Wellens disappointed as Swindon are pegged back after ‘excellent’ first half
Posted Sunday, December 22, 2019 by PA
Swindon boss Richie Wellens rued his side’s poor start to the second half as the League Two leaders saw Forest Green fight back to salvage a 2-2 draw.
Eoin Doyle found the back of the net for the 10th successive game with a first-half double that saw Swindon leading 2-0 at the break against their fellow promotion hopefuls.
At that point the visitors were well on course for an eighth successive league win, but Rovers rallied and a brace from Swindon-born Joseph Mills – including an equaliser five minutes into stoppage time – earned them a point.
Wellens was delighted with his side’s first-half performance but was far from impressed with how things went after the break.
He said: : “We could have come in three or four up.
“It was an excellent performance, two well-taken goals. But we sensed at half-time if you get a little bit too over-confident, a bit cocky then one goal can change it.
“We started the second half poorly, taking too many touches and slowing the game far too much. It allowed them to cover distances more.
“First half they couldn’t get near us and we found the gaps quite frequently.
“We didn’t manage the game well. We have played these games before, where we have dominated. Two halves are never going to be the same.
“From about 65 to 85 minutes we were back to being good again. We made chances but at the end we just had to defend one set-play. The keeper has come up. We’ve had to mark him. It’s a real blow.
“We have to take that first-half performance going forward because at times we were excellent. We need to carry on what we have done in the previous seven or eight games.
“If you have offered me a point before the game I might have took it.
“We just played too slow in the second half. So I am little bit disappointed we dropped two points so late on but all in all to keep a team which is up there at arm’s length has to be a positive.”
Rovers head coach Mark Cooper, meanwhile, felt his side gave his former club too much respect at the outset.
He bemoaned: “We paid Swindon too much respect in the first half, and I thought we deserved a moral victory in the second half as we had a real push and tried to get more control.
“The second goal,was miles offside, their centre forward flicked it on and Eoin Doyle was at least three yards offside, but the referee has already put his hands up for that one and we could be stood here saying ‘we’ve won the game’.
Cooper is set to delve into the transfer market when the window opens in January.
He said: “The boys showed they’re up for the fight, but we are just lacking that killer touch and forward momentum at the front end of the pitch.
“We need some help and some players to come in and supplement the squad we’ve got.
“Our left-back (Mills) is our top scorer and that was his first goals for over a month and it doesn’t take a genius to see what we’ve got to do.”
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