Ethan Coleman scored his first goal for the Football Club in Tuesday's Carabao Cup defeat to AFC Wimbledon, but the midfielder is hoping to contribute more going forwards.
Antwoine Hackford opened the scoring during the first half, but with six minutes remaining, Coleman levelled the tie when he headed Max Clark’s corner into the bottom corner. His goal sent the tie to a penalty shootout, which the Gills lost 4-2.
Coleman was pleased to get off the mark for the club and is hoping that the goal can be the catalyst for him to chip in with a few more in the future.
Robbie McKenzie hit the crossbar a couple of minutes later, nearly completing the turnaround. Coleman believes that Gillingham had the better of the play and opportunities during the second half.
The midfielder also discussed taking your chance when being part of a small squad and life working with manager Gareth Ainsworth.
His goal…
Clarky [Max Clark] whipped it in, and before the corner came, in we stayed around the six-yard area, and we wanted to make it a massive scrap. I got up between two defenders and nodded it down. I am very pleased.
It’s very pleasing. It’s my first Gills goal. Finally, it came. It took too long to be honest.
The feeling of scoring a goal…
It’s even better when you don’t get a lot. It is a great feeling, scoring a goal in front of a crowd. Dacky scores a few goals, and I don’t, but I’m trying! It’s a good feeling. You don’t really know what to do with yourself sometimes.
I would like to chip in. I used to score a few goals when I was coming up in the youth, just chipping in. It’s finding things that I know I can do. I just need to show it a bit more.
Robbie McKenzie hitting the crossbar soon after…
I think that it was Josh Andrews who muddled it, and Rob got on the end of it, which Rob does quite a lot. We had the better chances in the second half, I think, and were more dominant. We could have come out with the result. It’s disappointing that it hit that side of the bar; it could have hit the underside and just dropped in.
Being part of a small squad and taking your chance…
As a player, you have got to sit back and be a cheerleader for the boys that are playing at the time. When you come on and get your chance, then you can really try and put your foot down. If you start a game in the cup or you come on as a sub, then that’s what you have got to do. As much as you don’t want to be sat on the bench as a player, you just want to show what you can do when you get the chance.
Working with Gareth Ainsworth…
We showed the manager what he wanted. He wants that hard work and emptying the tank, showing what you can do as a team and showing what you can do as individuals.
We take the positives and move on. The Gaffer is always a positive manager, and we respond to that. It’s good for us, and it’s good for us as players. We know ourselves if we’ve done something wrong, so it’s good.
