Yeovil Town manager Darren Way felt that his side were bullied into submission at Rodney Parade this afternoon, as they lost 2-0 against Newport County. Conceding two goals from set pieces, the Glovers struggled to show any level of authority over the 90 minutes, and were well beaten in terms of the overall pattern of play outside those two goals.
Way felt his side didn't stand up to Newport's level of physicality, with the likes of former Glovers midfielder Ben Tozer standing at 6'2" in the centre of the park. He felt that the Exiles had imposed their game on Yeovil, more than his own side had managed to do on their hosts, and told BBC Somerset that he wasn't happy with the way his side had allowed that level of bullying to happen:
"I have got to be honest, we're a team that I wouldn't say are naturally built like Newport. I think Newport are built for that game. They have recruited for that strength, like Ben Tozer. But we have to make sure that we understand League Two football. I keep saying it every week that one or two of the younger players have got to live up to that. I just felt at times they bullied us. I don't like that - not to be bullied. That's one thing that should never happen in football. I accept missed tackles and arriving late, but I thought they bullied us from start to finish."
In his pre-match interview, Way had highlighted the number of goals that Newport had scored from set pieces, explaining that they had been preparing for that on the training ground. They will have also known the strengths that former midfielder Matt Dolan had in his delivery from corners and free kicks. Despite that, it was the former Middlesbrough player, who only joined Newport from Yeovil over the summer, who produced the two corners that resulted in Padraig Amond and Joss Labadie heading home. Way admitted that his side had failed to deal with that aspect of the game, although cited the first Amond goal as crucial for shaping the game:
"We knew about it, and we'd worked on it all week. I think that 57 percent of their goals were scored from set plays. Obviously they've got the threat of Ben Tozer. So to concede, in the 45th minute, it was very very disappointing. The half time team talk had to change. It changes the whole dynamic of the game. It changes your half time team talk and it changes the players' mindset. But we knew that threat, and I understand the supporters' frustration. I know as far as our preparation is concerned that we did everything that we could to combat that, and as always I accept responsibility."
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