Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves was pleased to see his side regain the “clean sheet mentality” his coaching staff have been drilling in to the Glovers’ players all week.
Having taken the lead through a Jamie Reckord goal after 34 minutes, the home side were forced to defend against an onslaught from visitors Dagenham & Redbridge and held on to earn their first win of the season.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, Hargreaves said: “The first half was good, we did what we said we were going to do, we were calm when we had the ball and we organised when we were out of possession.
“Because we are so desperate to win games, the second half became a war of attrition but the clean sheet mentality we have been drumming in to the boys all week, they did it.
“The corners were raining in at the end there and there’s so many good teams and players in this league, it is a very underrated standard.”
The boss made three changes from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Altrincham with Ben Richards-Everton returning in defence alongside teenage debutant Alfie Pond, on loan from League One side Exeter City, and captain Josh Staunton in a three-man defence.
He added: “We were organised even with the lads coming in, I think the captain (Josh Staunton) stood up tremendously at the end, Alfie Pond showed an enormous amount of maturity and I could go through the entire squad, including those not getting a look in at the moment.
“There’s young players in there and for some of them it is a reintroduction to men’s football and they have to adjust quickly.”
After a fragmented first 30 minutes to the match, it was a moment of quality when striker Alex Fisher broke the Dagenham offside trap and fired the ball across for wing back Reckord to fire home at proved the difference.
Hargreaves said: “We’ve been working on our wing back gambling to go high when the ball’s switched and it worked.
“It was a great ball and a great finish, Jamie’s been getting a nose bleed when he’s got in to the box in recent years and now he’s turned in to a goal-scoring wing back.
“We worked on that, talked about running blind side, and they carried it out and they were fantastic.
“Towards the end it was an uncomfortable watch but with the will of the fans and the backing we’ve had, pulled us through today.”
Forward Gime Toure, who had opened his goal-scoring account seven days earlier, was the other change from the disappointing draw at Altrincham. He replaced Charlie Wakefield who was missing with a thigh injury picked up in training.
Speaking before the game, Hargreaves said Wakefield was unlikely to make the visit to league leaders Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday.
? “The second half became a war of attrition…”
Chris Hargreaves talks to @SheridanRobins after Yeovil Town’s first victory of the season v Dagenham & Redbridge. pic.twitter.com/PzOYFJDHIb
— BBC Sport Bristol (@bbcbristolsport) August 27, 2022