GLOVERS RAISE SUB STANDARD
TWO second-half substitutes sealed a fourth home win in a row for Yeovil Town – and in turn halted a run of back-to-back defeats – as the Glovers saw off play-off chasing Altrincham at Huish Park.
Rhys Murphy opened the scoring just five minutes after coming on while Chris Dagnall added a second, having been on the field for just seven.
No wonder Yeovil boss Darren Sarll he was pleased with the impact they had. “There were some very good performances all round, but Murphy looked sharp, and we worked really hard on our quality in the week,” he said.
“I was also really pleased for Dagnall as since he has come in, the work ethic has really picked up. He leads by example and works so hard.”
However, it proved to be a first half void of said quality with Altrincham’s Ryan Colclough’s freekick on 13 minutes the only real chance of note, albeit failing to trouble keeper Adam Smith.
But, just before half-time, Yeovil thought they had taken the lead themselves through their top scorer Joe Quigley. Alex Bradley and Tom Knowles combined on the right-hand side to cross the ball in for the forward to head home, only to be denied by an offside flag.
The second half began much as the first ended with neither side able to create too many in the way of clear-cut chances with Colclough looking the most dangerous for the visitors.
But, just before the hour mark, Murphy entered the field and made an immediate impact – a neat one-two with Carl Dickinson catching Anthony Thompson out and his finish was only ever going to hit the back of the net.
Yeovil fiended their 19th different centre-back combination this season but the Robins never really looked like exposing their lack of unity.
Indeed, they were duly punished on 80 minutes. Albi Skendi was relentless in keeping the ball, despite immense pressure from the Alty defence and played in Bradley, who in turn found Dagnall. The veteran striker made no mistake and headed home his first goal since returning to the club for a second spell.
Billy Sass-Davies almost made it 3-0 on 85 minutes, against his former club, but saw his header cleared off the line.
The result leaves Yeovil five points clear of the drop zone, while Altrincham remain in the play-off places.
Sarll added: “I thought we were the better side without really playing well. Second half we stepped everything up a level. I said at half time you have to have belief and intent. When you work with young players, they have to know you back them.”