Yeovil Town let a lead slip for the second consecutive game as they started life after Mark Cooper with a defeat at FC Halifax Town on Saturday.
The Glovers spurned opportunities to go ahead in the first half before conceding a goal to Owen Bray late in injury time, but a penalty from Junior Morias and a great header from Harvey Greenslade saw them lead with an hour gone.
But, having taken the lead, the visitors sat back at Halifax came roaring back and Bray pulled them level before substitute Will Harris struck the winner with ten minutes remaining.
Interim manager Richard Dryden was left to look back on the all too familiar story of missed opportunities and soft goals conceded as he prepares to pick the Glovers up ahead of Tuesday night’s visit to Solihull Moors.
First half
After ten minutes, a dangerous ball in to the box caused confusion inside the Yeovil area which led to a scramble before a clearance, it has been a shaky start for the visitors who seem to be still trying to figure things out.
On 13 minutes, the visitors’ first sight on goal fell to Harvey Greenslade who could not get any contact on an Alex Whittle cross from the left wing.
Greenslade had the ball in the back of the net in the 17th minute after he got slipped through on goal by Josh Sims and found the net, but could not beat the offside flag having made his run just too early.

A mistake from Halifax keeper Sam Johnston after 26 minutes saw him fail to claim Brett McGavin’s ball in to the box, Morgan Williams picked up the loose ball and laid it off to Junior Morias who twisted and turned on the edge of the box but his effort sailed harmlessly over the bar.
This game seems to go in five-minute spells of either side dominating possession; when we get going we look a real threat but we look really threatened when Halifax get their game going as well.
Keeper Jed Ward had to get behind a long range effort from Bray after Sean Tarima’s ball in to the box had evaded David Kawa inside the area and shortly after Ward was forced in to an acrobatic save to deny Jay Turner-Cooke who was the latest Halifax player to try his luck from distance.
Greenslade had a glorious chance to open the scoring with seven minutes of the first half remaining when he ran on to a long ball over the top from Williams, but the striker’s first touch betrayed him and Johnston was able to come and gather.
As the game crept in to injury time there was the feeling that not taking our chances was going to cost us and a minute in that is what happened. Jamie Cooke whipped a ball in from the right, Williams’ attempt to intercept it cannoned off Ward and Kawa was there to pick up the pieces and find Owen BRAY who stroked it home. The Yeovil players were incensed feeling there was a push on McGavin in the build up.
Overall, an even first half with both sides having opportunities to get the opening, but it is the same old story of not taking our chances and then getting punished for doing so.
Half time: FC Halifax Town 1 Yeovil Town 0
Second half
The second half started with Yeovil on the attack with McGavin putting a free-kick just over the bar two minutes after the restart before Greenslade had an effort blocked shortly after.
In the 52nd minute, Yeovil played the ball around well and found Luke McCormick breaking in to the box from the right side, he was felled by a thunderous tackle from Cody Johnson and the referee awarded a penalty. With our record from the spot, it is fair to say there was some nerves in the away end but one man who showed no nerves was not was Junior MORIAS who smashed it low and hard past the reach of Johnston who guessed the right way.
The bright start continued with Yeovil playing some attractive passing football to retain possession and and led to a second goal after 58 minutes. I lost count of the number of passes which led to Josh Sims’ beautiful ball from the right side which was met by a superb near post header from Harvey GREENSLADE.

Remember how I said that for every spell we had, Halifax had one as well? The response to us going ahead was a couple of substitutions for the home side with striker Will Harris and winger Angelo Capello, the scorer of the only goal last time we visited The Shay, introduced on the hour mark.
Their arrival caused all kinds of problems for the Yeovil defence and a spell of sustained pressure we could not deal with and, you guessed it, a goal. With 65 minutes gone, Kawa was allowed to run in to the box and fired a ball across to Owen BRAY who was gifted the freedom of the penalty area to add his second goal of the game. The arrival of the substitutes has seen Kawa shifted over to the left side and he was causing problems.
We had sat back after going ahead and invited the home side to attack which they have been more than happy to do especially after the substitutions. Defensively we just do not look slow and completely unable to deal with balls going in to our box.
It was therefore no surprise that what turned out to be the winning goal came from a ball in to our own box. Josh Hmami played a ball to the back post this time from the right and our defence failed to deal with, Williams missed his header and the ball bounced inside the box where Will HARRIS was given time to smash a volley in to the roof of Jed Ward’s net. It had been coming since we went ahead.
Yeovil made substiutions of their own with former Halifax striker Tahvon Campbell and fellow frontman Aaron Jarvis replacing Sims and Greenslade whilst Finn Cousin-Dawson came on for Byron Pendleton, who was forced off with an injury after a heavy challenge.
As the board went up for nine additional minutes, James Plant got away down the right side and delivered a ball in to the back post but Jarvis’ header came back off the post.
Full time: FC Halifax Town 3 Yeovil Town 2
Match Details
Venue: The Shay
Date: Saturday 30th August, 3pm kick-off
Competition: National League Premier Division
Scorers: Owen Bray 45+1 (0-1), Junior Morias pen 52 (1-1), Harvey Greenslade 58 (2-1), Owen Bray 65 (2-2), Will Harris 79 (2-3)
Pitch: Surreal-ly green if you have ever visited The Shay before
Conditions: Overcast
Attendance: 1,280 (143 away supporters)
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Harvey Greenslade 62, Tahvon Campbell 73
FC Halifax Town: Cody Johnson 51, Jamie Cooke 53, Angelo Capello 90+8, James Turner-Cooke 90+8
Referee: Richard Aspinall
Yeovil Town (4-2-3-1)
Substitutes: Tahvon Campbell (for Josh Sims, 71), Finn Cousin-Dawson (for Byron Pendleton, 76), Aaron Jarvis (for Harvey Greenslade, 76), Kyle Ferguson (not used), Ben Wodskou (not used), Matt Gould (not used).
FC Halifax Town: Sam Johnson, Adam Adetoro, Will Hugill (for Jack Jenkins, 88), Josh Hmami, Jamie Cooke (for Will Harris, 60), Owen Bray (for Jake Griffin 90), David Kawa (for Tom Pugh 88), Jay Turner-Cooke, Sen Tarima, Cody Johnson, Thierry Latty-Fairweather (for Angelo Cappello 60).
Substitutes (not used): Nathaniel Ford, Harvey Sutcliffe.
Same old, same old. Take the lead then sit back, obviously a “Cooper” man then
The pitch is a hybrid and has just been layed in the summer.hench Halifax playing their first 3 games away.
It was bizarre to see green rather than sandy brown at The Shay, Mick.