Cardinale Stadium; Seaside, California
Saturday, September 3, 2022
Sporting Director & Head Coach Frank Yallop
On Antony Siaha’s performance:
“He’s done really well, another great performance by him. We were playing against a really good team in San Diego. He made the saves when we needed him to make them. It was a bit of a springboard for us to go and get a good home win.”
On the match:
“Everyone did their part. Collectively I think we rode the storm a little bit. They had some really good chances against us. Again, they are a good side. They are going to have chances. They are one of the highest scoring teams in the league if I’m not mistaken. So for us to keep them to one goal was great. Our response to everything that happened in the game was great. I think we thoroughly deserved the win. Moon took his goal really well, it was a good finish. But we kept fighting, got back into the game and then at 1-1 at halftime, I felt that we still had a chance to go on and win the game and we did.”
On the importance of the result:
“I never get too high or too low as a coach. I did put the table up on the board before the game to show them that we are still in the hunt to make the playoffs. It was at least a visual way to show them that we have a chance to jump up points-wise tonight. And then going forward we play against a lot of the teams we’re fighting against, so we still have a chance. We have a big game Wednesday night now, I’m looking forward to that.”
Midfielder Mobi Fehr
On the result:
“At the end of the day it was definitely team spirit. We all believed that we could win and at the end, we did 3-1. We’re happy with three points.”
On the key to the match:
“The key was definitely to equalize, I think. We went down 1-0 in the first half, in the first 20 minutes. So, the key was to get an equalizer in the first half, and we were able to do that. That kind of got the wave going back in our favor heading into the second half. So, it was big to tie it up before the half for sure.”
On Antony Siaha’s performance:
“As you can tell, Antony [Siaha] is a big big presence in the back. He was hyped for the game because it was against his old team San Diego. It’s big time having him in goal for sure.”
On the insurance goal in the second half:
“Our goal is to score more than one goal and win. In our past home games, it feels like we’ve only been winning one nil. So, our goal is to pounce on teams. Get that second goal, third goal. We definitely had to go for that third goal today.”
On the game plan:
“They were pressing with a high press, so our game plan was to launch it long, get the second ball and then start the attack in their half. The game plan worked out very well.”
Forward Sam Gleadle
On his brace:
“Early on I felt there was space in behind, I made runs and didn’t get the ball. Then obviously Kai [Greene] played a great ball over top and in my head, I just focused on getting a good first touch, I put my head down and put the ball on frame. I’m very happy with that one. The second one, Adrian [Rebollar] did well to keep the ball and drive it into space. Then Arun [Basuljevic] was unlucky to not get a shot off, but it just happened to pop out and I was there.”
On the third goal:
“I think in past games, we’ve held on to one goal leads, but it’s been a bit stressful. So, I think getting that two-goal buffer definitely helped us mentally. But we’re a compact group, so even with two I think we would’ve come out with all three points. The third one definitely added a level of comfort for us though.”
On coming from behind to win:
“Even before their goal we had a lot of half-chances, we were pretty much on the front foot from the first whistle. I thought we started off well. Credit to the whole team because it’s easy to put your heads down when you go down a goal, but we didn’t do that. Once we got that goal back, it was like OK, we’re even again, let’s keep doing what we were doing, believe in ourselves and go get the winning goal.”
On the short week with a match on Wednesday:
“As players we love it. More games, less training, it’s definitely my favorite at least. Just have to do what we can in the training room and whatever else players like to do in their routines to get their bodies right. We’ll be ready.”
Goalkeeper Antony Siaha
On his saves:
‘The first half was crazy. When it was coming to me I just knew that I had to be set with my feet, be ready for the shot, and not dive too early, and that’s what I did. Then at the last second, my hand touched it.”
On his performance:
“Everyone has a job and that’s my job. My teammates did their job, and I did my job. And doing that hopefully helped give them the motivation to put some goals in.”
On the crowd:
‘Man, the crowd out here is amazing. The love out here is unbelievable. I am speechless about them man.”
On interacting with the fans after the match:
“I like to show love back, they show a lot of love, so I like to show it back. They are a motivation. It’s great to have them, and it gets us hyped more. The fans are great.”
On his mindset coming into the match:
“We knew we had to get this one. We knew it. We knew it was going to be a tough game like last time, and we also knew we were going to get our chances. Especially in the first half, and then the second half there. We just had to finish our chances. We knew we could get them, so that’s what we did.”
