Stopper Chris talks clean sheets and victory over the Latics
By Matt Johnson
Town ever-present this season Chris Weale paid adage to the Club’s youngsters after an impressive 1-0 victory over Oldham in the penultimate fixture of the campaign.
GT rang in the changes for the trip to Colchester on Saturday, and again kept the faith in youth for the Latics clash. At 31, Weale was by far the most experienced in the starting eleven; with 26 year old stand-in captain Joe Jacobson the next oldest in line.
“Yeah it’s a nice win, especially with the side we put out,” said Weale. “
“We put out a young, enthusiastic side similar to Saturday where we got a decent result against Colchester and then a decent result tonight also.
“It’s great for them, for example Tom Bradshaw to get game time and for Ryan Woods to get his first appearance for the Club, so it’s fantastic for the youngsters.”
Joe Jacobson’s fantastic 20 yard free kick won it for Town against Oldham in a game that had little riding on it for both sides, but Weale insisted that the relaxed, ‘end of season’ mentality wasn’t for him.
“It wasn’t a relaxed atmosphere from my point of view. If you look at the game though, it was probably a little more relaxed. We had quite a few shots, they had quite a few shots first half and that maybe wouldn’t have happened earlier on in the season if teams were tightened up.
“Joe Jacobson has been fantastic all season and in the last two games he has really come to life as being captain. It was a fantastic goal and he has just shone.”
A first win in four, and a second consecutive clean sheet, is welcome for Town with Weale now aiming to end the campaign against Portsmouth on a high – to make it a treble of shut outs in a row.
“It’s fantastic to get the clean sheets and it’s such a young back four as well. Connor Goldson has done fantastically well also. He was very unfortunate to be taken out of the team and when you look at the results when he plays, we tend to do well.
“It’ll be nice going into the summer upbeat and confident, so we want to win on Saturday to keep that winning feeling going throughout the off-season.”
Tickets are selling fast for the end of season finale with Portsmouth on Saturday (27 April, 3pm k/o), secure your seat here.