Yeovil Town skipper Josh Staunton spoke to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following the Glovers’ 3-2 win over Weston super-Mare, you can hear the full audio at the bottom of the article.
Staunton spoke about feeling the relief of a first away win for 220 days, abut also, a performance that seemed to click earlier than we have been.
“It feels really good, to do it in front of a massive crowd, from our following. We started like a house on fire, didn’t we? Started exactly how we wanted to start in a derby, two goals in front of our fans, the noise – which was electric – we kind of lost our way a little bit, but when you come away from home, especially when you haven’t won away from home for a long time, the most important thing is three points.
I think the 12 games for us, is about how many points can we accumulate and we’ve amassed another three points on to our total now and that’s a real springboard for us for the rest of the season.”
…that’s a real springboard for us for the rest of the season.
With the game at 2-0 to the Glovers, the Seagulls fought back, scoring a long range deflected strike and playing their way back into the game, which wasn’t a surprise to the Captain.
“When you go two goals down, you’re kind of free aren’t you? You’ve got nothing else to lose, you can commit another man forward and kind of play a bit more cat and mouse, especially when you’re at home, you’ve got nothing to lose. They did that, they went forward well, I thought they played well, we knew they were going to have a good passage with the ball, it was important we kept our shape and we did that.”
Changes were made, goal scorer Jamie Sendles-White made way for Zac Bell at half time, and the skipper had credit for all of the subs and the way the manager rotates the group.
“Credit to the gaffer really, we’ve got a squad of a lot of characters and the hardest thing about characters is that they all want to play every game, the gaffer has used his man management skills excellently and keeping everyone chomping at the bit.
It’s clear to see, the rotation between the front boys is clear to see and will pay dividends, I think that’s testament to the way the manager is dealing with big characters, it’s easy for Belly to come and sulk today after not playing, but he came in second half excellent.
Sends (Jamie Sendles-White) first half, out of position at right back, did excellent, it’s a long season, it’s important we manage characters and so far, so good.
I’m really pleased tonight, I thought the boys that came on made a difference; Belly opening up down the right hand side, Stevo is looking sharper and sharper. It’s just another step in the right direction, if we continue to trust the process, I think we’ll be ticking teams off.”
…if we continue to trust the process, I think we’ll be ticking teams off.
The Glovers got the win, thanks to three goals, all from set pieces. the Points, performance and the set piece prowess all pleasing the Glovers’ number 32.
“The most important thing for us was three points, as a squad, we are strong, the gaffer is dealing with everyone, keeping everyone driven and it’s a really good place to be at the moment.
Last year, we scored one or two (goals from set pieces) and (now) look really dangerous from set plays, Youngy’s free kick outstanding, the second one is a great header from Sends and the third one we’ve worked well, we worked the extra man round the back across goal.
I think if you’re going to be successful and you want to win a league, set pieces are massive, if you can keep them out at one end – which we need to get better at, we’ve been a bit unlucky, every deflection seems to go in the top corner at the moment, – if we can score more set pieces than we concede, we’ll be a very, very dangerous force.
It gives teams something else to worry about especially when shooting towards our fans, it was sucking the ball in the goal. It was a really good atmosphere tonight, it was a fun one to play in. “
850 Glovers fans sold out the away end at Weston and the skipper has been proud of the group’s ability to react to a loud, passionate and positive supporter base that continues to grow and grow.
“You can see everyone, the togetherness when we win, everyone is there, the noise is really, really, good behind the goal – I think Martin (Hellier) has purchased a drum, a massive drum for home games.
It’s just another string to our bow of togetherness, let’s enjoy the run, let’s go on a bit of a run, it’s easy to get clouded by negativity, we’re in a good position, we’re trusting the process.
As a club we’re trying to build long term success, not a knee jerk reaction and I’m really, really encouraged by what we’re doing.”
The game did go beyond 100 minutes (not for the first time this season) and Staunton was adamant that his side were up for the fight regardless of how long they were on the pitch for.
“The extra time is really, really hard to get your head round all the time, it’s almost like playing Extra Time, especially after playing Saturday-Tuesday, in the blazing heat.
It was clear for both teams, from 85 minutes onwards, the tempo really dropped, it’s just relentless.”
Soon though… it was back to the fans…
“I think we want to be together, when we concede a goal, we all concede a goal, when we score a goal, we all score a goal and that runs right from the top, right to the bottom and we want the fans to be part of that.
It’s fantastic having this sort of following, it’s really making a big difference, when you come out to the noise and you score a goal, it makes the hair on the back of my next stand up.
It’s another positive step for us as a football club, and when you look at the bigger picture it’s about learning to deal with playing in front of big crowds, big away following with big expectation and today will be a good step in the right direction for us as a Football Club. “
The Full Audio Is Available Below