Yeovil Town bounced back from two consecutive defeats with a 2-0 victory over Altrincham at Huish Park
After a rather flat first half where Yeovil thought they took the lead through Joe Quigley, they eventually did in the second as substitute Rhys Murphy fired an effort into the bottom corner.
Not resting on their laurels on a cold afternoon in Somerset, Chris Dagnall added a second ten minutes from time to cap off what was a strong showing from Darren Sarll’s side.
Following defeat on Tuesday evening, Sarll made four changes to his side. Adam Smith remained in goal, but there was a return for Carl Dickinson, who captained the side in Lee Collins’ absence. Max Hunt and Billy Sass-Davies began in the middle with Alex Bradley in the right full back spot.
Jimmy Smith returned to the side in a holding role, with Josh Neufville, Tom Knowles and Albi Skendi ahead of him. Reuben Reid and Joe Quigley led the line.
It was a cagey opening, with both sides struggling to stamp any real authority on the fixture.
Set pieces provided the best openings, but neither keeper was tested, the first real sight of goal came when Ryan Colclough hammered his free-kick narrowly over A.Smith’s bar.
Yeovil’s first opportunity came on 28 minutes, after Dickinson’s corner caused havoc in the box, the visitors scrambled to clear, with Anthony Thompson eventually punching the ball wide.
After what was a rather drab first half, Quigley thought he had snatched the opener with just two minutes of the half remaining. A brilliant cross from Knowles on the right flank excellently found Quigley but he was adjudged to have pushed his marker as he powered the ball home.
The second half saw Yeovil begin to pick up the pace, and it didn’t take long or this to lead to chances either, with Knowles again involved, firing an effort over the bar after he capitalised on Thompson’s wayward clearance.
As the half progressed, Sarll looked to his bench for fresh impetus, with Rhys Murphy taking to the pitch on 57 minutes.
It wasn’t quite a 20-second impact like he managed against Dover, but Murphy only needed four minutes to make his presence known. After Dickinson drilled the ball into his feet, Murphy produced an excellent first touch to beat his marker and then finished excellently with a clean strike on his left foot to open the scoring.
With confidence on the rise, chances continued to fall. The always bright Knowles fired a stinging shot into Thompson’s gloves after an excellent run from Skendi just moments after the goal.
Searching for a second, Sarll made another attacking change, this time bringing on Dagnall, who only needed seven minutes to open his account for the season. After continually pressing the Altrincham backline, Skendi refused to let the attack go to waste, finding Bradley bursting through the right channel. The young full-back then played a deft cross with pinpoint accuracy to find Dagnall for the easiest of finishes at the back post nine minutes from time.
The green and whites remained forward thinking throughout the dying embers, almost adding a third through former Altrincham man Sass-Davies who had his header cleared off the line.
Ultimately, it would remain a two-goal cushion as Town battled for a richly deserved victory on a cold afternoon at Huish Park.
Yeovil Town: A.Smith; Bradley, Hunt, Sass-Davies, Dickinson; J.Smith (Warburton), Neufville, Knowles, Skendi; Quigley (Murphy), Reid (Dagnall).
Bookings: Neufville, Dickinson, Bradley, Knowles
Subs not used: Evans, Kelly
