Academy boss on our victory over Port Vale...
ACADEMY boss, Neil Woods, was thrilled to see his side grab a late winner to see off Midlands rivals, Port Vale, at Ray Hall Lane on Saturday morning.Lewis Probert scored the only goal in stoppage time to give the youngsters a 1-0 victory in The Football League Youth Alliance North-West Division.
Even though Woods was delighted to see his side rewarded with a late goal, he has sympathy for our Midlands counterparts.
“I’m pleased with the result, I think we’ve had it done to us a few times this season where people have scored in the last two or three minutes so it’s nice to be on the other side of it,” he admitted. “We have had a break at the end and it was a good finish from Lewis but we don’t want to have to be relying on our centre-half scoring a volley from 20 yards out.
“In our last few games when we have been on top and other teams have nicked a goal, it has been frustrating so I know totally how Port Vale will feel, but I thought we probably just did enough in the second-half to win the game.”
Woods felt that his side were well below their fluent best, but he was pleased with the grit and determination they showed to grind out a result.
“I don’t think we were anywhere near the quality that we can play at, but we have to give Port Vale credit for that, I thought they edged the first-half even though we probably had the best chance," he went on. "We had to change what we normally do because of the way they were playing. I thought that we looked like we were in control of the second-half without necessarily looking like we were going to score.
"I was very pleased with the work-ethic, and very pleased with the way they kept going when things weren’t going so well.
“We’ve been very frustrated over the last few games when things haven’t gone right and that has then affected our decision-making. At least today we kept going and got the break we deserved.”
The most pleasing thing for Woods was the change in attitudes that he noticed from his players and he believes that is what got them over the line in the end.
“Everybody who watches us regularly will know that if these boys start playing like they are capable of, then we have some very talented lads,” he added. “There is a question mark about our attitudes when we are not on top of games. What today has shown is an attitude to keep on going, even when things aren’t going to plan.”
By ALEX DICKEN