Goal-scorer Mason Obeng was delighted to mark his National League debut with a goal as Yeovil Town picked up a decent point after a 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe United on the opening day of the season.
The winger, who has stepped up two tiers of the football pyramid having signed from Walton & Hersham in the summer, coolly stroked the Glovers in to the lead with 48 minutes gone.
Speaking exclusively to Gloverscast Ben after the match, the 22-year-old said: “I was actually originally meant to be on the edge of the box, but Westy (midfielder Zain Westbrooke) said ‘go and get yourself round the back. I’m sure, they were fuming in the in the dugout, but I managed to get us a goal and put us in the lead, so no complaints. It was pretty surreal if I’m being honest and I didn’t actually know how to celebrate. But, it was it was amazing to do that, especially in front of our fans.”
Having become the Glovers’ first scorer of the season – remember it took 216 minutes to do that last season – Obeng is now the proud owner of a bag of potatoes! Yeovil have decided to follow with an old tradition which was re-introduced after decades away last season, awarding their first marksman with new campaign a sack of spuds!
Obeng seemed a little perplexed by the honour. He smiled: “You know what, I did hear about this, and I’m not going to complain, you know?” When asked if he preferred his potatoes boiled, mashed or jackets, he laughed: “All of the above.” Let’s hope there’s plenty in that bag!
Having taken the lead early in the second half, Yeovil looked to have held up well against pressure from a Scunthorpe side looking to get their season started with a win in front of their home crowd. They had to wait until just a minute of normal time remaining when substitute Luke Brennan lofted a shot in to the net.
But Obeng insisted that the late equaliser would not detract from a positive performance. He said: ”
The match ended 1-1 thanks to a late, Luke Brennan goal, whilst it’s fair to say it could have taken the wind out of the Glovers’ sails, the feeling amongst the team was remaining positive.
“It was definitely upsetting for me personally with me getting the goal that I thought had us the win, but there’s no complaints. Coming here and getting a point is something very difficult to do, especially at the start of the season, so I feel like when we look back here, we’ll see it as a very good point on the road.
“When we first got in (the dressing room) heads were down, but when you look at it you think getting that point is very important for us at the start of the season.”
Speaking about the transition back to full time football, Obeng said he couldn’t wait to get back to working with manager Billy Rowley and assistant Darren Simpson, who he had played under at his previous club Walton & Hersham.
He said: “It was definitely something I always wanted to do, get back into full-time football. Just seeing that atmosphere here on an away day was just amazing and to have that Huish Park next weekend is just something I’ve always looked to do.
“I feel like just like the way [Billy Rowley and Darren Simpson] play football and the passion they have for it is just unreal. It was always something that I wanted to do throughout my career, so I feel like (joining Yeovil) was a no-brainer.
And now the winger is looking forward to his first league action in front of a home crowd when Carlise United make the trip down to Huish Park next weekend.
He said: “Having our home fans will definitely make a difference. I feel like we need get our heads down (in training next week), work hard and then see how we get on on Saturday.”