man in the middle for one of our most infamous matches last season,
To find out which one, read Ben’s article – here.
Hornchurch came up via the playoffs last season, beating *ahem* Torquay