Taylor hails Exeter attitude while Tisdale licks his wounds

Exeter manager Matt Taylor was thrilled with his team as they turned Paul Tisdale’s return to St James Park into a nightmare with a brilliant 3-1 victory over MK Dons.

An electric start saw the Grecians go 2-0 up inside 17 minutes with goals from Nicky Law and Jake Taylor, but Joe Walsh’s header straight after half-time reduced the arrears.

The outstanding Law finished things off with Exeter’s third as their fans enjoyed a richly deserved win over their former boss.

“We attacked the game,” Taylor said. “We attacked it from the first minute, it was high energy and we pressed them as high up the pitch as we possibly could.

“We know the pitch isn’t in the best condition, so we tried to press them into as many errors as we possibly could.

“We got on the front foot and got a foothold in the game and got our reward with the early goals and we looked a really good team from then on.

“It was disappointing to let them back into the game with a set-piece, but we tweaked the shape after that and got an extra body in our back line and got control back in the game.

“I was worried at half-time because we had a few knocks and bruises and I asked the group if they had another 45 minutes of that high intensity and pressing and they said they did.

“Come the end, we got stronger and were still going after the ball, but that’s the mindset. The mind leads the body, they are capable of that and I want to see that more often now.”

Dons boss Tisdale was not happy with his side and told his players they must do better.

“Poor day,” he said. “I am not quite sure what our lads expected to be honest, but they didn’t expect what they got in the first 20 minutes. I am disappointed with them today.

“I had a moment to contribute and I contributed at half-time and we did something about our ineptitude in the first half. I like to think I did my bit at half-time but we capitulated with a dreadful error for their third goal.

“For the first time today we looked like we had something about us to get back into the game, which we haven’t done for a while, so that is a positive.

“It is winter football, low sun, there is very little opportunity to play football. I am not sure what our players expected in the first 20 minutes.

“We are in League Two, it is dreadful conditions to play football and they have to adjust to that very quickly because that first 20 minutes… to say it was poor is an understatement.

“Digging down into it, they can’t look to me for every answer. What did they expect?”