Winger Paddy Lane topped off his week by coming off the bench and scoring his first goal for the club in Fleetwood Town’s draw against Cambridge United on Saturday afternoon.
Lane – who came off the bench to replace Max Clark just before the hour mark – made his mark on the game as troubled both full-backs, playing on both wings, and eventually cutting in from the right and striking the ball between the goalkeeper and the crossbar to level the game up late on.
Here's what Paddy had to say after the game:
On his goal…
“In the last three weeks, I’ve come off the bench three times and been doing alright. Last week I got an assist and this week, to be honest, I can’t really remember the goal, but the bit I’m more bothered about is I think in my opinion we could’ve got the three points.
"That’s what we need to start doing - we’re getting these good results away from home and I think we need to start turning them into wins but it’s a day I’ll never forget for sure.
“It's about playing for the team more than for myself but doing that (scoring a wonder goal) obviously does me no harm and it’s great to score that goal but it’s two points dropped on the day. I remember the gaffer pulling me over to the right-hand side and I quite like it there, cutting inside.
"So I’ve just got the ball, I’ve cut in, he’s given me the inside and I’ve hit it and the next minute I know I turn round and I just see our bench going crazy.
“Me and Cricky [Chris Conn-Clarke] are like best mates since I’ve been at the club. We’re so close and it’s one of those where I’ve scored and at that moment I’ve thought Cricky is on as well here, ‘where’s Cricky?’. I’ve been looking around for him. It’s brilliant for him, I see him every day in training and I know what a good player he is.”
On his experience in non-league…
“It's more of a common story nowadays, lads coming through non-league than it was when the likes of Jamie Vardy did. I can’t speak highly enough of non-league. It made me the player I am and it gave me the confidence to get on the ball in situations, I’m not going to shy away from it.
“I’ve come to Fleetwood and the environment is unbelievable. The lads are brilliant, every staff member is unreal, and I’ve just come in, felt really at home and since I’ve been coming on in games the fans have taken me in and Northern Ireland was just the Cherry on top really.
“There are too many players in non-league) that haven’t been discovered yet. I’ll fly the non-league flag as long I need to because it’s been great for me and it’s been great for every single player that has come through like Michael Antonio, Ben Godfrey, Jamie Vardy. It’s a different pathway now and a lot of lads are coming through that way.”