Matt Taylor chatted to the media after Shrewsbury kicked off the League One season with a win over Cheltenham.
A goal from Ryan Bowman, who captained the side, saw Town secure a 1-0 victory at the Croud Meadow.
On a day that saw goalkeeper Marko Marosi make his 100th appearance for the club, Matt's side defended well throughout and created enough chances to win by a greater margin.
Speaking post-match, the head coach discussed the game and praised Ryan Bowman for taking his prolific pre-season form into the league.
ON THE GAME:
“I thought we were excellent, especially in the first half. We moved the ball well, we just didn’t have that cutting edge when we got into the final third.
“We spoke to the players at half-time about being more ruthless in those areas because there is always going to be a point in the game when the opposition will have their spell.
“Fortunately Ryan managed to put the ball in the back of the net and I felt, at that point, the momentum was with us but we never really kicked on.
“However, I have to say this – I'm extremely proud of the players for the effort they put in.
“Today we have given one of our own, in Travis (Hernes), his debut which is amazing. He is 17 years old and I thought when he came on it was a difficult ask because we wanted to see the game out – and he did that.
“To a man, I’m extremely pleased for the players. I hope it solidifies the belief in each other and also what we are trying to do.
"I thought we were fluid with the ball and for 75 minutes we really good defensively.
"But you are always going to come up against those sorts of (long) balls when you are winning a game by a single goal.
"But I’m really pleased, I thought Dan Udoh helped us see the game out at the end with his experience.
"I’m pleased for Ryan to get his goal. I thought Joe (Anderson) was very good on the ball.
"I thought we looked really organised - I could go through the whole team and that’s how superior I felt we were against a really good team, a team of experienced League One footballers.
"I stand here very pleased however it is only the first game – but it is nice to get three points."
ON MARKO MAROSI GETTING A CLEAN SHEET ON HIS 100TH APPEARANCE FOR THE CLUB:
“We spoke earlier in the week about the importance of keeping clean sheets.
“And you saw today that – to a man – every player on that pitch was giving everything they had to secure that clean sheet.
“It’s really pleasing. If you like it’s the ideal start to the season – a 1-0 win at home.
“But I felt we could have and should have been out of sight at half-time with the chances we created.”
ON RYAN BOWMAN’S GOAL:
“I wasn’t at the football club last season so I’m not aware of what Ryan’s role was.
“However, I can only commend him on what he’s done since I came into the building.
"He has been exemplary in his behaviour, he is in unbelievable physical shape and he’s paid to score goals and he’s done that today.
“I’m really pleased for him to lead the team out, to captain the team and to score the winning goal.
“But I still feel that we have more than four or five captains on the pitch.
“And I think overall, today, was a dominant performance – more dominant than the scorelines suggests.”
ON MANAGING HIS FIRST COMPETITIVE TOWN GAME:
“It was really good. The supporters want to see their team win games – but they want to see them do it in a manner where every player gives their all.
“I think every player today gave everything they had – and that’s all you can ask for.
“You see the undoubted quality we have in the final third. I would have liked it if we had scored more goals.
“But there has been a lot of turnaround and a lot of change at the football club. So for us to win the first game today was huge.”
ON JORDAN SHIPLEY COMING OFF WITH A KNOCK:
“I haven’t had a chance to speak to him yet but Jordan is a huge part of what we are trying to do at the football club.
“He can play in various positions on the pitch. We will assess him tomorrow and see where we go – hopefully he’ll be fit for Wednesday.”
ON A DEBUT FOR MAL BENNING:
“Mal has only been in the building since Thursday. He has had to take on a lot of technical information.
“And he came on today and I thought he was solid.
“We changed the shape at the end because you have to concede space and we felt we had some powerful headerers on the pitch who would allow us to deal with their ariel threat.
“On the whole, we did so I am really pleased. Mal will get a lot better. He will understand what we want from him technically, tactically and physically.
“But it was pleasing today that with the squad we had we won the game convincingly.”
ON ELLIOTT BENNETT’S ABSENCE:
“He had his appendix removed on Tuesday. He got appendicitis – he was in a bad way and had to have his appendix removed.
“It was difficult because, for me, Elliott has been a wonderful signing for the football club because not only is he a very good player, he is a fantastic person and a fantastic man.
“In the dressing room looking at it afterwards, he is there, Chey is in there. All the players and in there and when I look at the togetherness of the squad, I think that is going to be powerful for us this season.
“Elliott, I think, won’t be out for too long. And when he is back I’m sure he will play a big part in what we are doing this season.”
ON MAX MATA’S WORK PERMIT:
“It’s in the hands of the home office. All I know is that we are all working as hard as we can behind the scenes to make that happen.
“I want to see him in a Shrewsbury Town shirt as soon as possible but at the moment that is out of our hands. We will wait for the Home Office to give us the green light.”
ON THE DAY OVERALL:
“Any day when you win a game of football is a good day. I want the players to enjoy it and understand they have to do that respectfully because we have got another game on Wednesday.
“The players report Monday and it’s back to work. We’ll pick the bones out of this one, we will use it as a learning tool.
“But for me, the players it’s fantastic to get three points today.”
