Midfielder Owen Moxon opened his Carlisle account with a stunning strike at Grimsby on Tuesday night and, for a lad born in the city, it was always going to be a special moment.
And he confirmed this week that it was a weight off his shoulders, particularly after a chance at the previous away game at Rodney Parade had gone begging.
“I should have had one at Newport,” he said. “I had two good chances down there, even though I was stretching for one of them. I ended up beating myself up all game for it.
“Dev texted me before Tuesday’s game, I have to give him some credit for it, he said that the goal was coming. Like I say, finally I’ve got one and I’m just happy to get that first one out of the way.”
Boss Paul Simpson had revealed after the game that the pair had sat down to have a chat about adding goals to the repertoire, with the sound advice of ‘just put your boot through it’ being imparted along the way.
“I think it was weighing on my mind, yeah,” he admitted. “After Saturday, that one that came into the box, I thought it was a goal as the ball was coming to me.
“By the time it had taken a bounce I realised I was stretching and I slipped a little bit as well. I still should be scoring from it though, and after that was when it did start playing on my mind a bit.
“The first one is always the hardest, and I know the gaffer has talked about the strikers, but goals need to be coming from everywhere. I want to help the team in the best way I can and now I’ve got that one hopefully there’s many more to come.
“It was a bit of relief to see it hit the back of the net, to be honest.”
A real positive has been the fact that he’s kept getting into advanced areas and looking for chances at every opportunity.
“I don’t want to turn it down, and that’s especially been the case recently because I hadn’t scored,” he told us. “I want to be scoring goals if I can. If there is a chance for me to shoot I’ll do it, because I know I can score goals from outside the box.
“That’s probably the first shot I’ve got on target but hopefully I’ve taken a bit more confidence from it and when I do take more shots on I’ll score more. If I don’t then I want to help with assists. We all want to go on a run now with us having got a massive three points on Tuesday.”
And we can’t move away from the subject of his finish without an honourable mention for Jack Stretton.
“I’ve watched it back and I was close to him and backing him up as he turned with the ball,” he explained. “I thought he must have been going all the way, and I was actually shouting at him to shoot at first.
“I could then see that there were three of them around him and when he came inside I was screaming at him to set it. Afterwards on the bus he said that all he could hear was ‘set, set, set,’ but he did very well, and he got it to me.
“I thought he was really good, he got his chance the other night and he was excellent. He's been brilliant in training and stuff like that and we’re all buzzing for him that he’s come in and done so well. He’s done the assist for my first goal as well, so fair play.
“The set from him was perfect, they’re the ones I like when they come across my body. I hit it well and it was one of those where you know it’s in after you’ve struck it. I was just thankful to see it hit the back of the net.”
“Like I say, the perfect scenario would have been for it to have been at Brunton Park for my first goal,” he added. “There’s a home game on Saturday and I’m looking to go and score again.
“I had loads of messages after the game and it all feels a bit weird. I was buzzing to get it, and it then gets better when you see how chuffed everybody was for me as well.
“Obviously the most important thing was the three points because it’s a difficult place to go. It’s the first time I’ve ever been, and I can’t say I want to go back in a hurry.
“I’ve heard the saying – can you do it in Grimsby on a Tuesday night? We definitely dug in, because it wasn’t a pretty second half by any stretch.
“I thought the way we stuck together and the team defended together made it even more special. Those are the performances you know you can build on.
“With the goal, scoring at home is going to happen and I can’t wait for it. I’m determined to make it happen, but I don’t know how I’ll react. It will be a great feeling, hopefully it comes on Saturday.
“It is something you’ve thought about when you were younger, especially coming through the academy, that’s all you want to do, to go and play for the first team, go and score goals, create goals for everybody else as well. You want to be part of those big moments for the club.
“My first one is obviously one I’m not going to forget. It’s not just my first goal for Carlisle, it’s me getting back into English football, and my first time being full-time in English football.
“I was full-time in Scotland but playing in England is where I wanted to be, I had to go and do that time in Scotland and I’ve worked back to where I am now. No disrespect to Scotland, I loved every minute of it, but English football’s where I wanted to be.”
And his partnership with Callum Guy has caught the eye, with the switch between holding and supporting the forward play something they have complemented each other with every time they’ve started together.
“Callum is brilliant in there, especially when he goes in as the one, the holding player, you know he’s going to cover you and things like that,” he said. “I like the defensive side as well but I like to get forward, and Cal gives me that licence to go and do it.
“The gaffer gives you the freedom to go and play, the way I play there will be times I make mistakes, but everyone’s backing each other up.
“Even when we play in a two, Cal’s happy to sit and he’s got a good range of passing so he can mix it up himself. I like to keep the ball, but I will try those forward passes that might not always work.
“It’s good to know we’ve got the security with Cal if it doesn’t come off, he’s always there to cover me. We work really well together and I enjoy playing with him.
“I’m really enjoying it. It’s gone well so far. The last couple of games I know my set pieces haven’t been good enough. There’s been a few that have been good, but not consistent enough.
“I had two at Newport that were ok, but I know we can be such a threat from them if I get good deliveries in. I know if I can get good balls in that the boys will get on the end of them.
“I want to help the team and I know I can bring stuff to it, so when set pieces don’t go so well it is annoying and I do beat myself up.
“I think everyone is the same in the dressing room which is probably why we’ve only lost one game, we’ve got high standards for ourselves and each other, so if somebody isn’t doing it, we all tell each other.”
With just one league defeat from 10 games we wondered just how good the mood in the dressing was.
“I wasn’t at the Stevenage game, I watched it from home when I was injured, and it was maybe just a bit of an off day,” he commented. “We’ve had other off days, but we’ve managed to grind a result out which is a sign of a good team.
“The feeling in the dressing room is really good, we all get on and I think that can get you results in itself. You saw it on Tuesday night, we stuck together and defended really well.
“We’re a tight knit group and I think that does set you off in good stead to do well. Long may it continue, hopefully we can go on a bit of a winning streak and climb up the table a bit more.”
And the support he’s getting online on social media is something else to brighten up the day.
“Being a Carlisle lad does come with a bit of pressure,” he admitted. “I don’t read everything. I do see stuff online and in the papers, but I don’t read everything. Most of it’s good anyway.
“It is overwhelming, how everyone believes in me, or maybe there are some people who doubted you at first but then got behind you.
“I just want to go and show everybody that I do deserve to be here, and continue to keep helping the team, keep playing every week and hopefully we can do really well this season and make all the fans proud, and give them something to celebrate.
“I got the messages after the game and my phone was still fairly buzzing yesterday. My family are really proud, my mum, my dad’s over in Russia at the moment, , his boss has a factory over there so he’s helping out, and he watches all the games in iFollow.
“Everyone’s just buzzing for me. My brother phoned me straight after the game and everyone just seems to be really happy for me. It is overwhelming. And very proud for myself as well, how happy it’s making everybody.”
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