Veteran Stags’ frontman Darius Henderson was pleased to see his hard work start to pay off after scoring his first goal for the club in today’s 3-1 victory over Notts County.
The 35-year-old replaced fellow forward Pat Hoban in the 84th-minute and scored with a left-footed effort in the final minute of stoppage time to cap off a fine Stags’ performance.
While sharing his excitement after the last-gasp victory, he said he wants to build on his maiden goal for the club after working hard to get to this point.
“It was a fantastic game really, to win. You could see everyone’s reactions at the end, how much it meant, I’m just pleased to be a part of it,” Henderson said.
“I am 35 now, and it means everything to me, to still be contributing and scoring goals, and I am hoping that’s the first of many.
“I have been working hard to get to today, and it certainly paid off, and it’s something that I am not going to rely on. I am going to continue to work hard and everyone here knows that there’s healthy competition for places, and we are pushing each other.”
The former Sheffield United and Watford striker said the credit of winning this high-profile fixture goes down to the whole team, even though Henderson and fellow substitute Matt Green came off the bench to score the decisive goals.
“Today, we were resilient, we were running right to the end, and it paid off for us. I think the lads who put in the shift early on and came off, I don’t think you can forget those boys, because they worked tirelessly for the team.
“It just so happens that the couple of subs who have come on today and stole the limelight, but everyone’s very important here. Everyone’s here to play a part, and when called upon, we have to do it.
“There’s fine lines in football, as you know. We’ve managed to squeeze it over the line and we’re delighted every time we win.”
The Stags next face Wycombe Wanderers next Saturday and Henderson is keen to take encouragement from today’s result.
“Every game’s important and that’s what we are trying to do; to find consistency, push one another, and raise standards; and I think from the start of the season, we have done that and we’ll continue in all the way.”
Supporters can now view Darius Henderson’s post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD.
