JASON Matthews admitted the reaction for bringing off Weymouth’s Jordan Copp during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Histon had been “tough to take”.
Copp, who had looked dangerous on the flanks throughout the contest, was replaced by Adam Kelly with around 20 minutes to go at the Bob Lucas Stadium, a switch that a small number of the home fans voiced their frustrations about.
Kelly did however ignite the breakaway which allowed the returning Chris Shephard to pick out Stewart Yetton. His effort deflected off defender Elkanan Sibanda into the net in the dying minutes.
Asked about the reaction for Copp being replaced, Matthews, who also admitted at the fans’ forum following that he sometimes delegates the substitutions, told Echosport: “It was tough to take.
“I felt Coppy had a very good game but I needed to win it. We brought Adam Kelly on who was player of the month last month.
“For that to be booed is tough to take because what way do you go? You can’t play four wingers and six forwards. That’s a fact.
“We brought some subs on and tried to change it. We have the best squad at the club since I have been here and it’s nice to be able to bring on the likes of Chris Shephard and Adam Kelly.”
Speaking further about the performance, in which the Terras scraped over the line after spurning a number of clear chances, the Weymouth chief added: “It has been my most frustrating week in the job and it was a really frustrating day at the office.
“I felt in the first 10 minutes we were a little unsure of ourselves, we lost the derby and, after that, I would expect that.
“But once we got going for 35 minutes I thought we played really well in the first half.
“I reiterated to the lads that I wanted us to go out and pass the ball in the second half and get around each other and, to be fair, it didn’t happen.
“The second half performance was not acceptable.”
