Howe to score goals

Howe to score goals 

This week, we interviewed the Trinity bagsman, Declan Howe, to get to know him off of the pitch as much as we do on the pitch. Since joining the club in September, Dec has scored a staggering 9 goals in 14 games, so we had to get his views of his goals so far for Gainsborough this season: 

Goal 1 – ‘Matlock- where it all started.. I remember being handed a golden ticket and me taking it haha. Although I’d like to say it was hard work that made that goal.’

 It only took Dec 3 games to find his scoring boots at the club, coming in a brilliant 5-3 home win over Matlock town back in October.

Goal 2 –‘ Warrington - the dink over the keeper in the first half to take the lead, that one felt good.’ The second came in a 1-1 draw at the Kal Group Stadium to put the Blues 1-0 up against a side second in the table, Trinity narrowly missed out on the win after conceding in the dying minutes of the game, but the start of a 4 game scoring streak for Howe!

Goals 3 & 4 – ‘Workington away, our first away win of the season and in style. The first of the game being the one that resulted in me winning goal of the month! The second being a penalty to secure all 3 points and a great journey home.’

His first brace for the club came in a 3-2 away trip against Workington, it started by dancing past defenders and curling one top right to win goal of the month, then winning the game through a penalty. 

Goal 5 – ‘Ashton- another dink over the keeper after a through ball from George, I think the knee slide summed up the energy for this goal haha.’ 

His 5th came against another top side in Ashton United. Howe’s goal put the Blues ahead in the home tie for 10 minutes, before conceding late on in the game. 

Goal 6 – ‘Lancaster- was a bit of frustration here as I won the pen and didn’t take it but seconds later it fell to my feet on the edge of the box and I managed to find the top corner. 1-0 win at home to top it off.’ 

Another home goal for the bagsman, reacting well and scoring a beauty of a goal to help the Blues to a 1-0 win over Lancaster City. 

Goal 7 & 8 – ‘Marske away- first goal was great and I thought we’d kick on from there but the playing field and unfortunate events in the game decided it wasn’t to be - tough one to take that.’ 

After a surprising two games with no goals, Dec bagged his second brace of the season, unfortunately it wasn’t enough as the Blues lost 3-2 in a game to forget. 

Goal 9 – ‘Hyde away, again a tough one as I think we did enough to take all 3 home but in the end it was a valued point. I had another ruled out for offside that game too but after watching it back I wasn’t offside and that would’ve brought it to 3-1 and my 10th of the season. Different game from there.’

The latest goal came in a 2-2 away draw in Hyde, it should have been 2 but one goal was somehow ruled out for offside. It should have been an extra goal for Howe and 3 points for Gainsborough but that’s football for you. 

Howe joined the club in September after a short spell with Ilkeston Town, he previously played for Alfreton Town, Darlington and Cleethorpes Town. Goals have been coming out of his ears throughout his career, shown through his start at Gainsborough. 

The danger man has not missed a game since joining the Holy Blues in September and he has proved to be the main, starting striker in the developing Gainsborough side. This led to me wondering, what his motivation could be…

“Winning and scoring goals, as cheesy as it sounds. There’s no better feeling than winning a game and personally there’s no better feeling than scoring to help us achieve that!” An answer you would expect from a striker and the type of mentality you want from a player on your side, fuelled by goals and they don’t come short for him. 

When asking for the advice that Dec would give to a young striker, he mentioned that it is best to ‘give yourself an opportunity’ and to do this there would be ‘no shame in dropping a league or two to play week in, week out just to put yourself in the shop window’. then he added that ‘game time is valuable’ and that it ‘fuels the passion for the game’. Professional advice coming from our striker, people often try to start at the top and give up when they're not there, but a true professional never gives up and accepts that starting from the bottom is the way to go. 

Achievements are a big motivator in football, they come in all shapes and sizes, Howe’s biggest achievement comes in a much more meaningful shape, “ aside from trophies and grounds played at - I’d say the climb since my return to football. Ultimately I fell out of love with football, hence why I moved to America, upon returning I found my love for the game again and have been doing well ever since, I’d like to think”. In itself, this achievement is much bigger than any trophy could be. to bring yourself back up and work all the way back up shows such a tough mentality, one that makes an amazing player. 

Edging close to starting the New Year with the club, this is how Dec has found life in Gainsborough so far, “to be perfectly honest, I’m loving it. After a rough start to the season I needed to find somewhere to call a home and I have done that now. The club is special to me and have welcomed me with open arms. It’s a great group of lads and Russ is a great manager whom I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play under him”. Here’s to many more games with the club. 

This season has been full of ups and downs, i wanted to know how Dec thinks we will end up at the end of the season, “playoffs are the ambition and I know we’re a good enough side to be in the mix. We’ve had a few setbacks with injuries but a good run of games takes us up the table”. It’s not impossible for the Blues to end up in the play-off places, however, they would need to dig themselves out of the low form they’re in, 14 points from the top 5 with over half the season to go, with the mentality, the Blues can make it. 

When asking Howe about the best player he’s ever played with, he mentioned “Kyle Wootton” as his answer, he says that he was ‘a joy to watch in training’. Wootton has been a star striker in the football league and within non-league clubs for around 10 years and is full of goals, it’s clear to see why he would be the answer to this question for Dec. 

Pressure is a huge thing in football, it effects players massively and I wanted to know how players cope with it on the pitch, this is what Dec had to say, “ just need to be confident enough in your ability and knowing you can perform. Look at the bigger picture”. Mentality is also a very strong thing in football, the way you think is how you will react on the pitch, so to see Howe with such a strong mentality is a very good thing for the club and it gives fans and players confidence in their ability. 

Now to the final question, a question with a surprising answer but one that makes sense for all the right reasons. I wanted to know his inspiration, the player in the footballing world that made him the best he could be, Dec’s answer, “Ashley Jackson. What a happy man he is. Never shy of a laugh around that kid“. Who needs Messi or Ronaldo when you’ve got Ash Jackson. 

And that’s a wrap for the interview with our danger man, Declan Howe. We’ve learnt about his motivation, his inspiration and a little bit about his story back into the footballing world when he fell out of love with the game. 9 goals so far this season and he will definitely be looking at extending his goal tally for the season in the remaining games. A slight goal drought, 3 games without a goal for the striker, coming into the huge game against the high flying Macclesfield, Dec will be looking at finding his shooting boots again to help the team through the tough stages full of injury and get the team back on track.