James Brophy was delighted that Gillingham could round off a stretch of three games in seven days with a win, as they won 4-1 at Rochdale on Saturday.
The 32-year-old scored two stunning goals, with one in each half. His second goal was a fantastic solo effort, with Brophy running half the length of the pitch before slotting the ball into the back of the net with his right foot. He discussed what was going through his mind as he continued to progress further up the pitch.
Brophy's second goal was celebrated by all 11 Gillingham players on the pitch, as Ollie Wright even made his way into the Rochdale half to join in the moment. Brophy touched upon how important the unity the squad has already built is, and that he hopes it can continue to grow as the season develops.
The attacking-minded player has been utilised primarily in a role behind the striker so far in his early Gills career, but Brophy played the second-half at left wing-back at Rochdale. The 32-year-old says he is happy to play anywhere, knowing that he will always give his all.
Capping off a busy week with a win...
I am really pleased. I think that we have had a long week with three games in a week, two away. This was the one that we looked at, especially following Saturday and Tuesday, where we wanted to kick on and make it a good week. I think that win and the four goals; we can look at it as a good week all round.
His two goals...
[The first] - I would like to think that I have scored a couple of them. That is more my favoured one. Being on the right, cut in, and it opens up.
That is the one as a player that you like to practice most in training, and then you very rarely get as many of them in the game as you'd like. That's the one that is probably a bit more practised.
[The second] - I think I used Ro [Ronan Hale] as a dummy; I hope that he doesn't mind that! Then I thought to pass it, as that is what I would normally do, but then it just kind of opened up. I think that it parted ways for me a bit, so I thought that I would just run as far as I can, and then I looked up, and I think that I was about six yards from goal. I thought that I'd better shoot. It was really nice. A bit fortunate, but I am really happy with it.
Unity of the group...
It just shows the unity that we have. We are a really new group. We have had a high turnover with a lot of new players, but us celebrating together shows the kind of the bond that we have managed to create in a short time. Hopefully, we can continue that for the season.
His role and the team and willingness to be versatile...
Playing centrally, I really enjoy because I think you feel like you are really involved in the game. On the wings, it becomes predominantly more of a one-v-one game, and you need your team to kind of help you get into the game sometimes.
I think that centrally it is more chaos, but you definitely feel like you are in the main flux of the game. I enjoy different parts of different positions, so wherever I am asked to go, I just do the best that I can.
