Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has described his side’s 4-1 defeat against AFC Fylde at Huish Park as a “bit of a freak game.” The loss marked Yeovil’s second consecutive defeat on home soil, with Fylde’s Greg Olley and Luca Thomas each netting twice. Luke McCormick did pull a goal back for the Glovers in the second half, but Olley quickly restored Fylde’s three-goal cushion shortly afterwards.
Rowley reflected on two main aspects of the match. “There are probably two sides to it for me,” he said. “Defensively, especially during transitions or counter-pressing moments, we weren’t at our best. But beyond that, I think it was just a bit of a freak game. We experienced something similar in the last match of the season against Solihull, where every shot they took found the back of the net.”
Yeovil had an opportunity to get back into the game just before half-time when Archie Davies struck the post. However, Fylde capitalised on the momentum by scoring to make it 2-0 going into the break. “If we’d scored then, it would have levelled the game at 1-1 right before half-time,” Rowley explained. “That would have boosted the team talk and the crowd, and perhaps the result would have been different. But instead, Fylde went up 2-0 and the task became much tougher.”
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At half-time, Rowley made two substitutions to adjust the team’s pressing tactics, bringing on Johl Powell and Slavi Spasov for Ben Radcliffe and Stephen Walker. “Radders (Ben Radcliffe) came off injured, and Ste was taken off to change our pressing approach,” he said. He also praised goalkeeper Hayden Muller’s performance, describing it as “excellent” in midfield.
Joy Mukena was withdrawn following Fylde’s third goal, though Rowley was uncertain about the severity of Mukena’s or Radcliffe’s injuries. “I’m hoping Joy was taken off as a precaution for his hamstring, but I don’t know much about Radders' status at this point,” he commented.
After McCormick’s goal offered a brief glimmer of hope, Fylde responded immediately with Olley completing his brace from a counter-attack. Rowley noted, “Macca scored a great goal to get us back in it, but then we conceded straight away on a counter. Our defensive shape was slightly off.”
Despite the heavy loss, Rowley remains optimistic about Yeovil’s prospects. “I’ve rebuilt squads before,” he said. “Two years ago, my team had some ups and downs until Christmas, then started to improve, and I fully expect the same pattern here.”
Yeovil will look to bounce back quickly as they travel to Aldershot on Tuesday night, aiming to return to winning ways.