“We had to be patient,” said manager Gary Freeman after Jonny Le Quesne scored an 81st-minute winner for Jersey Bulls against Cobham at Springfield.
That was the only goal of the game – just when it looked like it could be heading for a stalemate.
But a glorious Jay Giles’ pass picked out the forward running of Le Quesne, who fired low into the bottom-left-hand corner, maintaining Bulls’ position at the top of the Combined Counties Premier Division South.
“I thought first half they sat in a five very deep and I thought we played well and we’ve created a couple of very good chances. We should have gone in at half-time a couple up. James Carr hit the bar and their ’keeper pulled off an unbelievable save from Fraser [Barlow],” added Freeman.
“I thought we had to be patient. They were doing what I thought they might do. The first 20 minutes in the second half took us a while to get set and we struggled. But the lads who came on gave us some fresh legs and gave us a lift for the last 15, 20.
“Fair play to Jonny for the finish, but also Jay Giles for the tenacity to grab this game by the scruff of the neck and make something happen; [he] played a great ball and for Jonny it’s a great finish.”
Freeman admitted he feared at one stage that the game might run away from them. Cobham were happy to sit on the edge of their own penalty area and clear chances were hard to come by. He was also wary that his side went looking for a second goal rather than seeing the game out.
“It’s not in our nature and it’s something that the lads who play in Jersey, particularly the youngsters coming through, need to understand on the game-management side. Teams in this league will keep going to the last minute, start chucking long throws in the box and it only takes one to drop somewhere – and it nearly happened. But we’re delighted to get away with three points and we’ve got another tough game next week against Croydon.”
