Midfielder Luke Joyce with reaction to the Hartlepool game
We caught up with midfielder Luke Joyce shortly after full time on Friday to get his reaction to the away draw at Hartlepool.“I think we come away feeling frustrated that we didn’t get all three points having taken the lead so early in the game,” he said. “It was a bright start and it felt like we dominated the first half. We created chances and we should probably have capitalised on the domination we had. That would have made the game a little bit more comfortable.
“It was important for us to start the game the way we did and we knew if we got behind Hartlepool and turned them they wouldn’t enjoy it one bit. To be fair to them they’re fighting for their lives and they came back at us in the second half. They got a bit fortunate for their goal, because Danny [Grainger] went to clear it and it ricocheted off his stomach and into his path.”
“I felt like we were back to our normal selves a lot more, especially in that first half,” he commented. “We played football in the right areas, we made the right choices and Jabo Ibehre and Jamie Proctor caused them all kinds of problems up front. Jabo was an absolute beast and I think he was unlucky to see his second goal get ruled out.
“The positive is that it’s a point picked up away from home and we can take that into a big game on Monday. Performance wise we were much better and we can take confidence from that. We’re disappointed we couldn’t get the three points but the fans have come here and seen the lads fight and scrap for everything.”
Speaking more about the fans, he said: “We’ve let ourselves down in recent weeks with results and performances and we do want to turn it on at home for them. We’re desperate to put things right in front of the home fans because it’s brilliant the way they get behind us.
“They’ve given us their full support this last couple of months, even when we’ve had a dip in form. We want to repay that faith and consolidate our place in the play-offs.
“If we do it right on Monday it will be four points from the two Easter games and that isn’t too bad. Stevenage have had a couple of poor results and I don’t think they’ll be looking forward to coming up here. It’s up to us now to do things right and to finish the season off properly.”
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