Town’s Addai delighted to get on the scoresheet

CHELTENHAM Town’s Alex Addai says he was delighted to score in Tuesday’s Emirates FA Cup first round replay win over Ebbsfleet United at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium and to help the club through to the second round of the competition.

The speedy attacker was introduced as a second half substitute and played a part in Tyrone Barnett’s opener and then fired in his own goal in stoppage time to seal a 2-0 victory.

He moved to the Jonny-Rocks Stadium in May from Bostik Premier Division side Merstham and Tues- day’s goal was his first as a professional. After the game he said: “The gaffer always says come on and do your bit and I just wanted to help the boys get through to the next round, and I thought we deserved it.

“It’s my first goal as a pro and I’m absolutely delighted. I couldn’t believe when it dropped to me but I’ll take those all day.

“It’s not been easy but that’s the life of a footballer - it’s never easy. I’ve been in non-league for four years, the dream wasn’t to go into non-league, it was to be a professional, and it’s been a learning curve.

“Every day I’ve learnt a lot about myself. It takes so much more than just talent - there are so many things that come with it so I’m grateful.”

The win leaves Cheltenham it six games unbeaten in all competitions and registered a fourth successive clean sheet and manager Michael Duff was delighted with Addai’s impact.

Speaking to the press after the match he said he was pleased to see his charges break down a team who have been tight at the back of late.

“I thought in the first half we moved the ball really well,” he said. “We were a little bit slow at times and didn’t play forward enough, but I thought we totally dominated the ball and in the second half we had to dig it out.

“They’re a big team and they’ve not conceded for five hours. They get their back four nice and narrow and they’ve got some big lads - they almost allow you to cross it because they are so big at the back.It’s always good to win games. We don’t think we’ve arrived and we still are where we are in the league. They are two tough games coming up, there’s no mistake about that.”