Relief was the main emotion for Gillingham manager John Coleman after their 1-0 victory over Morecambe at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Robbie McKenzie's deflected volley with a little over ten minutes remaining was the difference in the game. The midfielder was an injury doubt heading into the fixture, alongside Armani Little and Elliott Nevitt. Coleman credited their efforts during the game, stating that is the spirit that the fans deserve to see.
Morecambe made life difficult for the Gills, who had to battle until the very end to secure all three points. However, the Gills boss felt that they were comfortable in restricting their visitors to next to nothing for the duration of the game.
Coleman is hoping that the victory can allow the Football Club to build momentum heading towards the end of the season, starting with Tuesday's trip to Newport.
Thoughts on the game...
I'm delighted for the fans. They stuck with us all the way through the game. We had to be a bit more patient, and we didn't want the game to be played the way Morecambe wanted the game to be played, which was very physical. We had to try and find a way to get it wide and to get it to particularly Hutts on the ball and get it at them.
Hawks [Oli Hawkins] did great. He gets manhandled every game, and I feel sorry for him. We had to find a way to get down the side of them and get balls into the box. I always thought that we might score from a set play, either a free-kick or a throw in, because we were simply going to have that many.
We tried to mix it up with three or four different things. That chance that we have scored from has probably happened 15 times in the last four games. Sometimes they go in, and sometimes they don't. For us, it was feeling like it was never going to go in.
I know that we have got good lads in there. You have seen their never-say-die attitude. Everyone gave everything. You saw young Jimmy-Jay Morgan coming on, and he ran himself into the ground. He's making tackles and winning headers. That's all that you can ask of players.
It was pleasing that once we took the lead today, we never looked like surrendering it. I know that they had a few balls in the box, but we dealt with them very easily. It helps us to have a cool head with Glenn [Morris] in goal. That's what I want to take from this game - we found a way to win.
What pleased him about the result...
The pleasing part is that the lads have got the reward for their hard work. When you put something in and you don't see the payoff; you can get disheartened. When you do it again and again and again, and you don't get the payoff, then it gets even worse. The lads are thrilled in there, but they know that there's a hard game coming on Tuesday.
The determination of the players...
[On Robbie McKenzie] - He was a doubt all week. Robbie will run through a brick wall. He carried an injury and has worked through it. As has Litts [Armani Little] and as has Nev [Elliott Nevitt]. There are three players there who I didn't think for one second would declare themselves not fit. All three of them have run themselves into the ground.
That's the type of spirit that we want at Gillingham Football Club, and that is the least that the fans deserve.
Building on the victory...
We have got to hope that is a catalyst. You don't just say 'all right we've won now, we're going to win every game that we play', that is never going to happen. We have now got to up the work rate again, and keep up on the work rate until it's May and then they can put their feet up, go on holiday and have a well earned break.
We have now got to find a way to win again, hopefully we will on Tuesday.
Looking ahead to Newport
The focus then goes onto Newport and preparing our players right and getting ourselves into a position where we can compete. I don't want it to be just one win. It's felt like forever and I don't want that feeling again.
