Ford full of praise for Puritans' opening day display
A solitary goal from Ricky Johnson earned the Puritans a 1-0 victory at Basingstoke in Saturday’s premier division clash.
Ford said: “The way we played was the way we intend to play all season.
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Hide Ad“We knew Basingstoke were a team who were confident in possession but I didn’t want us to get too excited about trying to win the ball high up the pitch. I still wanted us to win the ball but not at the risk of losing it.
“It was an outstanding effort by my players, they sacrifice a lot to play for this football club. That result will give everyone huge encouragement for the rest of the season.
“We’ve come to a team who are tipped to win the league and got three points.
“It was a difficult team selection because I looked at the bench and all five substitutes warranted a place in the starting line-up. But the ones that started just gave us a bit more, like Mark Bell with his experience over Darius Browne, while Ricky Johnson and Mark Janes were a handful up front.”