Yeovil boss Way rues bittersweet season

Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 by PA

Yeovil manager Darren Way had mixed feelings after the 0-0 draw with Forest Green.

The point ensured Yeovil’s Sky Bet League Two status but Way was left to rue what could have been in the game and the 2017/18 campaign as a whole.

“Everyone would say, ‘would you settle for a draw?’ No I wouldn’t,” Way said.

“We had forward players on and carried forward momentum and looked like we were on the counter-attack on a number of occasions.

“For me it’s mixed emotions. If I look at the game itself we had a little bit of momentum in the first half and had spells where we looked dangerous and in the second half we were playing large parts in their half and you’re thinking, ‘we’re going to score’.

“Then the goalkeeper (Rovers’ Brad Collins) goes down (injured) and from then on I’ve never been involved in a game like that where the ball has been slowed up.

“From a referee’s point-of-view he made it difficult and difficult for me to watch. He had the whistle to his lips the most I’ve ever seen.

“You can see the celebrations of Forest Green and then the situation we’re in. I want more as a manager.

“We need to start pushing on now and I want to give the supporters something back, I want to give them more. There’s an air of disappointment because we all want more.”

The visitors were celebrating because they too secured the point they needed to stay up following promotion from the National League in a match that produced very few genuine chances.

“Job done. It was an horrendous game really but I think you can expect that,” said Forest Green boss Mark Cooper.

“I thought we started brilliantly and probably could have been three up within the first 10 minutes and missed some really good chances. We didn’t really go on from that start.

“Anxiousness and nerves set in and you sit deeper and deeper because you don’t want to concede a goal, but in the end we saw it out quite comfortably.

“The energy went out of the game. I was pleased with how we started but we just descended into panic mode by the end of the game.

“Defensively we looked quite sound and the lads at the back looked quite competent.

“They can have a day off. We’re not celebrating the fact we’ve stayed up, we’re relieved and pleased we’re going to be in the EFL next year.

“We’re safe now and can start planning to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes as we did this year. We have aspirations and ambitions and want to do better next year.”