Martin Wild speaks with Dave Hibbert
Despite clutching a bottle of champagne courtesy of the sponsor's award for man-of-the-match, Town goal scorer Dave Hibbert had disappointment etched all over his face. His 67th minute header wasn't enough to rescue a point for Shrewsbury, who had found themselves two goals behind at half-time.
"I'm absolutely devastated," said the 23 year-old striker. "We could have had the game won in the first twenty minutes. I thought we started the game brilliantly but unfortunately we didn't score during that time. The keeper's pulled off a couple of great saves from Nathan and myself, and Kelv's had a great chance at the back stick. That was the story of the game really - a case of so close, but so far. Jake's got through at the end there and hit the crossbar, and it's ended up just being one of those days. If we play like that every week we'll win a lot of football matches."
The very finest of margins decided the outcome of this afternoon's fixture, with Langmead also striking the woodwork just before Hibbert grabbed Town's consolation.
"It's so frustrating because they've gone up the other end and scored with their first attempt, after we've battered them for like fifteen or twenty minutes. That knocks the stuffing out of you but I thought we showed a lot of character especially in the second half. I thought we were worthy winners and yet we've come away with nothing. We just have to brush ourselves down and come back stronger next week."
Hibbert has been a revelation in the opening weeks of the campaign. As well as his goals contribution, he has been launching a one-man campaign to try and grab an early Goal of The Season contender. His fabulous goal against Ipswich was almost eclipsed but for a great save from Tommy Lee in the Chesterfield game. And this afternoon, his brilliant overhead kick was somehow clawed away by Simon Eastwood in the City goal.
"I can't believe the keeper's got across to make that save," said Hibbo, "but that's football isn't it? I'm enjoying myself and it's great to be injury free and firing on all cylinders. The more I play, the stronger I'll get, and the games can't come quick enough. Bradford will be there or thereabouts at the end but so will we. I think we'll be a threat and like I said before, if we play many more games like that, we'll certainly win a lot more than we'll lose. There's a lot more to come from this side. We see it in training every day and there's some real quality in the squad. The more we play together, the better we'll get. Jake (Robinson) has been a bit unlucky not to be starting, but if you're not doing the biz you'll find yourself out of the team. That spurs me on and I'm sure it spurs the rest of the lads on as well. You have to make the most of the opportunities when they come along."
Hibbert said he was gutted that he had to wait another week for a game, with the local derby against Crewe Alexandra already whetting his appetite. And he also paid tribute to Paul Simpson who resisted any temptation to have a half-time rant at his shell-shocked side.
"Once you've had a defeat, you just can't wait to bounce back and put it behind you," he said. "We'll do all we can next week in training to make sure we come out flying and full of beans for next Saturday. Today at half-time the gaffer's been positive in the dressing room, and asked us to keep going and to have belief. The way we started the game, you would never have thought we'd have gone in a goal behind, never mind two. It's the best we've started a game for a while and he asked us to stay patient and that we'd get our chance. We got plenty of balls into the box and on another day - and particularly with a little more luck - we might have had a different outcome."
Stuart McCall admitted in his post-match interview that he felt sorry for Simmo, and that his side had certainly ridden their luck at the Prostar. Not that those sentiments, or indeed the consolation bubbly, would cheer up centre-forward Hibbert.
"Anyone who was here at the game will know that lady luck shone brightly for them, but we can't afford to feel sorry for ourselves or rest on our laurels. We have to bounce back and I'm sure that we will. You need to have an element of luck in football, and they've had their fair share today. Their keeper has pulled off a couple of worldies, we've hit the bar twice, and maybe missed some chances where we might have done better. So good luck to them, they've got away with it to some degree."
