Stockton Town Assistant Manager JD Briggs spoke following the Anchors’ 1-0 victory at Prescot Cables on Saturday.
Adam Nicholson scored the lone goal of the game, early in the second-half, heading home a Lewis King free-kick to secure a fifth victory in a row.
Briggs opened by saying: “It was a very difficult game. The conditions were tricky, I think that’s the hardest surface we’ve played on in a long while – we were trying to get it down at times whilst the surface is trying to get the ball up, and those are games we’d have likely drawn or possibly lost in the past, but we have a lot more grit about us this year so reflecting back on it shows it was a very hard earned win.
“There wasn’t a lot of opportunities in the game where we could play football really, it’s come down to a set-piece which we had mentioned at half-time to try and go towards goal and see if we can get a flick on it, which we executed perfectly. We’ve outplayed teams in a number of different ways, and that’s what you have got to do, you have to find ways to win games and they’re not always going to be pretty.”
The Anchors Assistant Manager followed by speaking on the current run his side are on, with five wins in a row partnered by five consecutive clean sheets: “The togetherness of everybody is probably the key, and everybody doing is their job – the defence is part of the midfield, the midfield is part of the attack and it all links in, so you start defending from the front. Nathan Harker is doing brilliantly, Lewis King and Cameron Painter are doing a superb job sitting in front of the back four, and everyone is coming up with goals.”
He then speaks on his emotions regarding the form the Anchors are on: “It’s brilliant isn’t it. There is no pressure on us at all and we’ve far exceeded everyone’s expectations, as well as our own, and we’re all enjoying it so much, thriving on it and we’re surprising a lot of people. This league is so hard, Worksop just lost at home to Bamber Bridge which no one would’ve predicted, there are teams that are still fighting for so much, so every win is highly rewarding.”
JD closes by looking ahead to the final three games of the season, with the likely possibility of at least one more to follow: “We’ve managed to get into these positions in the table through being solid, now we find ourselves only three points away from second place. There is no pressure on us at all and we’re just enjoying the ride, trying to win each game if we can, and momentum is just carrying us up the table.
“It’s reminiscent of last season, the fourth season in a row of getting into the playoffs and the fans are huge for it, we benefit from our fanbase massively and if we could finish third, and get a home tie in the playoffs that would be perfect, and on that Tuesday night it would give us a huge advantage. There are teams in this league with 3 or 4x the budget and expectations we have, and you never know, we could do something really special here.”
The Anchors are back at home next weekend, with the statistical biggest game in the whole North East as Morpeth Town come to visit. Supporters can purchase their tickets at https://stocktontownfc.ktckts.com/event/morpeth2425/morpeth-town
