Boro Player spoke to Gary Smith after his side delivered with an intense performance and victory at the Lamex Stadium, and he was clearly delighted with all three points.
Stevenage ran out one goal winners over a play-off placed Brentford side and in truth could have won the game by more, it was a great occasion at the Lamex with the fans’ noise matching the high energy on the pitch and Smith clearly enjoyed the evening.
“Well [it was] a much better night for all concerned, certainly for Stevenage fans. From start to finish we looked a real side that were competing for something special, I think the performance belied our form in the last half a dozen games for sure.”
His Boro side dominated the first half and hit the post and crossbar, as well as forcing a few goalmouth scrambles, but the deadlock wasn’t broken. When asked if he was nervous that they might have missed their chance to get a grip on the game Smith replied, “When you have had so much pressure and you look in the ascendancy for the vast majority of that 45 minutes, if you don’t take advantage of it the worry always is that they start to sneak into the game and suddenly at 0-0 you can still be on the receiving end of the result, which we’ve seen time and time again of course.
“The challenge for us was to make sure that the second period was just as competitive and of course, find somehow and some way, the difference in the game. The team performance was a very good one and I think we’d all agree that it’s as good as anything we’ve seen this year.”
Smith praised his entire team but had special mentions for Marcus Haber, Gavin Mahon and Darius Charles, whilst James Dunne and Sam Hoskins were also put to him as standout performers. There is one man who couldn’t go without recognition though.
“You’ve mentioned two or three players yourself, I’ve mentioned three guys, but don’t forget the captain, let’s not forget him. I came into bundles of criticism for leaving him out, since he has come back into the side, even though the results haven’t always gone our way, he has looked an absolute colossus at the back there. If there is anybody who is going to drive us on and keep us moving in the right direction then he is going to offer that.”
Smith concluded, “It’s a real good night for many reasons, we have been waiting for a result for a long time and especially here as well. We have mentioned it before but I think the fans have been absolutely terrific and I thought they saw a real good showing tonight, the challenge now is to try and back that up again with a performance at Preston.”
To watch the full interview login to your Boro Player account now.