Jon-Paul McGovern on his stunning goal
Midfielder Jon-Paul McGovern registered a genuine goal-of-the-season contender against Crawley Town on Tuesday night when he thundered an unstoppable free kick into the roof of the net via the underside of the bar.
We took the opportunity to talk to him about it shortly after full time at the Broadfield Stadium.
“I’ve tried a few of those of late,” he said. “I’ve been a bit unlucky when I’ve hit the post and I’ve had one that went just over the bar. The keeper started to edge out a little bit with this one and I think he thought I was going to cross it. I decided to go for it and luckily enough it went in.
“I think I’m the kind of player who will always try something like that, however the game is going. I like to think it’s something I bring to the team. I might not be having the best of games but I always back myself to get an assist or put a decent cross in. I feel that I’m on the pitch to provide chances for other players but I’ll try the odd one or two myself, if they’re in range.”
“The gaffer told me on Monday that I’d be playing on the left and I told him that was fine, because I can play badly anywhere,” he joked. “I enjoyed it. It’s about trying to get in the right areas and do the right things for the team and it’s just good to play a part, wherever that is.”
“I’d be a lot happier if we’d got three points,” he insisted. “You could keep the goal for me if we won the game, because that’s more important. It’s about results right now but performances like these are good for the confidence.”
“I think the response we got at Notts County and in this one was very important,” he continued. “We were very disappointed after the Walsall game and we were a bit hurt by it as well. To do that at home, in front of our own crowd, isn’t what anyone wants to see.
“We deserved more from Notts County but the way we played gave us confidence. We came into this one feeling good and we got the goal which gave us something to protect. They came at us a little bit in the second half but we still created our chances and, on another day, we’d have won it.”
“I think there’s more than a little bit of disappointment in the dressing room, and that’s a good thing,” he said. “We’re not happy that it’s only a point because we wanted all three. The next important thing is that we move on from this and go into our home game on Saturday to win it.
“It’ll be a tough one because Brentford are a good side. But it’s up to us to get the home fans behind us with what we do on the pitch. When they are behind us it makes a massive difference, so we want to give them something to cheer about.”
“I think every player looks at the league table at this stage of the season,” he admitted. “First and foremost you want to look closely at the performance, because if that’s there then you have something to build on.
“If you haven’t played well then you go home feeling hurt. It’s never a case that you can switch off or that you just don’t care. It’s not like that at all. We take our work home with us, just like everyone else, and that’s why it’s so much better when we play well and get a result.”
“I’m really enjoying my football at the moment,” he told us. “I’m at a stage where I feel have a bit of experience behind me and I like to stay behind after training to work with Brad [Potts], Josh [Todd], Mark [Beck] and Dave [Symington] because I’d like to think I can help to add a bit to their game as well.
“I want to play the game for as long as I can so I’ll just keep going until someone tells me otherwise.”
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