STAGS ARE COPPIN IT THANKS TO KING NOAH
SALISBURY hot-shot Noah Coppin paid tribute to vanquished opponent Josh Gould after the Whites beat AFC Totton on penalties to earn a berth in National League South.
Gould, 27, started the season with Salisbury before joining Totton in February and the former Swansea keeper was in the thick of the action at the Snows Stadium. Thwarted by Ryan Gosney having bravely stepped up to take the first Stags penalty, he was then beaten by Coppin, Josh Hedges, Sido Jombati and Owen Dore before Tony Lee missed the decisive spot-kick. “I did feel sorry for some of their players,” says Coppin. “I know a couple personally and Josh is a very good mate of mine.
“Taking penalties against one of your best mates is a very weird feeling, especially in such a massive game. I think he tried to predict what I’d do and get in my head by standing on one side of the goal.
“But I don’t mind that – it actually made me more confident for some reason.
“I went straight up to him after the game and we’ve spoken since. Credit to him, he’s one of the best keepers in the league, an unreal player, and a nice bloke as well. “He’s had an unbelievable season for both clubs and I told him that he’s a big part of the reason we got promoted.” Coppin’s nerveless expertise from 12 yards has been critical to Salisbury’s successful playoff campaign.
The Whites’ 26-goal top-scorer netted an injury-time penalty as Brian Dutton’s men came back to win 2-1 against Gosport in the semi-finals, and it was a 78th-minute effort against Totton that took the game to extra-time.
“I had ice in my veins as Brian would say,” he laughs. “We joke about my confidence. Well, he says confidence – I say cockiness. But I always say to the boys ‘Pressure penalties? Give me all of them!’. I just know I’m going to score.
“It’s pure belief. Leave it in the moment. Don’t pick a side. Just trust in yourself that you’ll score and it’ll happen.” Coppin says promotion is Salisbury’s reward for a brutal training regime under ex-Walsall boss Dutton.
“The way we play is the way we train,” says the former Chippenham and Weston-super-Mare forward. “It’s intense, non-stop. I’d say we’re up there with the fittest teams in the league. “We had these things called Terror Tuesdays where we’d get absolutely killed. Constant doggies and stuff like that. But all that hard work paid off. The long journeys and the two-hour trek to training… it’s all worth it now.”
Now National League South awaits and Coppin can’t wait to shoulder the goalscoring burden again.
“I’m buzzing for it,” he adds. “I can’t wait. I played there a little bit in previous years for Chippenham, but never as the focal point of a team the way I am now. I love that pressure. I don’t mind the lads looking at me for goals because I know I’ll get the job done.”