REID ALL ABOUT IT SAYS PAUL Grecians go top as Dawson’s dream full debut turns into nightmare
PAUL TISDALE praised his team’s resolve as they hit back from two goals down to win at Cheltenham Town and go top of the League Two table.
Two early goals from Kevin Dawson put the Robins in front, but strikes from Jordan MooreTaylor and Reuben Reid made it 2-2 at the break.
Reid made it 3-2 from the penalty spot after Jamie Grimes had fouled Jake Taylor in the box and subsequently been sent off, and Taylor made it 4-2 before a late consolation striker from Dan Holman.
“It was a good recovery from 2-0 down and I have to say well done to the lads as we kept our nerve,” Tisdale said.
“We actually started well for 10 minutes, but they scored from an exceptional cross and you have to give the opposition credit sometimes.
“In other years I’d have immediately changed something but we needed to stand firm and I was impressed with how the team got together after the second goal.
“Cheltenham scored two nicely worked goals, but we hadn’t been under the cosh and it was all about scoring the next goal.
“We had to score the next goal and we didn’t have to chase it too soon, we swapped Lee Holmes and Jake Taylor over, giving Lee a crack at their left-back and we got our rewards.
“It was 2-2 at half-time and we could start again and build our performance.
“We felt it would be a hard 15 minutes in the second half and it was, we gave it away too easily, but we are still early in the season and I won’t be too precious about it.
“The two strikers stood out. Anyone watching will note how well Reuben and Liam [McAlinden] played as a pair.”
Cheltenham boss
Johnson was left to reflect on a disastrous afternoon, also losing defender Jordon Forster to a serious Achilles injury before Grimes was dismissed.
“We started off brightly, but unfortunately we only really played for 20 or 25 minutes,” he said.
“We showed what we can do, but we can’t do it for 90 minutes for some reason.
“Individuals didn’t come out with flying colours on the day.
“They came back to 2-2 and I wanted to see character, commitment and passion, but we were poor in the second half.
“You learn about certain things and I was not happy with the sending off and penalty, which was a diabolical decision from my centre-half. We’d already lost Jordon to injury, and he will be out for a while.
“As a team we weren’t as potent as we wanted to be and we didn’t have the legs.
“I am worried about letting goals in, in clumps. We don’t have much time to turn it around and we need more from the lads than just 20 minutes.” Dawson enjoyed a dream start for Cheltenham Town, scoring twice within 12 minutes on his full debut.
The Irish midfielder finished off crosses from Carl Winchester in the eighth and 12th minutes, with Mohamed Eisa also involved in the build-up of both goals.
Cheltenham pressed for a third, with Brian Graham clearing the bar with a powerful shot, but Exeter improved as the half wore on. An unmarked Moore-Taylor headed wide in the box, but the Grecians captain pulled one back in the 38th minute with a perfectly placed free-kick.
He arced it into the top left corner after Kyle Storer tripped Lloyd James on the edge of the box.
And Reid made it 2-2 during injury time at the end of the first half, touching into the net from close range after a cross in from Lee Holmes fell kindly for him in front of goal, to level proceed- ings going into the second half.
Reid was close to a second in the 64th minute, volleying just wide as Exeter looked to turn the game on its head.
But the hosts weren’t lying down and Cheltenham substitute Danny Wright fired into the side netting after cutting in from the right.
However, Exeter took the lead as Reid scored from the penalty spot in the 77th minute after Grimes brought down Taylor and the defender was shown a straight red card.
And Taylor added the fourth a minute later to complete a superb comeback, with Holman pulling one back for Cheltenham in stoppage time.