WEYMOUTH “scared the life out of Yeovil” before succumbing to a 2-0 defeat at Huish Park, manager Bobby Wilkinson insists.

Two deflected goals for Jordan Young and Jake Hyde proved the difference in front of a National League South record crowd of 6,289 but the Terras were left to ponder what might have been.

Amid a terrific second half, Weymouth saw golden opportunities come and go for stand-in skipper Calvin Brooks and Dan Roberts, while Ezio Touray was somehow denied by a stunning Joe Day save.

The trio of chances came at 1-0 and Weymouth could justifiably argue they were worth a point, if not more, against the league leaders only for poor finishing to let them down.

READ MORE: Yeovil Town 2-0 Weymouth - report

However, Wilkinson reiterated the pride he holds in his players after a gutsy second half.

He told Echosport: “Didn’t we scare them? Didn’t we have a go?

“If you’re not proud of the boys and where you see the football club, I’d be very shocked. We’re going in the right direction.

“We’ve got to work harder than everyone else because we don’t have their facilities and budget.

“They were in training with a pre-match meal. We had to get here early and half our boys are working.

“But the dedication, they deserve all the plaudits. I’m very proud of every single player on and off the pitch.

“I’m proud that my boys kept competing and we scared the life out of Yeovil.”

Wilkinson reflected on a potential point, if not more, lost by wasteful finishing.

He said: “Really hard done by because we would’ve taken a point but we could’ve have won the game.

“We’ve had three clear-cut chances that we should score. Calv should score, he’s four yards out.

“The difference is that they’ve had a bit of luck with theirs. When you’re playing top of the league, that’s the fine margins.

“I’m not going to moan about why we didn’t score and why they scored, I just praise my lads constantly.”

Wilkinson introduced Ben Thomson on 53 minutes and the striker turned in a match-changing performance with bustling runs, attacking intent and creation of chances.

“Ben I thought the last two games hasn’t been playing particularly great,” Wilkinson admitted.

“I nearly started him because of his experience but because we played so well on Saturday I left that front three up there.

“I couldn’t wait to get him on, got him on quite early and he changed the game. He was immense, he really stood out to me.”

Wilkinson also highlighted Weymouth’s relative inexperience compared to Yeovil and conceded a tepid first-half display showed too much respect to the Glovers.

He said: “You’ve got to look at the different squads. We had a 19-year-old boy in goal, a 20-year-old at left-back and I’ve got a 21-year-old at centre-half.

“Then I’ve got a 19-year-old centre-forward. We competed against such an experienced squad and we had a go.

“That shows how hard we’re working on the training park, tactics, fitness.

“Imagine next year when we’ve got that experience. I’ll be honest, first 20 minutes some of them were blown away with the atmosphere, the ground.

“Some of them haven’t played in front of this big a crowd. I thought we showed them a little bit of respect and then bam, we thought: ‘Let’s have a go’”.

Weymouth now travel to Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday, the league’s bottom side (3pm).