Lakyle Samuel lying if he meant to score winning goal – Exeter boss Matt Taylor
It was 20-year-old Samuel’s first strike in professional football.
Exeter manager Matt Taylor hailed Manchester City loanee and man of the match Lakyle Samuel as his stunning strike earned his side a 1-0 win over Cheltenham in Sky Bet League Two.
It was 20-year-old Samuel’s first goal in professional football as he picked up a pass from Harry Kite out on the right touchline before his first-time effort swerved over the head of Robins goalkeeper Wyll Stanway and dropped into the net for the only goal of an even contest.
Whether it was deliberate or not only Samuel will know, but Taylor said: “If Lakyle says he meant it then he is lying!
“It was a mishit cross, but the way Lakyle has been performing – for a consistent period of time now – he deserves it because day in, day out, he has been excellent for us and I am so pleased for him that he was man of the match.
“I am delighted with the result. We weren’t at our fluid best, but we have had a really positive eight-game run now and we have probably played better in all those games than we did today. But we dug deep, I want to be talking about how fluid we were, but we showed great character and a will to win.
“We rode our luck at times, Cheltenham are a very good team, but that sometimes happens and to win ugly when we are not at our best is the sign of a good team. But in saying that, there hasn’t been a bombardment and Jack (Bycroft) hasn’t had to make save after save after save.
“We are moving in the right direction and let’s enjoy the ride that we are on at the moment.”
Cheltenham manager Steve Cotterill felt his side deserved more from the game, saying: “We were the better team once again and it’s a fluke goal. There is no way he is trying to shoot from out there.
“If he is, he shouldn’t be playing in League Two.
“We hit the post, it doesn’t go in. Charlie (McCann) can do that though – we just didn’t get that little bit of luck today.
“The first half is always going to be nip and tuck, until you can find better ways in and better ways to keep the ball. We found that out, got the message over to the boys at half-time and we were easily the better side in the second half.
“Sometimes, you don’t get those moments. The ball didn’t quite sit down for us when we worked an opportunity in the box, that happens, and Charlie hits the post, so we had a couple of moments today where we didn’t have that bit of luck.
“I don’t think there was a lot missing from our performance today.”