Rowley “It was a freak game”

Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley described his side’s 4-1 defeat to AFC Fylde at Huish Park as a “freak game,” insisting that while the result is deeply disappointing, the overall performance showed promising signs as his side continues to evolve.
The Glovers fell behind in the first half and found themselves trailing despite controlling periods of play and entering the opposition penalty box roughly 20 times before the break. The crucial turning point came just before half-time when Archie Davies hit the post from close range, only for AFC Fylde to break down the opposite end and double their lead seconds later.

“There’s probably two sides of it for me, really,” Rowley told BBC Somerset’s Chris Spittles after the match. “There’s the side where I felt like some of our defensive stuff, particularly in transitions and counter-pressing moments—wasn’t great… But the second part, I actually just think it was a bit of a freak game.”

Rowley likened the clinical nature of Fylde’s performance to the defeat to Solihill on the final day of last season, pointing out that the visitors scored three goals from their first three meaningful attacks, but that a pivotal few minutes just before the break turned the game on it’s head.

“That would have made the game, 1-1 just before half time, we would have had a positive team talk, the fans would have been on our side and we’d probably go on to win the game.

“That’s football, you go down the other end, it goes 2-0 and it’s very different, a slightly steeper hill to climb.”
“We’ve hit the post from two yards. You score a couple of those chances, you’re sitting there thinking this is a really good performance. But you miss those chances and then every shot they hit goes in, and you’re like, ‘Well, this is an absolute shambles.’ It’s easy to zoom in on this result and think it was really bad—it obviously was—but there are parts of the performance I liked.”

Adding to Yeovil’s frustrations on the pitch was the loss of both starting centre-backs. Ben Radcliffe was forced off injured at half-time, while Joy Mukena was substituted in the second half after feeling tightness in his hamstrings.

“I’m hoping that Joy was just a precaution with his hamstring,” Rowley explained. “I’ll go catch up with those two lads now and hopefully they’re not too serious.”

Luke McCormick pulled a goal back for Yeovil in the 75th minute to make it 3-1, sparking brief hope of a late comeback before Fylde added a fourth on a swift counter-attack to seal all three points.
With two games coming up in less than a week—starting on Tuesday night—Rowley emphasised that senior squad members, including midfielder Brett McGavin, have already rallied the group – and said that the group would be in on Sunday to ensure that the recovery and focus on Aldershot starts as soon as possible.

“We’ve got a game Tuesday. We’ll obviously be really disappointed for the next 24 hours. We’ll review, we’ll improve, we’ll recover tomorrow, train on Monday, and then we’ll go and try to put the record straight.”