Midfielder speaks of delight at first appearance for the Grecians
Tom McCready was pleased to have made his maiden appearance for Exeter City, appearing from the bench for the final 10 minutes in a 3-2 win against AFC Wimbledon.The midfielder signed for the Grecians six weeks ago after spending some time training at the Cat & Fiddle. Previously this season he had featured for Morecambe, where he was on non-contract terms.
And after two months without a competitive appearance, McCready was finally pleased to be back amongst it.
“I was made up make my debut,” reflected Tom after the game. “I felt like it has been a while coming so I was made up to come on, and the win topped it all off.
“My last game [for Morecambe] was at home against Tranmere, so that was at the start of January. So it’s been a while.
“I had two reserve games in the last few weeks to keep my fitness up so I’m feeling good to be fair.
“You can only train so much so it is important to get games in. Midweek [for the reserves against Bath City] was good and obviously to keep progressing today was even better.”
The 23-year-old showed willingness to get the ball down and play, and showed glimpses of his potential during his short time on the pitch.
And he was pleased – one loose cross excepted – with his own performance against the Dons, and that he seems to be fitting in well in his new surroundings.
“It bobbled on my cross by the way, in case anyone mentions!” laughed Tom.
“I like to get on the ball and I’ll keep playing how I play, and hopefully that fit into what we’re trying to do here.
“I’ve said before that it was going to take a while to bed in and I’ve needed to bide my time.
“But the fact that he has put me on today means that I’m going in the right direction and that I’m fitting in with the philosophy here, so that’s a good sign.
“Everything about why I wanted to come to this club has been proven during my short time here so far. So I just want to keep going – I don’t want to stop here, I want to keep progressing.”
After trailing to an early rocket from Adebayo Akinfenwa, City turned it around after the break through two goals from Tom Nichols and one for David Wheeler.
City were helped by the first-half dismissal of Dannie Bulman – who lunged wildly on Connor Riley-Lowe – and they were also made to sweat out the final minutes after goalkeeper James Hamon inadvertently turned into his own net to reduce the arrears two minutes from time.
However McCready felt that the win was perfectly deserved from the kind of display that Exeter put in.
“We battered them to be honest – even with 11 men I thought we started really well,” he continued. “It was a good finish from [Akinfenwa], there’s no doubt about that – but we limited them to very few chances and we were very good with the ball.
“That kept going into the second half – obviously it was a bit edgy towards the last ten minutes, but it is bound to be like that. Overall it was a good performance, so onto Tuesday [against Stevenage].
“At three-one you feel comfortable, and at three-two it’s edge-of-your-seat stuff. That’s football and I’m sure it’ll happen again from now until the end of the season.
“The performances are the main thing and I think if we keep playing like that we’ll win more than we lose.”
With Stevenage the next visitors at St James Park on Tuesday, it provides a quick opportunity for Exeter to keep the momentum building and the potential to register a third straight win.
“It’s football – anything can happen. I know it’s a cliché, but it really can,” Tom said.
“A week ago, everything seemed doom and gloom – speaking to fans, everyone thought we weren’t getting into the play-offs.
“Now after two wins, everyone is optimistic. We need to keep going, take it a game at a time and try to keep getting points on the board. Who knows – why not?”