Matt Robson on humour in Hartlepool
Midfielder Matt Robson spoke to us about his match-winning goal against the club where he spent seven happy years as United got back to the business of picking up points at Hartlepool on Saturday.
He said: “We expected a tough battle and a big, physical presence with Howard up front, and we knew they’d try and aim long balls at him and play from there.
“They worked it well in the first half and we struggled to deal with it at times.
“We weathered the storm and even though we went in at a goal down I think we took the game over after that.”
With first hand of experience of how difficult life can be made for opponents who go behind at the Victoria Ground, he explained: “It’s never easy at a place like this because it gives them confidence. It was hard fought in the end but I think we just about deserved the win.
“We defended quite well, apart from the goal, and the second half was about holding it up more and getting it into the strikers.”
“Cadz [Danny Cadamarteri] has been immense for us again,” he added. “He’s worked really hard. The stuff he did allowed the midfield to get forward and support more, and we started to really get on top as the game went on.”
“There wasn’t really any dispute over the free kick for his goal,” he continued. “Dave Symington has got a really powerful shot and a great strike from a dead ball. It shows a lot of confidence for him to come on and want to take that free kick.
“He got it on target, he made the keeper make a save, and that’s all you can ask. Danny then reacted really well and he put it in the back of the net.”
And on the red card, he explained: “I don’t think the ref had much choice with the sending off. He [Austin] clipped my heels the first time I went past him, and he did the same for the second tackle.”
The moment of the game for the north-east wide man, of course, came when he drilled the ball into the back of the net to send the fans behind the goal wild.
“I had a bit of time to think about the shot for my goal this time round,” he said. “It’s always nice to score on your return to a club – I’ve done it twice now – but it’s even more pleasing to get a win.
“I had a very good seven years here and I’ve still got plenty of friends in the area. You expect to get the stick when you come back but it’s all in good humour. Some of the stuff actually wants to make you laugh, like when they told me my chin was offside – but I suppose I had the last laugh by getting the goal.”
“I told my wife before the season kicked off that I would love to get into double figures,” he told us. “I haven’t managed to do that in my career yet and I think it’s long overdue. I need to start adding goals to my game and I’ve set off on the right foot so far.
“The win pushes us back up the table towards where we want to be and we can take the confidence we have into a different kind of test against Swindon at the weekend. That’ll be a tough one but we’re looking forward to it already.”
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