Exeter manager Gary Caldwell hailed the commitment and unity of his players as they came from behind to win a thrilling West Country Derby against struggling Bristol Rovers 3-1 at St James Park.
After being the better team in the first half, but missing a number of chances, Exeter fell behind just after the hour when Promise Omochere scored a tap-in.
But three goals in the final 18 minutes from Jack Fitzwater, Millenic Alli and Jake Richards saw Exeter turn things around.
“It’s always better when you win on Boxing Day. I always give them Christmas Day off – this is my third Boxing Day game – and they have always come up trumps, drawing with Portsmouth, beating Wycombe last year and they have delivered again today,” said Caldwell.
“I thought their commitment, the togetherness and personality of the group was there for all to see in a really difficult game against a team that has a new manager.
“They (Rovers) are obviously adding a little bit extra and if they play like that every week, then they won’t finish where they are right now. I am sure they will kick on with the new manager, but it was a brilliant three points for us.
“We tried to get the finishers on a bit quicker and I felt the team lacked a bit of energy at 1-0. They were turning the ball over too many times and in too many transitions and were a threat.
“We kept going, our finishers came off the bench and changed the game in our favour and I have said all along it is a squad game and we will need everybody to be successful this year and they have delivered today.”
David Horseman was in temporary charge of Rovers for the final time before new head coach Inigo Calderon takes over and he felt his side threw away the chance of victory in Devon.
“It is a bit of a sickener to be honest,” he said. “I thought the first half was a cagey game, they maybe just shaded it, but we addressed a couple of bits and came out second half and created the most I think we have created in weeks.
“We always looked a threat, but the game descended into madness with no help from the referee today because the first offside goal was very harsh, there was a stonewall penalty on Scott (Sinclair) and we are not in a place where we come back from that quick enough.
“We have to look at ourselves for the marking at the first goal, but I thought we played really well for large parts of that today.
“Hopefully the new manager can see there is potential within the group, but we have to be more clinical in the box when we do create chances like that. They were such poor goals to concede and we should have taken something from the game today.”
