Rowley: There’s a fire lit in McCormick

Yeovil Town boss Billy Rowley believes that midfielder Luke McCormick is on a mission to prove he is “one of the best players” in the National League in the coming season.

The 27-year-old missed the final two months of last season with a groin injury and returned with two goals in the first half of the Glovers’ 4-1 win at Melksham Town in their opening pre-season friendly on Saturday.

McCormick was handed the captain’s armband from the start and netted either side of new striker Stephen Walker’s opening goal for Yeovil before Brett McGavin added a fourth with a superb free-kick with 15 minutes remaining.

Speaking about McCormick to the club’s social media after the game, Rowley said: “It is so good to have Macca back. I feel there is a new lease of life in him, it was really devastating to lose him in the position we were in fighting for our lives last season. He is a top pro, he looks after himself and he has a hunger for football and scoring goals and we saw that in the first half.

“Daz (assistant manager Darren Simpson) and I were speaking at half-time and we felt like we had signed a new player that is better than (National League) level so I think there is a fire lit in him, he wants to be one of the best players in the league and I think he has that ability.”

The boss also had praise for Walker, signed from National League North side Scarborough Athletic last month, for his finishing ability. He said: “The first thing I noticed when we were scouting Ste was he has the best chop in football. I spoke to an old friend of mine who played with him at MK Dons and that is the first thing he said about him, so we will get used to seeing that. I thought he was going to shoot with the second one and he’s chopped again, so he has even done me there. He is a real talent, his upbringing and pedigree speaks for itself and you can see the talent that he has.”

The Glovers lost defender Joy Mukena after just 26 minutes with the manager saying the defender has a hamstring issue. He said: “We were aware that Joy had been struggling, he has got a bit of a neural hamstring injury. He saw a specialist yesterday and we think we have got to the root of it and we are going to try and patch him up for the next few weeks. It is not massively serious, it is just something we are going to have to manage with him and figure out how we can get the best out of him without doing more harm.”

His replacement was William Lannin-Sweet, a 19-year-old defender released from Premier League champions Arsenal’s academy in the summer, who was one of four trialists who appeared at Melksham. Here’s the who’s who of Trialists A-D:

• Trialist A – Jonathon Page: The midfielder is a familiar face to Glovers fans having spent the second half of last season at Huish Park, but his spell was dogged by injury and he managed just six appearances. He was spotted in pre-season training videos ahead of the opening friendly and Rowley explained his return. The boss said: “Jon came in to help us out last season and got injured in his first game which he was devastated about and he probably rushed back because he was desperate to play, probably a couple of weeks earlier than we should have. Then against Sutton, a game we won 3-2 late on, he had to come off in injury time with the same injury, he got a whack on an ankle ligament, he tried to get back again and played the last couple of games. He wanted to come back and prove himself and try and earn something. He is a top lad, all the boys love him, he looks top draw in training, so it was nice to see him out there.“
• Trialist B – William Lannin-Sweet: Despite them being codenamed for the purposes of pre-season, Rowley was happy to discuss Lannin-Sweet’s performance. The teenager replaced Mukena and then re-appeared in the second half meaning he played more than an hour, more than any other player. The manager said: “Will Sweet. Brilliant, he has been at Arsenal all of his youth career so he has a top upbringing, he has a lovely left foot, he is very composed and despite being fairly slight he is very strong and uses his body well. I thought he was excellent.“
• Trialist C – Rhys Healey: Trialist C’s name was kept under wraps but is known to be the former Cardiff City striker who suffered a knock in the second half at Melksham and played on before coming off with a minute of normal time remaining. The 31-year-old has also been training with the Glovers after his contract at Huddersfield Town was cancelled by mutual consent in June after struggling with injuries. Healey’s pedigree is undoubted, he was top scorer in the French second division, Ligue 2, in the 2020/21 season and has a string of League clubs on his CV. But a knee injury has troubled him much of his career.
• Trialist D – Kian Hill: A young Bristol Rovers midfielder who replaced Healey in the 89th minute of the match. The teenager made his debut for the Gas’ first-team last season and had impressed during a spell on loan at Step 4 side Bristol Manor Farm last season.

In summary, Rowley was pleased with his side’s start to pre-season, praising a number of players who appeared in a completely changed second half XI – with the exception of Lannin-Sweet who remained.

The boss said: “We have trained maybe eight times and, considering that we have only trained that many times, I thought we looked quite familiar with each other, some of our movement, timing and understanding of what we wanted was good and, apart from the 35 degree heat, the fitness levels were top. All in all it was a really good day for us.

On the second half XI, he added: “I thought Slavi (Spasov) dropping down and connecting the game was excellent, Mason (Obeng) was great off the left, Johl Powell was top draw in the pocket. We asked Jack Kingdon to play high and right in the second half which is not natural to him, but he is probably the fastest player in the squad, so we felt we could utilise his speed with that. Brett and Hayden (Muller) were maestros in midfield, the pitch is quite sticky and hard but they managed to play out really well. I have not got a bad word to say about anyone, attitude was excellent, supporters were brilliant, nice to see so many of them, it was a really good day for us.”

Yeovil continue their pre-season campaign with a trip to National League North side Merthyr Town on Tuesday night before facing Cardiff City Under-23s at Huish Park next Saturday.