Chris Bush notched his second goal of the season in some style this afternoon with a free-kick that left FC Halifax goalkeeper Sam Johnson a reluctant admirer – and the Fleet defender scotched rumours that Myles Weston let him take it.
“Westy will [take credit] but really and truly he knows he was never going to take it,” Bush told BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster. “Westy knows the quality that I possess and I didn’t want him to let himself down taking a free-kick. He’s just come back from international duty, Antigua’s Number 9 and all of that, but when we’re back he knows who the big dog is!”
Fleet fans certainly hadn’t seen that side of Bush’s game before, what with Jack Powell’s penchant for free-kicks, but the former Chelmsford man has fancied taking set pieces before now.
“It’s more about being confident with yourself,” said Bush. “I feel like I’ve had a few I could have taken this year but for whatever reason I’ve not. It’s just knowing that if you want to take it and you’re confident in yourself, the boys will trust you enough. It’s about making sure that whoever’s on the free-kick is doing what they want, that they know they can do. So it’s nice to get one, hopefully I can get more [goals] but I’ve got two now [this season] so I’m happy with that.”
Bush was a contender for man of the match with a goal and a clean sheet, and he even provided the free-kick that kick-started the move for Michael Cheek’s second – which certainly aided Cheek being awarded man of the match instead.
“Sometimes it’s nice to be nice!” Bush joked. “I’m happy for Cheeky. He’s worked hard and he deserves a brace today, he’s done a lot of work today up front with Keds and then when Reise came on. Looking over it, it would be nice to get man of the match but I can be happy getting a clean sheet and a goal.”
A 4-0 win in the National League has been a while in coming but Bush believes such a result was just waiting round the corner after several ‘nearly’ performances.
“I feel not just the home performances but away performances as well, one of those games had been coming,” he said. “I feel like we’ve played really well in games leading up to today, just not really had the lucky bounce. Like we always say, you need one to just go in off someone and that will get the ball rolling and it happened today. Cheeky’s one’s gone in, from my knowledge it’s hit him and gone in and a few boys said it came off his hand but that’s the luck you need sometimes. We haven’t really had the luck needed to go on and win games. We’ve always had that against us, whether it be a ricochet or a mistake, we’ve always been quite unfortunate. But today was our day. We came into it right. The first goal has gone on and given us the platform to build and create more, be more confident in the way we play and what we’re doing.”
The relief and reward of such a win was evident on and off the pitch at the final whistle and Bush was even more delighted as his teammates rose above recent goings-on around the club to maintain their focus.
“It’s massive for the football club,” he said. “It’s taken a toll on us as a team but it was all about the bounce-back and doing what’s right for whoever, for the fans when we’re playing at home, the away fans away from home, to do it for yourself. You’re the only one that can affect what happens on the pitch and everyone here that comes to the games, the manager, whoever it may be. As long as you’re giving yourself the best possible chance for the team to do well, then that’s all you can really ask as a professional. The boys showed that today. With everything that’s gone on, we left that behind the white lines. Everything that was on the pitch today captured what we’re about whether it be clean sheets, good goals, fast pace, action, whether it be resolute defending, it all showed today how well the club is and how well the players that we’ve got here are.
“Once you go through adversity, you can only rely on the person you see every day, whatever industry you’re in. The people that you see every day are your work family and they’re the only people that know what you’re going through so realistically, they’re the ones you’re relying on the most. We all know how hard it is and we all have a common goal and that’s to get three points. If we stick together, we’ve really got a chance come the end of the season. Sometimes it gives you more motivation to do really well, going through adversity.
“We’re sad to see some boys go, you’ve got to keep on going and it’s football. I know the fans love it, but sometimes it’s difficult for the boys playing, they see it from a different side but ultimately you’ve got to keep moving forward. It doesn’t stop, it never does.”
Listen below.
