Watt Delighted With "Team Performance"

Margate Manager Steve Watt was delighted to see his side collect another important three points, battling to a 1-0 win against Brightlingsea Regent on Saturday afternoon. 

With five senior players ruled out through injury or suspension, Watt was forced to make a number of changes to his starting eleven. 

After the game Watt revealed how a tactical change, suggested by Assistant Manager Steve Brown, proved vital in securing victory.

“We made a couple of forced changes and tweaked our shape to come up against a very good Brightlingsea side. They were good at our place and have done extremely well today asking us a lot of questions.”

“We had to tweak our shape towards the end and I’ve got to give lots of credit to Steve Brown for that change. He saw something, we tweaked it and 5-10 minutes later it worked.”

Match-winner Kane Haysman was introduced and his impact from the bench enabled The Gate to enjoy a very happy journey back home to Kent.

Watt explained, “We brought Kane on to make the most of his pace and trickery and with Browny’s suggestion, we pushed Jordan wider to isolate with the 1v1. Jordan’s produced a great bit of skill and Kane was in the right place at the right time, which he is brilliant at.”

Reflecting on a productive trip to Essex, the Manager was full of praise for his whole team; 

“Matt Bodkin at right back was fantastic and Pidge deserves a lot of credit in goal, for the saves he makes and the way he helps control games, he was immense for us today.”

“George and Friendy won some great headers and tackles and I thought young Simmo at left back was fantastic. Jay May has had his first 90 minutes and I thought he was very good up top. I can’t take anything away from any player today, it was an outstanding team performance.”

“We look at who we have got out, who’s suspended and they are big, big players, so we knew it was going to be tough but it’s another clean sheet which is fantastic.”

Given the number of players out of contention, the Manager and his coaching staff were still able to make important alterations to win the game, which Watt was delighted with.

“As the game went on we thought the introduction of Kane could be key in the final third. We put Jordan into a wider area, which means you’ll lose a goal scoring threat in the middle but we felt combating their set up, it might work. We made those changes, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but today it did.”

“Kane was disappointed not to start as I changed personnel, bringing Jay in as I felt we needed height against a tough away opposition. Kane was unfortunate not to start but I was so pleased he proved to be the difference and help us win the game.”

Whilst The Gate extend their unbeaten run to ten games, Watt’s attention is solely focused on his team's next 90 minutes.

“I want to finish as high as we can but I don’t look further ahead than the next game. We’ve got Burgess Hill on Saturday and I’m sure people are fed up of hearing me say it, but I will not look further than next weekend.”

“When you get towards the final few games and your mathematically safe in there, then you can enjoy the fact you’ve got a play-off run. We’re joint-second and have a lot of games to play. It means nothing right now.”

The Blues have earned their label as play-off contenders but Watt is keen to carry on pushing the team forwards.

“Play-offs have to be our ambition now. We set our goals at the start of the season, taking into consideration the number of changes the club had undertaken but now we find ourselves in the position we are, we’ve got to keep driving and pushing on.”

The run in doesn’t get any easier for Margate but Watt’s convinced with the characters he has as his disposal, and the team spirit amongst the group, there’s lots to look forward to from now until the end of the campaign.

“We’re still missing a few players for a couple of games, so it’s not going to get any easier. It’s going to be the same toughness as today but I’ve got a squad of players who are willing to do jobs and willing to sacrifice for each other.”

“I’ve got Jordan playing wide, sacrificing his chance of scoring and proving he will do a job for the team. Then you’ve got Frannie who played in yet another role for the team and Bods doing the same.”

“I’ve got players in there who will do what is needed for the cause and it’s something we stressed at the start of the season and it’s brilliant the boys have brought into what we’re trying to do here and - more importantly- they’re reaping the rewards from it.”

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