Cheltenham Town Assistant Head Coach Aaron Downes acknowledged the growing trend of late goals in their recent matches.
The Robins drew 2-2 in midweek against, high flying Walsall who sit top on League 2, with goals in the 90 and 93rd minute.
The pattern has led Head Coach Michael Flynn to dub it ‘Flynn Time.’
As they prepare to face Grimsby this weekend, the red and white’s are embracing their knack for last-minute drama.
“The timing of that moment in the game. It’s because it’s so late and you’ve got something from almost certain defeat, you come back. That emotion can spill over and the player’s get excited.
“It was a great moment. It was great for the lads to feel that way and have that moment because if you had to score in the 75th minute to go to all, and then drew to all, it It wouldn’t have been as exciting. You get them a few times in a season.
“We’ve had one or two this season when Gaffer’s renamed it ‘Flynn time’, I think instead of Fergie time. But it’s good for the players to experience that and have those moments. It’s good for the football club because it’s almost as one down in that corner when we scored. The fans are there, the players, the stewards, everyone’s mingled in. It gives everybody a little boost and a lift leaving stadium.”
Despite the parallels to Manchester United’s famous ‘Fergie Time,’ Downes emphasised that Cheltenham’s late goals are a testament to the players’ resilience and determination to push through tough matches.
“It was another exciting finish to a game. It’s another 2-0, so it’s a shame we didn’t come back to win, but come back to get points from being 2-0 down. It’s good that we’ve got that resilience.
“We’ve got that never say die attitude and the ability to do that. In an ideal world, we don’t want to be able to 2-0 down at home to have it to come back. So there’s, cliché as it sounds, there’s positives and negatives to be looked at from it. But you can’t fault the spirit of the players. They just keep going. I don’t know when to stop”
Downes emphasised that the Robins are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the league’s top teams.
“Walsall are an unbelievably fit team. A very resilient, organised team, a hard team to play against, a hard team to beat. So to do it against them was really a good accomplishment from the voice, a good achievement.
“So they can take a lot of positivity. And when you’re turning it down and you score 89th and 93rd or whatever it was, it feels like a win. So It gives you that confidence knowing that you can compete with the team that’s at the top of the division.”
With Grimsby up next, can the Robins keep their late-game heroics alive and make a last-ditch push for the playoffs?
“Yeah. Well, We knew that anyways. We’re able to prove that to ourselves against Walsall, but still make no bones about it. We’ve got to go Bradford away. We’ve lost only one this season.
“We’ve got a Grimsby team tomorrow, We’ve won four in a row. We’ve got to go to Wimbledon, a third in division, I think, at the minute. There’s some tough games. It doesn’t mean that we’re anxious or fearing those games, but But on paper, they’re tough games. But we can’t get too carried away.”
Cheltenham Town face Grimsby Town on Saturday 1st March at 3pm.
