Manager's Reaction - East End Park Reserves

KDRAFC Media
May 17, 2021
2 min read

Following a superb performance which saw Rangers Second Team easily defeat East End Park Reserves 6-0, Assistant Player/Manager John-Paul Williams spoke to KDRAFC TV about the match and other issues. Here is what he had to say.

On the match:

"I thought that we had a fantastic start. We'd asked the lads to start today with hard pressure and get onto them from the first whistle. For the last few weeks, we have started very slowly and have been a sixty or a seventy-minute team, and today we wanted them to be a ninety-minute team, and that's exactly what we got. I can't fault a single player's performance, including the five subs that we had."

On multiple scorers, including Dan Flynn with a penalty:

"It wasn't my idea to give Flynny the penalties! I think Kris (Macdonald) has been bribed there. I'll have to look into it! Joking aside, he took it very well, and as you say, it was great to see multiple scorers, but it was also good to see more players get assists as well. Phil Turner has been working so hard over the past few weeks and hasn't been getting the rub of the green, and today he was so dangerous out wide, and the way the front way interlinked was fantastic."

Playing Pool AFC Reserves next week and keeping the players focused after a big win:

"Yeah, we have seen this before when you play a team who you think will offer a big physical challenge, and you turn up as a team and play them off the park. It can alter the players' focus, especially if you are playing a team, as you rightly say that on paper might appear to be a match we could win. You have to keep that momentum going, especially against a team like Pool, who can hurt you if you are not at your best or paying attention in certain areas. We have to start with the right attitude, and we have seen in this team, and if we ignore the Rothwell match, their attitude has been spot on since the restart."

On Kris Macdonald's challenge to the team to finish within the top two:

"It's the minimum to be honest with you! We targeted winning this league, so second place would be the minimum that we expect, and I believe that we can do it, and it stems from the hard work that we are doing. People are training well and fighting for places. We have five subs every match, and people are still missing out! It is so competitive for a Reserve team, and I think it's fantastic and long may it continue."

John-Paul Williams is sponsored by: