Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper was pleased to see his side stick to their “footballing identity” as they picked up a 3-2 home win over Ebbsfleet United at Huish Park.
The Glovers dominated the first half and were deservedly 2-0 up at half-time through goals from Brett McGavin and Michael Smith, but a change of personnel at the interval saw the visitors grab two goals in five minutes to draw level.
Cooper withdrew left-back Alex Whittle, who was carrying a hamstring injury, and winger Josh Sims, who he had always planned to only play the first half, at the break, replacing them with Raphael Araoye and Charlie Cooper.
Speaking to BBC Somerset reporter Mark Stillman after the game, the manager said: “I thought we were in complete control when they scored their first goal, we moved the ball nicely but it is about 90 minutes and you are not going to have every minute your own way.
“The pleasing thing for us was the character we showed and that is what I was screaming at them on the pitch at 2-2, I wanted us to stand up and be counted and go and get a third goal. I was so pleased with all the boys, including those who weren’t involved, the celebrations together and the commitment, effort and some of the football we played.”
He added: “We tried to stick to our identity pleased me the most. I know there are certain sections of our crowd that want us to boot the ball forward, but I will not do that and maybe my opinion is what makes us effective. We can have large parts of the game with the ball and we did that tonight. There is a place for (playing it long), when we are 3-2 up with a minute to go, we can kick it out of the ground, but the pleasing thing was we kept playing our football when we were under severe pressure at 2-2.”
Whittle, who came off in the second half of last Saturday’s 1-0 win at Braintree Town, had looked typically assured in the first half, and his replacement, on-loan Bristol City teenager Araoye had a torrid time with much of Ebbsfleet’s threat coming down the Yeovil left.
Cooper admitted the change “destabilised” his side, but backed Araoye to learn from the experience. He said: “Raph went on and his first time on the pitch at Huish Park. He will be better for that experience, he will come through that and will show us what a good player he can be. We have a couple of young players on the pitch and it is a big deal for them playing here. That destabilised us a little bit, I thought both goals were avoidable but that is football – there were five goals in the game, we scored three and we have got three points, so it’s a good night for us.”
Yeovil made five substitutes in the second half, the maximum they are able to under new rules introduced in the National League this season, and the arrival of match-winner Harvey Greenslade, Jordan Young and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton helped get them over the line.
The boss said he was pleased to be able to make the changes with a busy Bank Holiday weekend coming up as his side make the 12-hour round trip to Gateshead for a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday, before hosting Rochdale at Huish Park on Bank Holiday Monday.
Cooper said: “The toughest thing for us we played tonight, Saturday at the other end of the country and then back here 48 hours later, so that is about managing the squad, managing the minutes players play and making sure we have enough fresh players on the pitch to deal with tough game against the best footballing team in the league in Gateshead and a big game here against another ex-League team here in Rochdale.”
He confirmed that midfielder Dylan Morgan and defender Finn Cousin-Dawson had trained this week despite both players not being in the squad at Braintree at the weekend or against Ebbsfleet.
The manager added: “We can only pick seven subs, but Finn and Dylan missed out but they are really important to us now, probably more so because we are going to need them over the next two games.“