Manager Kevin Horlock reflects on yesterday's league win, the heat, Tuesday's trip to KEttering and Saturday's Emirates FA Cup visit to Hashtag United.
DK: Good win, clean sheet, pushing up the table, albeit early days, all round good day's work?!
KH: Yeh, second! Yeah, I know this probably, well it is too early to be reading anything into that but it's hard not to look do you know what I mean? The lads have been a credit again, I enjoyed today as much as the Coalville 6-1. Alright we didn't play as free flowing football, or score as many goals, but do you know what the group showed me again today that they're willing to fight for each other. They're willing to scrap it out and put their bodies on the line, and we're in a bit of a habit at the minute of winning, and that can happen so I'm made up with today.
DK: Grinded out a result in absolutely scorching temperatures!
KH: Yeah, it was red hot, obviously temperatures weren't nice to play in by any means, but I thought we managed it quite well. Obviously they're a threat, they started really well this season, stronger than they were last year, I think they were second when we started play today. So we knew they were going to have a threat, and yeah first half especially I thought they had the lion share of the ball and possession, but teams are going to do that. I think in seasons gone by I think we would have probably not, we could've, lost it but we'd have probably drawn that and not gone on and won it. This group's got something special, there's a dynamic there, it's just under the radar at the minute, but it could build up into something really special, because they're hungry to work hard for each other and like I say grind out results. You can see how much it means to them at the end.
DK: Would you say it was a fairly even game?
KH: Yeah, yeah, look, did any team deserve to lose, did any team deserve to win? Probably not, but I'm glad we did, that's what football's about, you're not always gonig to play free flowing football and smash teams and win comfortably. There's going to be fine margins in games, and today was certainly fine margins, it ebbed and flowed, they had chances, we looked to have chances. We hit the post in the first half and think is it just going to peeter out into a draw, which looked likely for a lot of it, but I knew if we just hung in there (we'd win), we kept trying to leave it in good areas and obviously we then go get the penalty which Dan dispatched really nicely. So 1-0 win's up there with the best of them.
DK: Talking of the penalty, it was won by Page, and as you say, dispatched well by Dan.
KH: Yeah, don't know really what was going on there, there was a bit of a delay, he's took it - (was disallowed) apparently because his run up wasn't free flowing, but I've never seen that before, and stopped but he kept his composure. Obviously Pagey's dangerous when he gets running in the box, you can't go near him because any little touch is going to be a penalty, so it was something that we was looking to do, get our wide players running at them in the box and, yeah, Dan was really calm in that situation.
DK: Yeah, last year we would've struggled in that game.
KH: Yeah, and that's the strides we've made forward. We've had good times over the last few years, in terms of obviously the cup run(s), and creating history for the football club. I said at the very start, even when we won in the FA Cup last week it's nice, and yes we want to emulate what we did last year, if we can. It'll be a tough ask in the FA Cup to reach the first round, but we'll strive to do that, but my main focus - and I've told the players - well our main focus is the league position. Because we underachieved last year, we should have never have finished and been in a little bit of a scrap come the end of the season to stay in this division when we're way better than that. And at the minute, like I said, we've added, we've lost a couple of players and we've added and made ourselves stronger, the strongest squad I've had. And we're going alright at the minute, so we won't get carried away. We're happy with our start, but we still walk on.
DK: The game sort of got off to the worst possible start with Jamie being injured within the first five minutes.
KH: Yeah, it's tough because he's done really well, he's obviously had an injury back in last season, he's come in and he's sort of picking up the pace of this division, obviously as he's come from leagues miles below, but he's a hell of a good player, his ability and what he brings to the table can go into any league. So I feel for him, because he has been good for us, he's been that focal point, especially the way we play he's been that focal point when we can play into him. He holds the ball up really well, and so it's harsh on him so early, just hope it's not a serious one, it's settled down slightly, but it's fairly swollen his ankle. But I just thought it was another opportunity for Seth, who I thought again did really well. He chased channels and on a hot day asked him to make runs, which he did, which is why I then changed right at the end and put Ollie on - to share the load a little bit.
DK: Talking about the attack, without getting carried away the defence was superb again with Marco equal to anything on target.
KH: I don't know, we must be right up there with the best defensive record in the league, I'd imagine - we've obviously conceded 6 on the first day, I think we've kept 7 clean sheets out of nine (all competitions) in the rest, so we're pretty solid, and obviously having Marco who - in my opinion - is the best goalie in this division makes us pretty secure at the back. So it gives you that platform, and that chance to win games 1-0, the tight games like today, you don't concede you have a chance of knicking it, knicking a goal, and that's what's happened today so we'll always hopefully have that foundation to build on and hopefully we'll have a few more 1-0s before the end of the season.
DK: With the squad suffering from a few injuries, including McGrath, these wins feel even, even, more important!
KH: All wins are important, massive, especially at home! I think obviously on your home turf, clubs and teams are travelling to you, it's important that you win as many games as you can at home. That then takes the pressure off having to win a lot of games away from home, albeit we have done. We have won, but you could then afford to knick points away from home, and odd wins away from home means you'll be at the top. So we're in good form, I won't get carried away, I'll enjoy tonight, because we've worked hard and the lads deserve it, but we've got to rest up because there's another tough game Tuesday away from home, and it's one that we're going to go there, and we're going to try and emulate today and work just as hard. Because that's the non-negotiables that the lads set themselves, and then obviously looking for 3 points.
DK: It's been a while since we've played Kettering.
KH: Again, I think last year, maybe the year before that (physical games) would've concerned me. I don't care if it's a nice game, we can do that ugly stuff, we can defend, we can put our foot through the ball, or we can leave it in areas and we're willing workers. We've got lads that are willing to chase things down, and when you've got that you've always got a chance.
DK: The cup meanwhile has drawn us up against well known Hashtag!
KH: Yeah, never played against them obviously, they're well documented, you see them all over the place because of their social media presence. They've done well, they've obviously gone through the leagues, got promoted last year, I think they won the division below. So, yeah, it'll be a tough game, away from home on 3G, which I don't mind because we train on that anyway so it'll be a game that. again, we go there to try and perform to a high level, work as hard as we can, and then we've got a chance.
DK: With Hashtag getting big crowds, do you think it's crucial that Needham fans hopefully come out in numbers to support our lads.
KH: Yeah, hopefully, obviously the win's we're getting and the little bit of success that it brings you at the weekend, hopefully a few fans will continue to come watch us and hopefully a few will travel down to Hashtag (Bowers ground), make a bit of noise, the Needham faithful, the young lads that bring their drum. They've added to it, they've added to the groove, the team recognise it, appreciate it, and they've been a massive help for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment