The main emotion for Bradley Dack was elation, as he scored the winning goal in Gillingham's 1-0 victory over MK Dons on Saturday afternoon.
The goal came during the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time after a well-worked free-kick routine involving Max Clark and Conor Masterson. Dack discussed what went into the making of the set piece and his approach when the ball fell to him.
Dack's goal was his first for the Football Club in eight years. The midfielder spoke about all the emotions he went through after scoring the late winner.
Taite Holtam made his professional and EFL debut for the Football Club in the win. Dack, who also came through the Gillingham Academy, spoke on Holtam's big moment.
On getting the victory...
It's about time. That's my first thought. It's brilliant to get a win. The new manager and the assistant have come in and have been a breath of fresh air. I think they have been first class. We have deserved that over the four or five games that they have been in. We have deserved more from a couple of them, and they deserved that as much as us. As a collective, it's nice to finally get a win.
They will be disappointed that they conceded a 95th minute goal from a set piece, like anyone would. I think that we probably just edged it. I still think there is loads more to come from us quality-wise with the ball. I thought that we were really good without the ball with our pressing and our shape. They didn't have many chances at all. I don't think that Taite [Holtam] really had a shot to save. I probably say that we just edged it and managed to get over the line in the end.
On his goal...
I took the ball because I thought that it was a good angle to kind of shoot from if you could bend one into the back post, but it was a tight angle, and it would have been a worldie to get it in from there. We had a discussion because we knew it was important as it was late in the game, so we had to make it count.
We went through a few things and options, and we decided the best thing was because I had got joy earlier in the free-kicks going towards the front post. Conor [Masterson] had come over and said to get Hawks [Oli Hawkins] to block for his man, and Clarky [Max Clark] has whipped it to the back post, and it has come off.
[Whether he was expecting Conor Masterson to head the ball across the goal] - I was expecting him to head it across. That's what we had planned to do anyway. It worked a treat. I see it come through bodies, and I was going to knee it in, but at the last minute, I stopped myself because I didn't think I was going to get it in with enough power, so I took a touch, and luckily enough, he couldn't get it off the line.
It's an instinct thing. I think I have kind of had that in my whole career, being in the right place at the right time in the box. It's something that I built my career on and something you can't really teach. It's just an instinct, and you see where the ball is going to drop, and it's come off today, which is an amazing feeling.
Emotions on scoring the winner...
It's indescribable. Scoring a goal like that in the last minute is an indescribable feeling. You can't really put it into words. There's nothing else that comes close to it. It's amazing, really. You kind of get lost in the moment. If you could bottle that feeling, you could sell it for a lot of money.
It means an awful lot. It means everything. I came through here from a young age and scored a lot of goals out there, but that one probably means more than all of them.
I guess it's just pure elation and relief. There's a lot of emotions that go into it. The main one is happiness. To score a goal in front of the Rainham End and the club that I came through as a kid is an indescribable feeling. You kind of get lost in the moment, and nothing else matters, and you just want to celebrate with all of your teammates. To hear the roar is incredible.
On Taite Holtam making his debut...
It's brilliant to see a young lad come in and make his debut, and you win the game, and he's a goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet. It's brilliant for him. I thought that he did really well. He looked assured, and his kicking was good. He didn't have much to do, but everything he did, he did well.
We said before the game, let's make sure it's a special day for him more than anyone. You always want to win on your debut. I am really pleased for him.
