Youngster struck a thunderbolt into the top corner
Declan McManus was delighted to net his first goal in English football on his debut for Town against Southend United this afternoon.The Scottish Under 21 striker struck a thunderbolt past Dan Bentley from 25 yards which flew into the top corner just after the half hour mark.
He could have added a second for the Cod Army just after the interval, but saw his strike from close range cannon back off the post.
Substitute Dave Worrall scored a late equaliser for the Shrimpers, as he lofted the ball beyond keeper Chris Maxwell to earn his side a point.
McManus said: “On a personal note it was an unbelievable feeling to score a goal like that on my debut.
“I felt we definitely did enough for the three points and the lads are gutted that we never managed to.
“A point is a positive on the first day so we’ll look at it like that.
“I was unlucky not to get a second just after half time, but we had other chances which we should have taken.
“If we’d done so then we possible could have put the game out of sight.
“We dominated large parts of the game and probably should have taken three points, but there’s only positives to take from today.
“I’m only 21 myself and we’ve got a number of other youngsters too, so it’s a young squad and we’re starting to prove everybody who has ever doubted us.
“We are good enough to play at this level and that we can go on and have a good season.”