It was the clinical edge to the first 45 minutes at Blundell Park that proved to be the difference on Tuesday night, with a first goal for the club (and it’s felt like it’s been coming) for Owen Moxon and number eight for the season from the predatory Kris Dennis.
“Mox had a chance like that at Newport and he tried to bend it,” the gaffer commented. “We spoke to him on Monday and said the way you strike it, just put your foot through it.
“He’s done that and I’m really pleased, he’s deserved a goal with the way he’s performed at the start of the season. That first goal is really important, he said he was maybe feeling a little bit uptight because he hadn’t got it and he’d had other half opportunities.
“I’m pleased for him, and the second one was Denno being what Denno is, he’s nicked it, reacted to a poor back pass and that’s what he does. It looks an easy finish but it’s not, he’s got to read it, take the right touch past the keeper and I was delighted to see it go over the line.”
“But, yeah, it’s huge for Mox,” he continued. “I think he’s felt that bit of pressure anyway, being a local lad. He’s got an absolute desperate desire to do well here.
“He tries to do things properly in the way he lives his life, he’s really professional about his work. I did talk to him about the one he tried to bend in the first couple of minutes at Newport, and sometimes you just want him to get his boot through it.
“He told me he was trying to be a bit precise because he really wanted to get his first one. He was desperate for it. Hopefully that’s a huge relief for him, and what a good finish as well.”
Taking a bow for the assist is the very hard working Jack Stretton, who earned his stripes with a full-blooded and committed personal display.
“I think he showed he’s really growing into it,” he said. “He was a little bit unlucky in the first half, he went on some great runs down the left, caused their right-sided centre back all sorts of problems.
“We just didn’t quite get the finish from it. He was outstanding in the way he worked. He did really well for us going forward then in the second half it was a different type of display.
“Probably not a display I expected when I signed him, he was signed as a striker who was going to score goals, but he was outstanding out of possession and really did a shift for us.
“He looked dangerous on the left and it might get him bedded into the team. He certainly didn well enough to deserve another chance, that’s for sure if he’s ok for the weekend. We’ll wait and see.
“I’m hoping I’ve got a few more bodies available. It was a bit of a kindergarten bench but they all deserve to be here and it’s good experience for them to be involved.”
“Overall it was a massive performance, really, all the players had to dig in,” he commented. “Taylor Charters had to come on and do a job wide on the right, Jayden Harris had to come in and fly around the pitch and get stuck into tackles.
“With the 18 we had available, a group of teenagers on the bench, we just had to dig deep and go. That’s the strength of having a decent squad about us.”
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