LEE Hooper praised the impact of his substitutes after Malvern Town continued their fine form with a late 2-0 victory away at Tavistock AFC.
A late brace from Jack Watts earned the Hillsiders a third straight win as Malvern stretched their unbeaten run to eight matches at Langsford Park.
The result means the Hillsiders sit sixth in the Southern League Division One South table, one place and two points outside of the play-off places.
And Malvern co-manager Hooper admits his side rode their luck before the break before his substitutes changed the game in the second period.
Hooper said: “It was a real dogged performance, we weren’t great in the first half, it felt like we were second best.
“They won first contacts and second contacts, they were winning the battle, they were working harder than us, we looked tired.
“The pitch made for tough conditions, we addressed that at half time and we were the better team in the second half.
“We deserved the two goals, we were probably fortunate to keep it at nil-nil in the first half but we stayed in the game.
“We took the game to them in the second half and it was two great finishes by Wattsy.
“We had a good impact off the bench, that’s what the squad is for, all the subs had a great impact.
“That probably got us the win and changed the game and we get our just rewards for working hard and having those fresh legs, creating chances and being clinical.”
After a cagey opening to the game, Sam Clark met a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area but could only head the ball straight at Tavistock goalkeeper Aaron Dearing.
At the other end, Josh Bishop parried Luke Mortimore’s cross before denying Tom Symons’ powerful follow-up at his near post.
Tavistock spurned a golden chance to break the deadlock moments later when a ball from the left reached Mortimore who somehow failed to find the net from close range.
The home side continued to press for the opening goal as Edward Harrison fired narrowly wide before Bishop kept out Liam Prynn’s effort.
Tavistock had one final chance to open the scoring before the break as Mortimore smashed a shot over the crossbar after good work from Symons down the right.
Malvern improved after the interval as Matt Macdonald replaced Joe Tumelty early in the half.
Soon after, Watts forced Dearing into a fine fingertip save before the latter also kept out Levi Francis’ follow-up.
And the Hillsiders made a double change just past the hour mark with Tyler Brookes and Joe Bullock replacing Lewis Platt and Francis.
Substitute Macdonald almost broke the deadlock later in the half who saw his 30-yard effort superbly tipped over the crossbar by Dearing.
Malvern went close again in the final quarter-hour as Dearing produced another stunning save to deny Harry Clark on the volley from point-blank range.
However, the Hillsiders broke the deadlock on 77 minutes when Watts headed in a corner from the right at the back post from close range.
And the visitors doubled their lead six minutes later as Bishop launched a ball up the pitch to Watts who lobbed a shot over Dearing from the edge of the penalty area to seal the points.
Malvern are next in action against Falmouth Town on Saturday, March 8 with kick-off at 3pm at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
