Only just managed to calm down from Saturday. To be a successful team, you have to win games when you play poorly; which is exactly what we did. Did we deserve 3 points over the 90? No. But my god the passion and the fight from every single player who donned the yellow shirt in those last 20... I've been a big critic of Winnall. But he is the reason we won that game. The players who'd played 72 minutes and gone 2-0 down didn't look like they had it in them, but a really good finish from Winnall flips the momentum on its head. Throw in some good defensive headers, some good hold up play and some out strengthing of the defenders to make space - it wasn't flashy but it's probably the best sub performance of the season. Well done Sam. It was good to hear KR praising both him and Dan after the game for how well they turned the game around for us - bang on, both were hugely important, and the diamond setup rather than the 442 looked really effective with the three strikers.
And my word Sam Long. I cannot believe that barely 2 weeks ago I was arguing with people whether Sam Long was good enough for this league. Sam Long is the best right back we've had in my time as a supporter (22ish years). Baldock is better now, but Sam now compared to Baldock then? I'll take Sam. Cadden and Kane? Nah, Sam for me. His improvement this season, especially going forward, has been utterly immense. And to think, not too long ago we had Dwight Tiendalli in right back. Unless someone goes on a ridiculous goalscoring run to take us to the Championship, Sam is my POTS. It was close between him, Stevens and Moore, but he's clinched it for me now. All the talk of whether we can keep hold of Moore, Stevens, Atkinson and Brannagan... I think Sam Long has to be considered one that clubs will be chasing now, making his new contract all the more important.