Elgin City manager Allan Hale

Highland News & Media

Elgin City manager Allan Hale praised team’s spirit as two late goals secured 2-1 win over Bonnyrigg Rose in SPFL League 2.

Transcript

00:00Victory from the jaws of defeat, run me through the emotions of that and what it meant to

00:05you to win that match?

00:06Yeah, it just means a lot. The players put a lot into the game and you prepare all week

00:11and there's an element of frustration with just our performance and the lack of chances

00:16created and I think that's why you've got to give Bonnie Rigg a lot of credit because

00:19I thought they came here and made it really, really difficult for us. It was a game both

00:23sides had very few shots on goal. It probably wasn't a game for the fans to really get behind

00:29but you've got to give credit to the players because I think a lot of people in the stadium

00:34would have thought it maybe wasn't going to be our day-to-day. Especially when you go

00:371-0 down you can really feel the nervousness about the place and the anxiousness about

00:43the ground but once we got the equaliser and it comes from Keane just being really positive

00:49in the wide area and the ability to dip the shoulder, cut inside, put an early cross in

00:55the box when they're backpedalling and the centre-half can't really get over the top

01:00of the ball to get the distance and it breaks to Oli and he finishes it really well. From

01:05that moment the place just lit up. The crowd finally got behind the team and finally made

01:11noise and you can see the lift that that gives the players. There's a bit of fortune I think

01:18with a winning goal but sometimes with football you need a bit of luck and I think we've got

01:23two moments of it today and it's somehow managed to win the game for us. It had to

01:29be a game of patience and I think we were all running out of patience at one point because

01:33I think we've changed formation three or four times in the game just to try and create a

01:38bit of opening and find somewhere where we can find a little bit of space that we need

01:42and trying to get more bodies in the box where we can actually get crosses in. It may be

01:48a bit of good fortune in it but sometimes in football you need a bit of luck. Then you

01:54lose all sight of control of your emotions at that point and it's relief and it's just

02:01satisfaction that we've somehow managed to win the game. It's a delight for the players

02:07in terms of their applications. I think we had a lot of control over the game today.

02:11I don't know what the possession stats were but I think we had the bulk of possession

02:15but when you've got that you've actually got great chances. We struggled with that

02:19a wee bit today and we got caught on the counter with a wee bit of slack play in the centre

02:23midfield. It's a great finish for the boy. I think a lot of people expected us to maybe

02:30go and lose the game but the one thing that the players and this group of players have

02:35is that they'll fight and they'll fight to the very end. With that desire and attitude

02:40to keep going to the very end has got us the win today. It gives the players a lot of credit

02:44for that.

02:45You don't want to lose games and you haven't lost one in the league so far. With that unbeaten

02:48record we can see what it means to the players out there today to fight for it.

02:52Our home form has been really good and you've got to use that to your advantage. The fans

02:57obviously expect us to come here and control games. It's not that simple. Teams are really

03:03well structured, they're really well organised. There's a lot of quality in league too and

03:07it's up to us to find a way to break them down. I think what you can see is that the

03:11players are trying to do the right things. We're trying to play good football, we're

03:15trying to be attacking, we're trying to be on the front foot. The players have adapted

03:19really well to the change of shape this year. We think that suits the personnel that they

03:24have.

03:25Obviously we're not quite getting the opportunities, we're not creating opportunities so then you're

03:30taking off a centre back and you're then going a back four and trying to get wide players

03:36on the pitch but keep two strikers up. Then we went back to a three at the back and went

03:43with two strikers. I don't think it's the formation by any means that's won us the game

03:48today. I think it's just the players' spirit and their attitude and their application to

03:53keep going to the very end. Then when they got the equaliser they sensed that there was

03:57another chance for us and we got the chance and we got the win. The crowd, it would be

04:03great if they really got behind us and made that noise for 90 odd minutes as frustrating

04:07as it can be when we're not creating the chances but that five minutes when they make that

04:11noise, it's a different place here and it's really tough. We've found a way to win the

04:18game. As I said, we've somehow found a way and we've got that bit of good fortune that

04:22you need and I think that's down to the players' spirit to keep going.

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