Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper said his side’s defensive injury crisis meant they had no choice other than to try and outscore AFC Fylde in a see-saw 4-3 win in Lancashire this afternoon.
The Glovers found themselves 2-0 down at half-time before goals from Sam Pearson, Aaron Jarvis, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and then a late winner from debutante Dom Bernard earned the three points.
Cooper’s men started the game with five substitutes on the bench with central defensive pairing Jake Wannell (suspension) and Morgan Williams (concussion) missing along with forward Harvey Greenslade (shoulder injury).
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins after the game, the manager said: “Everybody knows we are depleted defensively, so we had to try and make it an open game to give us the best chance of winning but we had some brilliant chances in the first half. We could have scored three or four goals.
“It should not really be 2-0 at half-time, but we had to make it an open game because of our physical presence at the back.
“At half-time we made some changes and gambled and we knew that if we scored first, we would win the game. We just went for it and the players were outstanding today, even when we were 2-0 down I thought we were really good considering we only had Finn (Cousin-Dawson) at centre half.”
He added: “We had to make it an end-to-end game, we had to leave the defence isolated because we thought our best form of defence was attack. We had to try and score more goals than them, that was the only way we could do it and luckily it has come off.”
Cooper reserved special praise for striker Aaron Jarvis who scored his second for the club since signing in the summer from Torquay United, and his manager described the frontman as “unplayable.”
He said: “If he plays like that he has to be one of the best number nines in the league. That gives us another option because we can play off the front a bit quicker when you have a real targetman like that. We played it in to Jarv, he battered the centre-halves and that is where all our play came from.”
But the highest praise was reserved for Yeovil medical man, Tony Boreham, who raced in to the away end at the final whistle to deliver medical treatment to a supporter who Cooper confirmed was the grandfather of substitute, Corey Koerner.
The manager said he had suffered a heart attack at the final whistle but was responsive following treatment and taken to a nearby hospital.
Cooper said: “Our medical team were unbelievable, Tony (Boreham) and our physio Joe (Stacey) got him round which is good news. That is brilliant from our medical team, that is the best part of the day.
“Full credit to the whole club today. The supporters were fantastic, to come this far North. It was an amazing effort from the players with only five substitutes on the bench, staff were incredible and the biggest star of the day is Tony.”
Koerner, who was making his first appearance on the bench for the first-team, had been understandably distressed by the situation, and Cooper promised his team-mates would be rallying around him following the incident.
He added: “(Corey) is in bits right now, he is a young boy, making his first trip with us, but the good news is Tony has got (his grandfather) round and let’s hope he is in good hands in hospital.
“(His grandfather) will be in good hands, I am sure, and we have to look after our young boy, Corey, and we just have to make sure he is looked after and we get him back home.”
From us here at the Gloverscast, we are sure we speak for every Yeovil Town supporter and all those who attended today’s match when we wish Corey’s grandfather a full and speedy recovery.