Paul Tisdale felt the time was right to unleash Jamie Reid – and the young striker repaid his manager's faith in him with a brace in Exeter City's 2-2 draw at AFC Wimbledon.
Reid spent the early part of the campaign on loan at Dorchester Town, but his only action for the Grecians was against Oxford United when he came on as a substitute for the last half-hour of City's 3-1 Christmas defeat.
"I know for a fact he wasn't expecting to play and you should have seen the look on his face when I announced the team in the changing room," Tisdale said. "He certainly wasn't expecting to play and not many people in our group were, as I didn't name the team until 1.30pm.
"Jamie is a young player and I felt it was a game for him. He can be hit and miss because he is young and he is learning his game, but he is capable of those sort of strikes.
"He doesn't worry about where the ball is going and he was so positive today. It showed that selection was par for the course, really, it was that type of day."
Reid was only denied a dream debut hat-trick by a contentious decision eight minutes from time. A third 'goal' was ruled out because strike partner Jamie Cureton was deemed to be in an offside position and interfering with play when Reid's shot went in.
"The referee said it was disallowed for interference, but Jamie Cureton didn't touch it," Tisdale said.
"It is a contentious issue and I can't argue with how the referee sees it. But Jamie's presence was deemed enough to have put the goalkeeper off.
"If that's the case, then the referee can make that decision, should he wish. I don't know if Jamie Cureton was offside in the first place but, if he was, then he is not entitled to impede the goalkeeper.
"The goalkeeper certainly had a clean view of it because we were behind the strike and it certainly went in a straight line towards the goalkeeper and into the net. It was just whether he was prevented from making the save because Jamie was moving towards him.
"The referee obviously thought that and that is fair enough. I can't argue with it, but we were bitterly disappointed with it and it could have gone our way. But it has happened now."
Overall, Tisdale was happy with the performance of his side, who ended a run of four straight defeats, even if his team needed desperately needed the win.
"I'm not happy and I'm sure that [Wimbledon boss] Neal [Ardley] isn't happy either, because we both needed a win," Tisdale said. "Having been in the lead twice, you hope to have done enough to stay in front, but I have to thank the players and the supporters for a huge effort. The supporters today were brilliant.
"There was a huge amount of effort from all the players and total commitment from both sides in horrendous conditions. It was a hard game of football, but we are still in it and we still have a chance.
"Bradford have a game against Rotherham on Tuesday and Rotherham have as much requirement to win that game as Bradford, so we are hoping that a few of our old boys, David Noble and Daniel Nardiello, can help us out and do us a favour."
