Dale Gorman scored his first professional goal in Stevenage’s 2-1 win at Barnet yesterday, helping to secure another big three points on the road.
His 38th minute strike saw the Northern Irish Under-21 international run onto a Matt Godden layback and coolly bend the ball around the goalkeeper and inside the far post from outside the box. Speaking to the media after the game he indicated that practice certainly made perfect.
“It was a good strike I suppose," he told us. "I’ve been practicing a lot in training and doing shooting drills as I haven’t scored yet. The gaffer actually pulled me yesterday and said ‘you don’t have that bendy one’, so I thought ‘ok, fair enough’ but luckily enough it came to me, I bent it and it went in today.”
Despite being known for his eye for goal whilst a scholar – which included some spectacular strikes – this was Dale’s first goal for the first team and when asked why that might be, he replied, “I think when you come in to the team you’re trying to impress. The more you play, the more and more you get used to it and the more confident you get. Maybe last year I wouldn’t have taken that shot on, but it fell to me today and I thought ‘why not’.”
The win at Barnet made it six consecutive away league wins, however attention now turns to a festive double-header at home against Cambridge United (Boxing Day) and Colchester United (New Year's Eve) where Boro are targeting maximum points.
Dale continued, “We’ve got a big game now on Boxing Day against Cambridge. If we win that we’ll be in the playoffs. It’s a massive game for us but it’s not the be-all and end-all of our season. We’ll go into that game fully confident and hopefully we can change that home form around now.”
Tickets for both festive home games against Cambridge United and Colchester United are on sale now at www.borotickets.co.uk.
For the full post-match interview with Dale, sign up or sign in to Boro Player at www.player.stevenagefc.com.
Photo credit: Dave Loveday (Hertfordshire Mercury)