Joe Montemurro praised his side’s professionalism on Sunday after they dug deep to secure a 3-0 win over Reading on the road.
Harsh weather conditions and a fast start from the Royals initially threw us, but by adopting a more direct approach in the final third, we were able to score twice in the space of 10 minutes and secure a valuable lead at the break.
We spoke to our head coach after the final whistle - and this is what he said:
on the overall performance…
Every time we come to this stadium it’s always difficult. They’re a team that don’t give you any time to rest or any time to play. The goals came at the right time today, but we had to adapt a little bit and play a little more direct than we usually do. We needed to get the points today and we did, that’s the most important thing.
on whether Little’s volley is up there for goal of the season…
Well, you guys are the ones who pick these things! Every week there seems to be a goal of the season! It’s a credit to the team because we put in a lot of work on set-pieces and that’s how we created that goal. There were some fantastic combination play in the build up to that goal.
on Schnaderbeck starting at left back - and the fitness of McCabe and Mitchell…
Katie isn’t ready yet and Mitch needs some game rhythm before she starts. The idea was to overload one side and have a more defensive full back in one area, so we could drag them to one side, find the space and find an opening. That’s how we created our first goal, I believe.
on Reading’s high press…
We were prepared for that. They press quite high and we weren’t quite smart enough in the way that we broke beyond them a little bit earlier. Our distances were also a bit too short and they probably should have gone 1-0 up when they stole the ball at the start.
on Leanne Hall and Aaron D’Antino taking over for the next two games…
It’s not a problem at all. Aaron and Leanne are doing the matchday stuff, but from Rose and Gary to Owen, Fran and Jonny, they’re all fantastic and we’re certainly prepared for next week’s game, which is a massive, massive game. We want to stay at the top of the ladder.
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