By Dan Howell
Yeovil Town endured a tough afternoon in Greater Manchester, suffering a 4-0 defeat to Rochdale. Goals from Devante Rodney, Kairo Mitchell, Leon Ayinde, and Jake Burger saw the Glovers leave Spotland empty handed.
Mark Cooper made two changes to the side that drew with Gateshead, with Josh Sims and the departed Matt Worthington replaced by Jacob Maddox and new signing Kyrell Wilson, who made his first start for the club.
The hosts made a lively start, creating their first chance inside four minutes. Leon Ayinde switched play to the near side, finding Jid Okeke, who cut inside sharply but was denied by Ollie Wright’s low save.
Rochdale continued to dominate the opening stages, with Ayinde proving a constant threat down the left. The winger set up Devante Rodney twice in quick succession, but the forward’s first effort was blocked, and his second flew over the bar. Another deflected effort from Rodney was comfortably saved by Wright as Yeovil struggled to settle into the game.
To compound Yeovil’s early difficulties, Jacob Maddox, making his first start for the club, was forced off with an injury in the 26th minute, with Josh Sims coming on as his replacement.
Despite Rochdale’s bright start, Yeovil began to grow into the game as the half progressed. Sean McGurk latched onto a loose ball and curled a shot towards goal, but it lacked the power to trouble Sam Waller. Moments later, the Dale goalkeeper was called into action again, producing a superb save to tip Ciaran McGuckin’s goal-bound effort over the bar. This marked Yeovil’s best spell of the first half, but they were unable to capitalise.
The second half began poorly for the Glovers as Rochdale broke the deadlock just four minutes after the restart. A Ryan East corner was flicked goalwards by Rodney, with the ball deflecting off a Yeovil defender before finding its way into the net.
The hosts nearly doubled their lead moments later when Ayinde sent a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but no Rochdale player was able to apply the finishing touch. However, just shy of the hour mark, Rochdale got their second. A long ball from Waller sent Kairo Mitchell through on goal, where he was brought down by Wright in the penalty area. Mitchell stepped up to convert the spot-kick, sending Wright the wrong way.
In an attempt to disrupt Rochdale’s growing momentum, Mark Cooper made a triple substitution, introducing Morgan Williams, Lewys Twamley, and Frank Nouble to the game.
Rochdale, however, added a third just five minutes later. Gordon played a perfectly weighted pass to Adebayo-Rowling, who delivered an inch-perfect cross for Ayinde to turn home his first league goal for the club, effectively putting the result beyond doubt.
Yeovil had a lucky escape shortly after when Liam Hogan’s header from a corner struck the crossbar. However, Rochdale continued to press for more goals, with Wright making a string of impressive saves to deny Ian Henderson, Connor McBride, and Jake Burger in quick succession.
The hosts eventually added a fourth in stoppage time. Jili Buyabu, who had earlier gone close, saw his shot parried by Wright, with McBride collecting the rebound and squaring for Burger to tap home from close range.
The Glovers will now turn their focus to their upcoming trip to Dagenham in two weeks’ time, where they will aim to bounce back and get back to winning ways.
