Joel Byrom said he and his teammates ‘thoroughly deserved’ their victory over Mansfield Town on Saturday, as Stevenage kept their season alive going into the final day...
Having taken the lead through Kurtis Guthrie’s seventh goal in his past five games, former Boro loanee Tyler Walker pegged Boro back with less than 10 minutes remaining. With both sides desperate for the win to further their own agenda, it was Stevenage and Ilias Chair that found the added time winner, sparking superb celebrations amongst the travelling supporters.
“It was brilliant. I think the lads, all the way through the team, have been brilliant today," Byrom said. "It is a difficult place to come with their home record being as good as it is and to play well from minute 1 to minute 90, we thoroughly deserved it I thought.
"The manager came in the dressing room at 1pm and said ‘come on let’s go for them, let’s go and attack them’. We have got good enough players and players in attacking areas that can really hurt teams, so we have got to use our strengths and I thought we did today.”
After a goalless first half in which Stevenage were on top, Byrom admitted feeling frustrated knowing that the wind would be against he and his teammates during the second half. Despite that, Byrom says he knows that with Kurtis Guthrie and Ilias Chair playing in the form of their lives, it always gives the team a chance.
“When the first half was going on I was thinking, 'come on let's go and get the goal whilst the pressure is on' and although we didn’t get it, the lads stuck to their guns in the second half and we know that with Kurtis and Ilias up there, you are going to get chances and they both took their goals so well.
“Kurtis was on the pitch 'just saying get me one chance and I’ll get you a goal', that is the confidence in him at the minute and that is what happened. It was a great ball in and a great finish. For the second goal, Ilias has got such a tiny gap to fit it into but you just fancy him. When he gets into those areas you just fancy him."
The win means that Stevenage have a chance of moving into the final Play-Off spot on the final game of the season, when Cheltenham Town visit The Lamex Stadium next Saturday.
“We have given ourselves the best possible chance, Byrom said. "The last four or five games we have deserved what we have got and that is it now, we have got one more game to go and all we can do is get the three points."
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