FC Halifax Town drew 0-0 away at Woking yesterday finishing the game with 10 men following the sending off of defender Nathan Clarke
We spoke to Matty Brown returning to the side following his recent injury
Q: On a personal level, how good did it feel to be out of there in a Town shirt again today?
A- βBrilliant. Itβs been a long time coming. I counted this morning, itβs been eleven weeks to the day, you know, itβs not far off three being, so itβs been painstaking, but itβs part and parcel of the game and youβve just got to do the right thing. I got a bit unlucky with the reoccurrence, credit to the physios at club, theyβve got me right and probably a bit ahead of schedule, theyβve basically enabled me to get through the game today. We had a little bit of an in-house game on Tuesday, just to get a little bit of sharpness, which I felt horrendous in, but itβs obviously done me a little bit of good because I felt okay today, Iβll see if Iβm alright in the morning! But personally itβs great to be back involved with the lads, I was getting a bit fed up watching from the side and having to do that side of things. Obviously part and parcel of your job, being captain of the club, but there becomes a point where you want to have an effect on the pitch rather than being a voice from outside, because you find yourself repeating yourself basically. But today, the lads can take great credit from it, because we showed what we were about, coming away from home. First half we werenβt really up to standard, we werenβt really where we wanted to be, but second half, I think, especially with going down to the ten men, it shows that team spirit that I keep banging on about in our dressing room. Youβve got Danny Williams, who put an absolute shift in, the two centre-mids, you know, Staunts dropping back to centre-half. Even though they had a lot of the ball I never felt that they were gonna score, even though they had a lot of pressure, it was just one of them games where I thought βtheyβre not scoring today,β which is great, because thereβs been criticism from that way, that we canβt defend our box, but today weβve proved we can. Iβm just delighted to be back with the lads, and buzzing for the lads today.β
Q- How would you sum up todayβs game?
A- βIt was a tough one, wasnβt it? First half we were so focused on setting out how we wanted to play around Woking. First half, I felt they shaded it, we werenβt able to implement the game we wanted to play, but that happens in football and youβve got to adjust. Youβre not always going have youβre own way, theyβre going to have their spells, we donβt panic, weβve just gotta make weβre solid. We went in at 0-0 when we couldβve conceded first half, we went in, regrouped, came out and showed a different side. We were unfortunate to lose Clarkey, you know, itβs a poor decision isnβt it? But the spirit that weβve shown to stay in the game, I think youβve seen today lads who really want to do well for this club, putting in shifts when they didnβt really have to do that work and helping out, when someoneβs made a mistake, youβve seen people today filling in and doing that dirty work that you donβt really get credit for, but whilst youβre on the pitch you see people whoβll dig in for you, and today everyone did.β
Q- Youβve mentioned about the team spirit the boys have- when something doesnβt go our way, like today with Clarkey getting sent off, is that something that can really help out in these sort of situations?
A- Yeah, you find out who your characters are, donβt you? An easy oneβs to throw the white towel in and get beat 2-0 away from home and blame it on having ten men, but today, youβve seen what weβre made of. I keep repeating myself, but since Iβve been at this club, the cornerstone of it has been the team spirit. We havenβt got the biggest budget but what we have in that dressing room is special and whoever comes to the club is part of that. We donβt take any wrong βuns really, the lads that come in, theyβve got to buy in to what weβre doing, weβre all hard working, and today, for me, theyβre the pleasing ones, theyβre scrappy, youβre defending your own box and you seen today who want to go to war with, and today I thought all of us dug in and deservedly got the point.β
Q-Weβve managed to take 10 points from our last 5 away games- can you put your finger on why weβve been so strong on the road?
A- Not really, no! I think sometimes you can say thereβs no pressure on away from home, everyone expects you to get beat, but I wouldnβt say that. Football, to me, after being at this level for a long time, is 90% mental anyway. I think if you turn up with the right mentality and attitude that gets you over the line. People at this level are all similar abilities. I think if you turn up and want the game more than the opposition than you predominantly come away with the win, or at least a point. In the past weβve come away and have had a really poor record in London, but this season weβre a different animal, weβre coming on the road and picking up points, we just need to sort our home form out slightly.β
Watch the full interview on Shaymen TV
Read more posts by Lewis Tomlinson