Simmo's Reaction To The Darlington Victory

Last updated : 19 March 2006 By Thetashkentterror

Simmo speaks
United player-manager Paul Simpson spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Saturday evening as he gave his thoughts on the emphatic away victory at the 96.6TFM Darlington Arena. It was an excellent performance on the road from the Blues that saw them stay top of the table and go five points clear of fourth-placed Leyton Orient with a game in hand :


" It's a fantastic result and a fantastic performance, everything was right about it, we were very professional, we came here and did a job. I think the goals were spread out and maybe made a little bit of a mockery of the comments that came out that we were an average team if you take (Michael) Bridges and (Karl) Hawley out, so it was very, very pleasing and very, very professional.

" The goal just before half-time really knocked the stuffing out of them, they put us under pressure for a little while though. The system that they played did actually cause us problems and we were struggling to cope with it but defensively I thought we looked very solid and I thought Keiren Westwood's handling was excellent.

" Then to score the goal at the time we did just killed them a little bit, it's always a great time to score and it really did knock the stuffing out of them going into half-time. Then we said the big thing we had to do was to make sure we were positive again, there was no way we wanted to just sit back and rest on that one because we felt they could put us under pressure.

" From set-pieces, their balls in, particularly in the first-half, put us under a little bit of pressure and we had a few scary moments. Apart from that though I thought we were very strong and thoroughly deserved it, I don't think anybody could doubt that. "



" It wasn't really a bit of luck from Derek Holmes, yes the goalkeeper has made a mistake, but, as with Danny Livesey's last week at Northampton, if you're not in that area and if you don't gamble and take the chance of waiting for a mistake then it doesn't happen. Derek has taken the chance and he has gone and closed the keeper (Sam Russell) down, unfortunately for the keeper it's bobbled up and he's skied it a bit but ‘Holmer' has tucked it away nicely.

" The next one was pure brilliance from ‘Bridgey' (Michael Bridges) and that's what he is about it, that's why we have wanted him into the football club. If we can keep him right, he's come off with a bit of a dead leg today, but if we can keep him right then he will be fine. It's a great situation for someone like Simon (Hackney) to come into the game at 3-0 up, with his type of football when he goes and runs at people and he caused them problems.

" Then Glenn (Murray) has come on and Glenn had a couple of bits of play which I thought were excellent and we were really pleased with him because he is learning all the time. He stuck his backside into centre-halves, he's rolled them and he's got shots off, he got one in before his goal which didn't quite happen. There was another one where Karl has shot for the far-post and Glenn was a yard away from getting a tap-in. Then his goal, he thoroughly deserved it, good play and that was pleasing because I'm seeing things that we've talked about to him all the time that he has been at the club and he's definitely picking them up and improving.

" We want the goals to come from everywhere. I've said that all along, I said that the year we went down, I said that the year we were in the Conference, and then this season is no different. We want goals coming from all areas, we've had different people scoring today and that will happen. Some of Karl's play was excellent but he didn't get his goal so he'll take some grief about it, the fact that he's a centre-forward and he didn't get a goal in a 5-0 win but I'm sure he's big enough to take it. "



" We've got to concentrate on the next game though. I've just said to the players in there that we've got now ten games, nine in the league and the Football League Trophy final, and everything that we do between now and, hopefully it'll just be May 6th, everything has to be totally professional. We have to live our lives right, we've got to do the right things, they are all young lads and young fellas, I know that they are going to go and have a drink and go and enjoy themselves and at times like this you have to be able to go and enjoy yourself. I want it done at the right time though, I want everything professional, I want everything that they can possibly do to make sure that we finish this season properly.

" We can't afford the cup to be a distraction. We have two fronts to concentrate on, the Football League Trophy one we will concentrate on once we get the Lincoln game out of the way. We've got some lovely games to look forward to though, Boston and Lincoln are great games and if we do it properly in those then we can go to Cardiff and really enjoy it being in a good position.

" The support is incredible, we've talked about the crowd saying that we were going to get a huge following (3549 away fans). The game was delayed because of them and I'll be honest with you, I actually like that because when we've been delayed in the past we've put on a performance and got a result. The run the year we went down started with the Torquay at home game when the game was delayed so that didn't worry me in the slightest, I said to make sure that our fans were still shouting at the end and that's exactly what happened.

" It was fantastic support, but now I'll say it again, we need them again at home. We want as many coming in as possible, it was brilliant to see them all today but all it has done is line Darlington's pockets. We want it for our own club and we want to benefit from our own support, they've been brilliant so far this season and let's all finish it off right together. "