Man of the match Leon Legge reflects on Saturday’s win over Swindon Town
The Gills recorded their second straight home win of 2014 on Saturday, beating Swindon Town 2-0 in Sky Bet League 1 and Man of the Match Leon Legge admits he has plenty of competition for the award, saying, “To be fair it could have gone to anyone on Saturday.“Everyone stepped up their game and that’s how we came out on top. I can’t really remember Swindon having too many chances. It was nice to enjoy a game like that and it felt like we were constantly on the attack, I’m sure the supporters enjoyed that.”
Leon crowned an impressive personal performance with his first goal since September, adding, “It was nice to get on the score sheet and a get a good three points. There’s a bit of a rivalry so it was nice for the fans and good for us to keep a clean sheet as well.
“I’ve been trying to get on the score sheet for a long time now but I’ve had no luck. I was supposed to be marked by Nile Ranger but the ball came in perfectly, I connected with it and it went into the back of the net. I don’t normally score from free-kicks like that so it was nice to see one come in my direction.”
And the commanding centre-half was full of praise for team mate Michael Harriman who secured the points in the 83rd minute, netting his first senior goal in professional football. Leon said, “I didn’t realise it was his first goal in League football.
“I think he said it was his 49th game so he’s been waiting for that. He was really happy to get that goal and hopefully he can get us a few more now. It’s something you’ll always remember, what ground it was on and what minute, you always remember your first goal.
“He and Elliot Hewitt linked up very well. When Elliott went forward, Michael dropped in for him at right-back so it was a good link up between those two. It was something we’d tried in training and it worked on Saturday so hopefully it will work again.”
The Gills now make the short trip to Brentford for a 7.45pm kick-off on Friday evening and Leon admits he’s looking forward to returning to Griffin Park, saying, “I haven’t been back to Brentford as a player, I’ve been to watch them but this will be my first time as a player.
“We need to sort out our consistency, we are getting there but sometimes it’s difficult to play certain teams on their grounds. If we go there with the mentality that we did against Swindon, they are the same sort of side, they are a team that wants to play football.”
“If you give them time and space on the ball then you will make them look even better than they are but if you put them under pressure then you will see what kind of players they really are. If we put the kind of pressure on them that we did to Swindon then we should get a decent result.”