First goal no great memory for Gray
Monday 29th March 2010, 10:13AM BST.
Walsall winger Julian Gray has admitted his first goal for two years was almost meaningless after the Saddlers went down 2-1 at Exeter.
The 30-year-old bagged his first for the club at St James’s Park on Saturday, but the visitors were already 2-0 behind following Matt Taylor’s header and Ryan Harley’s dubious penalty.
But Gray, who last scored for Coventry against Barnsley in August 2008, insists his strike won’t stick in the memory.
He said: “I hadn’t been playing regularly, which is why it’s taken me so long. It’s nice but it’s disappointing because we didn’t get anything out of the game, if we got something I could have enjoyed it a bit more.
“It’s nice to score but it would have been better to get something out of the game.”
Before his goal – four minutes after Harley’s controversial 57th minute penalty – Gray had struggled to make an impact and was frustrated in a first half which saw Exeter take an early lead from captain Taylor.
The Saddlers wide man said: “When you play wide and you don’t see the ball for the first 15 or 20 minutes it’s difficult, you need a foothold early on.
“I know we were away from home, but sometimes we need to take the game to the opposition. We gave them too much of the ball and giving them a goal after five minutes doesn’t help.
“It gave them confidence.”
Troy Deeney skimmed the bar while Richard Taundry went close with two long range efforts and, while Gray was pleased with the Saddlers’ reaction, the winger agrees they were the masters of their own downfall.
He said: “You can’t give a team chances, no one give us any goal starts and we’ve got to eradicate them. They passed the ball but in the second-half we showed some sprit, got at them a bit more and created some chances.”
UK Sport
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