Penalties Hand Cup to KuPS
YLE Reporter - "Congratulations on your win. Your side were losing at half-time but fought back to bring the game to penalties. What was said at half-time?"
Heighway - "Thank you. Yeah we were losing at half-time but what I said wasn't nearly as important as how the players reacted to what I said. I honestly was very angry that we were losing so I told the players how I felt and they responded in a positive manner. Antti Hynynen, who has been a great player on and off the pitch this season, spoke after me and he said that if the team want to win trophies, they have to play their football and not to watch the opponent's football. We got a much needed confidence boost and eventually Antti equalised in a half that we had fifteen plus shots."
"Penalty drama once again for your side. Your side has one all four penalty shoot-outs that they have been involved in. Does your team train for these shoot-outs? What is your opinion on shoot-outs being the ultimate match decider?"
"No we don't really practice for shoot-outs. Obviously we practice penalties but how can you get ready for a shoot-out? When we play a match, no matter who we are against, our objective is to win in ninety minutes. Okay, sometimes that cannot be done but there is also another thirty minutes and then the shoot-outs. Why should we practice for a shoot-out when we can avoid it? I'm not saying that I am scared of them, in fact I absolutely love them. They are a fair and reasonable way to decide a match, in my opinion. I am just saying that winning a match before penalties is always the objective."
"You came against a weakened TPS side missing the likes of Jarkko Hurme and Petteri Pennanen. Did this make your task easier?"
"I don't think that it is fair to say that a game is easier because the opposition did not have certain players available through injury or suspension. At the end of the day, a manager will put out the most effective players that he has available and it could have been us who had a few players injured but thankfully it wasn't and we had a clean bill of health, for once."
"Antti Hynynen picked up the Man of the Match award here today. You spoke earlier of his determination. How important is he to your team?"
"Antti has been one of our star perfomers since I took over. His work ethic and his attitude has been brilliant. He is a model professional in my eyes. He never complains and he always tries his best. He has scored quite a few goals for a winger and he provides so much to our attacks. He is a regular starter for a reason."
Antti Hynynen - He gives us hope
