Captain for the day Joe pleased to secure League One safety
By Matt Johnson
Joe Jacobson beamed the widest of smiles in the Essex sun after Town secured their League One status with a goal less draw at Colchester.
After Scunthorpe lost in mid-week, Town knew a solitary point from their remaining three fixtures would be enough, and they needed only one of those games to reach that target after a largely uneventful tie at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.
“It was a very young team we put out today and we knew it was going to be a battle,” said Jacobson.
“In the second half we completely controlled the game and had the better chances and better situations to score a goal. Unfortunately we didn’t, but that point now definitely means we’re safe.
“We came here to win the game, we didn’t set up to play for a draw or anything like that. We knew it was going to be a tough game and there was only three or four players over the age of 23/24 today, so for everyone to come in who hasn’t played much and to play well is a big plus for us.”
GT rested Matt Richards on the bench, giving Jacobson the opportunity to captain the side for the very first time, a duty he was honoured to fulfil.
“It was a great honour for the gaffer to pick me. I think I was the oldest player out there which has never happened to me before, but I enjoyed it – it was a nice thing for the gaffer to do for me and hopefully I repaid him with my performance.
“We had a meeting in the hotel and he told us the starting team and just before the lads got to the stadium he pulled me to one side and told me I’d be captaining the team and I was delighted.
“I’ll be keeping an eye out for Tuesday’s team sheet, but if Matt’s back in then he’ll be captain again and that’s fine with me.”
With Town now safe, the pressure is off for next week’s Greenhous Meadow double header with Oldham and Portsmouth, but Jacobson insists that the team will look to win those matches to end the season on the best possible high.
“Yeah we’ll enjoy them but we’ll go away and prepare properly. The season’s not over and we want to finish on a high. We’ve picked up a draw here to make us safe and we’ve got a lot of players who can express themselves and hopefully we can take the solidness of the performance today and turn it into a win on Tuesday.
“We can go into the games and relax a little bit, but we know Oldham are on a high after winning a couple of games and its going to be a tough, but we’ve got players that can excite and get at people. There’s a lot of pace and creativity and hopefully we can put on a show.”
Snap up your tickets for the end of season double extravaganza here as we welcome Oldham on Tuesday (23 April, 7:45 k/o) and close the season out against Portsmouth on Saturday (27 April, 3:00 k/o).