I wouldn't call it two points lost ... I would call it a single point stolen
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“I’m not going to lie to you, we were lucky,” Roy said. “For eighty-nine minutes we were second best today and then we finally put ourselves in a position to succeed.”
The post-match briefing had a general mood of relief from the home point of view. They had generated more attempts at goal than Queens but had put only three on target, including the goal that split the points.
Roy took an offered towel and wiped rain from the top of his head. It had been a cold, drizzly day and the team jacket hadn’t really served Roy as well as it had often done. But at least it hadn’t lost.
The press, of course, asked Roy about his team selection.
“Well, we do have Dundee United in the Betfred quarterfinals coming up on Tuesday night and we need key players ready to go for that match,” he said. “I have faith in all my players but sometimes you need an extra boost for the team. That’s why we did what we did in our substitutions.”
“So, is this two points lost or a point gained?”
“A point stolen, if I'm honest,” Roy answered. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t do better for the vast majority of this match but to be honest, I felt we deserved a draw and that’s what Adrianinho got us.”
“Surely you don’t want to rely on set pieces for everything you get?”
That was a cheeky question, especially given Roy’s mood, but it had been asked and the manager had to deal with it.
“The last time I checked, every goal counts the same no matter how it goes in the goal,” he said. “Whether that’s a set piece, open play, a penalty, an own goal, it’s all the same on the scoreboard. We need to work on some elements of our game in attack which I will not disclose, but for now, when we aren’t quite hitting on all cylinders we need to pick up the goals where we can find them.”
“What did you think of the way Queen of the South set up for you defensively?”
“I thought they were disciplined, kept their shape and made themselves difficult to beat,” he answered. “It was the kind of defensive game I like to see my team play so my hat’s off to them. We were able to exploit a weakness with a special player and get a point but I was impressed at how they stood up to us.”
Still, it was disappointing. By this time, Kate knew better than to try to engage her husband in conversation when the team hadn’t performed well, so they drove home together in relative silence.
It had always been that way. When the Hammers hadn’t done well, there wasn’t a lot of conversation in the car. Now that Roy was the man in charge, it was even more difficult to break through the cone of silence.
So Kate simply turned on the car radio and when she found a song she liked, she sang along softly.
Possessed with a beautiful mezzosoprano singing voice which she had trained with lessons as a girl, Kate soon had a smile on her husband’s face.
She couldn’t talk to him, but she could sing in his vicinity and melt the human iceberg known as Roy Scully.
Finally, he turned to her as they drove.
“I love you,” he smiled.
She took his hand.
“Even when you don’t win,” she giggled. “Imagine that.”
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