It is a return to home surroundings for Yeovil Town this weekend as AFC Fylde visit Huish Park for the unusual spectacle (this season, at least) of a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday.
FORM…
YEOVIL TOWN
The Glovers got their first taste of defeat this season in their last outing. Having been 2-0 up with an hour played at Southend United, they were blown away by a rampant home side who roared back to claim a 3-2 win with three goals in 19 minutes.
It was a game which manager Billy Rowley admitted his side were second best in. And after a unheralded start to the season the result may have been a bit of a reality check to supporters and staff alike that we do have a long way to go if we want to compete at the very top end of the table.
That being said there are always some bright moments in defeat, and I don’t think it should be overlooked that we were 2-0 up, whilst being second best. The fact we actually scored twice is a positive as well, after a couple of years, with lets say some non goalscoring attacking players, it’s good to see we have got players who know where the net is. The third being Luke McCormick, that’s all I need to say.
AFC FYLDE
If Yeovil’s start to the new season has surprised a few non-League football watchers, AFC Fylde’s will have equally raised a few eyebrows. The Lancashire side arrive in Somerset with an identical record to their hosts – P6, W3, D2, L1 – and sitting in sixth place in the early season table – not that we look at that until the end of the month, of course.
Wins away at Tamworth and Solihull Moors and a home victory over Forest Green Rovers show they will be no pushovers, but there is perhaps a chink in the armour in scoring late. Their only defeat came at Woking when two goals in second half stoppage time was their downfall, and last weekend they were leading fellow new boys Worthing until the 89th minute.
The Coasters returned to the National League Premier Division after one season away in some style, winning the National League North with 100 points and having scored 112 goals. Under new manager Craig Mahon, who joined them having worked miracles at unfashionable Curzon Ashton, they finished five points clear of South Shields in a competitive division.
Their top scorer, Danny Ormerod, who bagged more than 30 goals in all competitions, was snapped up by League One side Peterborough United for a fee of £600,000 plus add ons at the end of August, but there are plenty of goals still in the side in the like of Luca Main, who scored twice against Worthing last Saturday, and full-back turned winger, Harvey Broad, who already has four for the season.
KEY PLAYERS…
YEOVIL TOWN – BRETT MCGAVIN
It’s the turn of another member of the midfield trio with brilliant locks of hair, and that’s Brett McGavin. As much as the praise has been toward his captain and midfield partner, Luke McCormick this season, McGavin is quietly going about his business in a spectacular way.
Even playing with a stomach upset in last weekend’s 3-2 defeat at Southend where manager Billy Rowley said the midfielder was “a bit of a shadow of himself”, McGavin was at the heart of the control Yeovil had on the game and that ebbed when he was substituted after an hour.
The 26-year-old has been as effective as ever for the Glovers and is making his mark on the team once again. Others may get the goals but the former Torquay man has played his role perfectly, providing three assists so far this campaign, and that’s where McGavin has excelled this season in his passing. The midfielder so far this season has been averaging 52 passes a match, 10 more than his closest teammate Ben Radcliffe. Of those 52 passes in a match 1.5 are considered key, the most of anyone in the team.
Defensively he has been just as influential, as he sits back whilst over go forward. This has led to him recovering the ball 8 times a match and is rarely dribbled past. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? It means Billy Rowley has found his midfield lynchpin, the Mr Reliable, a lower league Rodri if you will.
AFC FYLDE – HARVEY BROAD
The ‘defender’ has been by far and away the most impactful player in the Coasters side this season, featuring heavily in the attacking stats. At 20-years-old, Broad is one of the younger players in the team, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming one of the first names on the team sheet.
When looking at Fylde’s goal scoring stats this campaign it’s Broad’s name that sits atop the list with four goals, he currently lies second on the assist chart as well with two to his name. In fact the last time he didn’t contribute to single goal in a game was in the opening fixture vs Tamworth.
Broad is listed as a defender but so far this season has been deployed down the left side of midfield. This role change under Craig Mahon has been effective with his contributions in the final third. If there is one weakness of the youngster that Yeovil may look to exploit is that he doesn’t get back much to do the defensive work, so any balls in behind him could leave Fylde’s defence a tiny bit exposed.
THE GAFFER…
Craig Mahon took over at AFC Fylde following their relegation out of the National League at the end of the 2024-25 season with a strong reputation from his first managerial role at unfashionable National League North side Curzon Ashton.
He brought an attack-minded style of play to the Lancashire club and finished last season as champions of the North with 100 points and 112 goals in their 46 league games. Under the Irishman, Fylde have adopted a possession-based style not dissimilar to that we are seeing at Yeovil under Billy Rowley.
As a player, he made more than 200 appearances at Chester in a career in non-League football before joining the coaching staff at Curzon Ashton. Having briefly held a role in interim charge at the Manchester club, he took the job permanently in 2023 and guided them to the highest-ever points tally in the North in 2024-25 before leaving to join Fylde.
LAST TIME WE MET…
When these two sides last met in the 2024-25 season, both games were memorable for different reasons – but both ended with the Glovers on top.
Striker Harvey Greenslade bagged the only goal in a 1-0 home win for Yeovil in March 2025 when he struck in the sixth minute of second half stoppage time. That match saw Mark Cooper’s side struggle to break down a resilient Fylde before the substitute grabbed a late winner.
But even that drama is topped by the ding-dong encounter the two sides had when they met in Lancashire in September 2024. Having been 2-0 down at half-time, the two sides traded blows throughout a gripping second half with ended with debutant Dom Bernard grabbing an 87th minute winner for the visitors to seal a 4-3 win.
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown
DON’T I KNOW YOU?
A Thursday afternoon signing has set up the return of striker Millar Matthews-Lewis to Huish Park. Remember him? Don’t worry, you are forgiven.
The 21-year-old striker played 120 minutes in a six-game loan spell after signing on loan from Burton Albion last March when the Glovers were desperately short on numbers and even shorter on goals. He arrived with an impressive scoring record for Hemel Hempstead Town in National League North which earned him his move to the League.
In fairness, the situation made it an uphill struggle for the player who did made a substitute appearance for his parent club in the League Cup around a month ago – but he was fairly forgettable in green-and-white. Don’t say it!
Corey made 11 appearances during a loan spell from Liverpool in the 2017-18 season whilst Tom is a more recent face having made just eight appearances in Yeovil’s first season back in non-League in 2019-20.
The missing midfielder’s absence is a major blow for Fylde having been one of the stand-out performers in their charge to the National League North title last season.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…
Paul Marsden is our match official this weekend and……well, we will leave you to find out more about him Ben’s article – here.