Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley admitted his side’s goalless draw at home to FC Halifax Town was not one for the footballing purists, but said he was pleased with some of what he saw from his side.
The Glovers’ boss admitted the similar styles of both sides cancelled each other out as they played out a contest which screamed of a long season coming to an end.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah after the game, he said: “I thought we more than matched them in a lot of aspects, but we are quite similar in terms of our style, which probably made the game for the supporters and the average punter quite boring because we kind of cancelled each other out in a lot of ways.
“I thought the first half we weren’t amazing, we adjusted a couple of ideas at half-time, more so just to like get in behind the opposition a little bit more, try and threaten their back line because they were playing quite high and we ended up with some half-decent chances. I would like to see us sustain the attack for a bit longer at times, we get in the final third and we’re a little bit rushed with our decision-making.
“But on the other hand, we’ve had good chances. Terrell (Works) has gone around the goalkeeper and missed kind of a one-on-one and then (Ryan Jones) has come up with a bit of magic at the end and he probably should have scored. On another day, we could win this game 2-0 and it’s an incredible result, but it’s not a bad performance, not amazing, and not a great result, but not a bad one.”
The Glovers suffered a blow just before kick-off when defender Kyle Ferguson pulled up with an injury in the pre-match warm-up and had to be replaced by Harvey Greenslade with Finn Cousin-Dawson, who was returning following a suspension, dropping back in to defence.
Rowley said: “It’s one of those innocuous ones. We have to probably wait 24-48 hours to see if it swells up, and then if it is bad, obviously have to wait for a scan. It’s on his knee, just in the warm-up. He got a knock from Harvey when he tried to pass the ball and his knee went inwards. So we had to change two or three ideas for the starting line-up which wasn’t ideal, but I felt like the boys adapted well. It wasn’t an amazing start for us, but the boys adapted well.
“We obviously planned the game quite well, they’re a good team but they’re quite structurally like positional-based, so you can plan quite well around them. I felt like we got our press right and I thought that the boys at the back—I thought Joy (Mukena), Finn, and Dan (Ellison) were all really good. We defended the box well, we were good in one-v-ones and I thought some of their build-up was really good as well. I just wish I was standing here a little bit more happy with, with getting three points because I felt like especially the last 20 minutes probably deserved that.”
Midfielder Jonathon Page, who has played just 136 minutes of competitive football, appeared as a 72nd minute opportunity as he begins his comeback from a injury which has hampered him since arriving in Somerset in mid-January.
Rowley said: “Pagey has got a top football brain. I think he gave the ball away once when he tried to play a one-two with Brett (McGavin) and they didn’t read each other, but apart from that I thought he was faultless. Apart from that I thought he was faultless, he’s always in the right position, he offers good angles, he’s comfortable on the ball. I feel really sad for Pagey because we got him in halfway through the season, he got injured against Brackley and then he got injured in his third game against Sutton or Aldershot. We’re probably not going to see Pagey at the top of his game because he’s only got two more games to get fit, but he is a top player and really good lad.”
Next weekend, Yeovil travel to title-chasing York City, who were 1-0 winners at Tamworth in the early fixture on Saturday, knowing they are up against a winning machine.
Rowley said: “I wish that we were playing for a playoff spot or something, but if we were to go there and get a point, it would add a little bit more spice to it. But we’re going to go there and we’re going to try. I think it’s a great learning opportunity for me and for the players and the staff, because we’re going to play against a team that are ridiculously good, have got some unbelievable players in front of a crowd that’s probably going to be a sell-out. It’ll be a real good learning curve for going to play in a top pressurised game and see what you can kind of get away with and how you can adapt to those situations. We’re going to go there and try and win, as simple as that, and hopefully we can spoil their party.“