Howes reflects on shut-out against Wrexham's Mullins and Palmer
Sam Howes attributes the work of the Wealdstone defenders to his man-of-the-match performance as the Stones held Wrexham to well-earned draw at Grosvenor Vale.
The Stones came out of the game with a point and a clean sheet following a 0-0 draw with high-flying Wrexham, a result that leaves the Stones in 14th place on 23 points.
“First 30 minutes I thought we were the better team,” Howes said. “We had some chances that we probably should’ve taken but considering the run that we’ve had in the last 5/6 games, to get a clean sheet against a team that are going to be up there is massive for us.”
Howes delivered a performance that earned him man-of-the-match and a place in the National League team of the week and the Non League Paper's Team of the Day. The highlights of his performance included a point-blank reflex save to keep out Ollie Palmer’s header and an acrobatic save down to his left to deny Elliott Lee.
A debut for Miguel Freckleton saw a new-look defensive line for the Stones, with Charlie Barker partnering the Sheffield United loanee at centre-half, but the adjustments to the Stones back-line had no effect on their performance and saw them take a clean sheet against one of the most clinical forward lines in the National League.
“When the boys are doing a job in front of you, I have to back it up with saves, it’s nice to make the saves and I’m sure I’ll have a little look back at them but that’s my job at the end of the day.”
“I think we went in well prepared, the management team set us up in a way that we can play our own football,” Howes said. “Apart from the two chances where I had to make saves, I don’t think there was a lot else that happened so it shows how well the boys did infront of me.”
Stuart Maynard’s side travel to York on Saturday where they’ll look to build on the last two results and try to get three points on the board against a side that are winless in their last six games.
“If we look at the run we had at the start of the season, we’ve kind of reverted back to doing a bit more of the basics, the nitty-gritty sort of things, so for us, keeping the momentum going (off the back of the last two results) and picking up 3 points away at York next week would be fantastic for us.”
* Pictures by Jon Taffel
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