As a striker, Joe Quigley wants to score goals, but his main priority is being part of a winning team at Bristol Rovers.
The Pirates were searching for a match-winner with the score level in the second half and found one through Quigley, who was introduced by Steve Evans as part of a triple change shortly after the break.
The attacker raced away from his marker to get onto Jack Sparkes' corner before flicking his header across the goal and into the back of the net. His goal came after Brad Young made a top save in the first half, getting down to his right to save Ethan Ennis' penalty.
Speaking after netting his third goal for the Gas, Quigley was delighted with Rovers' over the Cod Army.
Joe, a big win at The Mem here today. How do you reflect on it?
“It was not the prettiest of games. The conditions made it really hard, but it was a fantastic day. I mean, it was a great win. Credit to all supporters as well. It was a really good day out there.”
You weren’t on the pitch for the first half, but it was a massive moment from Brad, wasn’t it?
“It was. A huge moment. You know, he’s got that in him, and I fancied him when we were sat there, I said I reckon he’s going to save this, and he pulled off a good save."
When you came on in the second half, what did Steve have to say?
“Not too much. I know the role in the team, what I’m there for, so it was just go on and do that and try and affect the game positively."
I mean, you did exactly that. When Jack Sparkes puts the cross in, what’s going through your mind?
“That was a big gap in the front post space to be fair, so I thought if I just attacked that, I said to Sparkes. I gave him a little point to the front post, and he put a great ball in, and once I flicked it, I didn’t know what was going on beyond me, and I just looked back, and it was going in. So, it was good.”
Is it about, as a striker, just being in those positions and having a chance at scoring?
“A hundred per cent. I think all strikers want to score. It would be nice to have a lot more goals, but as long as the team is winning, I’m happy.”
You want more goals, but that’s the seventh different scorer in a row. Does it show that there are goals across the team, and it is not down to just one person to score?
“A hundred per cent. I think it helps massively when everyone is chipping in with the goals and then keeping the clean sheets that we are; it gives us a real chance.”
In both halves, it felt like the Rovers team were warriors, battling it out across the pitch, especially in tough conditions.
“I think we defended – especially the back four, back five, and I think in the first half, they defended all game outstandingly. Another clean sheet is nice.”
It's seven wins in eight at The Mem. What is it about this place that sees you get over the line time after time?
“I think you’ve just seen it out there. That’s what it’s like. Especially shooting down that end, the ball gets sucked in by the fans, which is a massive help, and they’ve been absolutely brilliant.”
10,000 tickets redeemed today. Could you believe it when you walked out and saw how many people there were?
“I can believe it to be fair, because they’ve shown up in numbers ever since I’ve been here. So, they’ve been absolutely fantastic and stuck by us, and hopefully it is paying off.”
It’s only a couple of days to rest, recover and go again and hopefully get the same result against Harrogate.
“Exactly. That’s exactly what we’ll do. We’ll get our focus onto Harrogate and go there and try and get another three points.”
