Following his match-winning contribution against rivals Grimsby Town on Saturday, goalscorer Kevin van Veen spoke to iFollow Iron post-match at Blundell Park.
Summing up the feeling, the striker said “it was amazing for us” although he admitted it wasn’t a vintage display from the Iron.
“I don’t think it was our best performance, but to win away in a derby 1-0 is an amazing feeling, and I’m very proud of everyone that we got the three points, and kept the unbeaten run (in the league since October 19th) going.”
The Dutchman knows how important the win was, adding: “If you go away from home, win 1-0 and get the three points, people always say ‘that’s the perfect away performance’ but a team like us can play a lot better on these occasions.
“If we played with the ball on the floor and passed it a bit quicker, we could’ve won the game two or three nil. Thankfully we hung on defensively, they did have a dangerous shot at the end, but we were quite solid, and it’s an amazing win for our fans.”
After a difficult start to the season for the club, the Iron have since produced somewhat of a revival, propelling themselves up to 12th in the Sky Bet League Two table, and the striker is happy with how they’ve managed to turn it around, but says there is still plenty of hard work ahead.
He said: “Today, it was good graft, and obviously I scored myself, but we’ve got a lot of quality in the team. There’s a lot of players who can score a goal like I did. In the end, we were solid, and it’s a massive improvement since the start of the season.”
Van Veen’s goal ended an excellent counter-attack by the Iron, after Jamie Ward’s marauding run and through ball, and the former explained how he used his instinct to make sure the Iron opened the scoring.
He said: “I was already lurking around. I knew when play came (up the pitch), I had the instinct to have a chance of scoring. Wardy, who's played at a very high level saw me on the left, and he played a great pass towards me.
“As soon as I took a touch, I knew it was going in because I don’t miss those chances. I went crazy, all those fans were giving me stick all game, so it was nice to give it back, which they didn’t take well. I celebrated with our fans too because I know big that was for them, I hope they have a few beers to celebrate tonight.”
Van Veen lauded the fans who made the trip to Grimsby, as the Iron travellers – who were in fine voice throughout the 90 minutes - sold out the away end.
He said: “It (the support) was everything. I think we are made for these occasions and love them, but for me it brings something extra up, if you score in a derby like today, there’s so much emotion. Obviously when they (the opponents) go forward you’re shaky because you don’t want them to score.”
“It was amazing from the fans who turned out, I think if we had more seats, we’d have brought even more. Next time we play Grimsby we need to make sure our stadium is packed!”
The games are coming thick and fast now for the Iron, as they head into the busy festive period, and van Veen acknowledges the importance of having a squad that’s as fit as possible.
He said: “It’s going to be tough. There’s a lot of games one after another, as you’ve seen today, Abo Eisa and Jordan Clarke missed out through injury, and Lundy (Matthew Lund) with a suspension, so we’re missing a few here and there, but we need the full squad really.
“If we can keep maintaining those performances and fighting for each other, this season is far from over.”
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