Leading by two goals to nil with the clock winding down, Luca Hoole – amid perhaps his best performance for Bristol Rovers this season – was still switched on at the Kassam Stadium.
Fifteen minutes remained against Oxford United when the defender spotted something and passed it onto Antony Evans, who had not long been brought on as a substitute but had assumed set-piece duties. It would pay off in style, crowing Rovers' performance with a third goal and one of the best moments in the 20-year-old's young career so far.
"I felt myself unmarked in the box and I thought ‘Well, I’m going to have to score from here otherwise I’m getting caned in analysis’," Hoole revealed. "I was like ‘Evo, please whip in a good ball’, and he did and luckily, I scored, so I’m happy with that.
"The last corner before that, I was unmarked and Evo whipped it in and I ran the opposite way. The next corner, I told him to put it front stick because they were not marking me. I said ‘I’ll run in there and hopefully make something happen'.
"Evo had pinpoint accuracy right onto my head. Apparently, I was quite high off the ground. It didn’t feel like it, but I’m glad it went in.
"It was perfect. I headed it and I didn’t even look, I looked at the fans and they all went up so I was like ‘Oh, it’s in then’. I started running over and, from being here since I was so young, it was a great feeling. I don’t think there is a feeling like it, especially in a moment like that when the fans are all sitting there (in that corner of the ground). It’s something I can’t describe."
It was a special moment for Hoole, not only to score but to be so assured on the right of a back four as he staked a claim for a regular starting spot after being on the bench for the past four games in a season when he has bounced around multiple positions in 26 league appearances.
Goals had been a bit of a sore subject for the Newport native. After this one on Saturday, he has between one and three league goals – plus another in the EFL Trophy – to his name, depending on who you ask. His first came against Exeter City almost 12 months ago in the League Two promotion run, although closer inspection suggests it was probably an own goal off the keeper. Then against Cambridge United this season, Hoole leapt high in the box, just like he did to score on Saturday and headed the ball into the mix, only for it to go in off a defender and go down as an own goal.
The result has been some good-natured banter from his teammates, but no one can take Saturday's one away from him. But Hoole is a defender first and true to his craft, he was happier about the defensive shutout as Rovers ended a seven-game winless run.
"People have been giving me a bit of stick and no respect for the other goals, but if I’m honest with myself it probably is my first," he laughed. "We’re not taking deflections.
"But if anything, I’m happier with a clean sheet because people don’t judge us on how many goals we score, they judge us on how many we keep out, so the clean sheet was more important for me. The goal was a nice cherry on the cake, but the clean sheet is most important."
With the Gas up to 13th in the League One table after Saturday's results, Hoole – who has been with Rovers since the age of 12 – insists they will not get carried away after their first win in the best part of two months, although there may be a bit more energy about The Quarters as they prepare to host Barnsley at the Mem on Saturday.
"The gaffer always says don’t get too high with the highs and don’t get too low with the lows, just try to find the level medium.," Hoole said. "Obviously, we will have a bit more of a spring in our step coming into training, but we’re not too high now and all the focus is on the next game.
"Our standards are so high and the gaffer and the coaching staff will never let them slip. The blip, nobody wants it, but maybe we were a bit harsh on ourselves, but with a spring back in our step we get back to the Mem on Saturday and, hopefully, another three points."
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