Sarll: Yeovil let Altrincham “off the hook”
Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has spoken to the BBC following the Glovers’ 1-1 draw with Altrincham.
Yeovil took the lead mid way through the second half through Joe Quigley, but former Glover A-Jay Leitch Smith levelled the game up; the visitor’s spent more than 75 minutes with a make shift defence after both central defender Toby Mullarky and goalkeeper Tony Thompson being forced off, the latter replaced by defender Connor Hampson in between the sticks.
Despite that, Sarll was pleased with the attacking intent after a shot-shy effort against Notts County at the weekend.
“We had more shots (than against Notts County), we had a month’s worth of chances and attempts, but I very much preferred the engery of the side tonight”
Yeovil started the game with three recognised strikers, goal scorer Quigley was joined by Adi Yussuf and Exeter loanee Ben Seymour, something that Sarll called a ‘gamble’.
“It was a bit of a gamble, the team I picked, we tried to use as many of the offensive players as we could, knowing we need more shots… we had seven in the first six minutes, that’s the pleasing thing, the energy of the team”
Sarll praised Altrincham, the visitors leaped above Solihull into a play off spot with a point, but admitted that given the circumstances Yeovil coul – and maybe should – have won the game,
“The chances we created, and the fact that the goalkeeper is not a goalkeeper – we’ve massivley let them off the hook, it feels worse than just a point”
“I think we put the goalie under a lot of pressure, but a lot of those moments came in congested penalty boxes, we think the [Josh]Staunton chance is a goal [more on that in a moment], but the fact that there was an attacking threat, an attacking thought process, mindset, that’s what I wanted to see.”
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.
There was individual praise for Quigley, Tom Knowles and Jordan Barnett, but as the manager alluded to, Josh Staunton had a header cleared off the line in the second half, something which Sarll, Staunton and others are convinced should have been given the Glovers’ way.
“Staunton is adament, he’s not the type to throw those comments willy nilly, but he’s adament it went in”
Attention turned to Saturday’s FA Cup game vs Weymouth, something which Sarll simply describes as a ‘Big Game’.
“Of course, it s a big game, a big game. We didnt witness it with supporters last year, it’s a huge game on Saturday and I want the players who go out there have a real understanding of the importance it has to the supporters and we show a similar desire as we did today…”
