Manager Alex Revell pointed to Stevenage’s squad strength as well as the two weeks off during the international break as being key to their 3-0 win over Barnsley in League One.
Two goals from Elliott List and one from Carl Piergianni, all in the second half, guided Boro to a second win of the season.
Revell made eight changes from their last outing against Lincoln, including the return of last season’s top scorer Jamie Reid, but the whole squad made an impact.
He said: “We’ve had two weeks without a game and to get the opportunity of getting Jamie [Reid] back in the team was huge. He’s worked his socks off behind the scenes.
“We’ve just looked at training this week and looked at who’s really shone and who deserves to be in the team.
“We’ve got a fantastic squad and we’ve got something that a lot of teams are searching for, a real spirit and togetherness.
“We’ve got that in abundance and now it’s down to the players to keep their shirts and that’s all you can ask.
“The performance was well deserved.
“To bring on four subs that give us an impact straight away and carry on the momentum is what we were looking for.
“But the work they’ve committed to over the last two weeks, and since coming back really, we’ve always felt we were a moment away from having a result like this.”
The first half had seen limited chances but two goals in five second-half minutes just before the hour mark changed the momentum.
Revell added: “It was really positive. Barnsley made it really difficult in the first half but the game was a bit scrappy and didn’t really kind of settle down.
“Second half, though, we really showed what we’ve been doing, the quality we have and what you can get when you get two weeks of good work.
“I’m really pleased for everyone and it was a really positive day.”
Barnsley manager Darrell Clarke simply put it down to a bad day at the office.
He said: “It was a really poor, scruffy performance all round, to be honest with you, and not just my players, myself too.
“We never really had any control in the first half, we had a few opportunities but they weren’t really causing us any problems.
“We defended the box really well but then we had an enforced substitution at half-time with Donovan Pines coming off, he couldn’t see out of his eye because he catches an elbow.
“We were a little bit weak defending crosses in the second half and then we’re chasing the game.
“A frustrating afternoon all round.”
