Recently, Steve Jones’ mind has been on more important things than football after his wife gave birth prematurely. Happily, things are going well on the home front, and to illustrate that he put on a superb display at the weekend as his two-goal blast spurred Crewe to their first win of the campaign, 4-2 at Derby County. After the game Steve spoke to Brian Beard.
Q:A GREAT PERFORMANCE ON THE DAY FROM CREWE AND YOU DIDN`T DO TOO BADLY YOURSELF?
A:Yes it has been a good day and, personally, I am delighted – especially after the trauma of the past three months. It was nice to get a start and repay the manager with some goals and a win. It was nice to get our first win and it was nice that we played so well as a team to do it.
Q:YOU STUMBLED WHEN THE PASS CAME TO YOU FOR THE FIRST GOAL BUT YOU STILL MANAGED TO GET YOUR SHOT IN AND SCORE?
A:I slipped a bit but the defender never closed me down so I thought I would try and bend it and luckily for me it went in.
Q:AFTER GOING 2-0 UP DERBY CAME BACK. WAS THAT WORRYING?
A:Yes, because we knew that they are a good side at home and when they went and levelled at 2-2 we thought they might go on to win it. But credit to our lads as they continued to play well and got the deserved win in the end.
Q:YOU SEEMED TO HAVE THE MEASURE OF THE DERBY DEFENCE AND EXPLOITED IT TO THE FULL ALL AFTERNOON?
A:Pace is one of my main assets and I try to utilise that as much as possible, whenever I can, and it worked to my advantage on the day.
Q:EVERYONE MUST HAVE BEEN RUBBING THEIR EYES WHEN THEY SAW MARK RIVERS HITTING A 70-YARD PASS, FROM RIGHT BACK, FOR THE FOURTH GOAL?
A:I didn’t think the ball was going to reach me to be honest because I was thinking ‘what’s he doing?’ but, to be fair, it was a great ball and it made it easy for me to latch on to it and put it away.
Q:IT WAS IMPORTANT TO GET THAT FIRST WIN BECAUSE IT’S SOME TIME BEFORE THE NEXT GAME?
A:That’s right, we have no game for a couple of weeks although I am due to fly out for international duty with Northern Ireland. We have a couple of big games coming up so it’s a hectic schedule for me – but an enjoyable one.
Q:ON A PERSONAL NOTE, YOU MUST BE SO DELIGHTED THAT THINGS ARE LOOKING BETTER FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AFTER A DIFFICULT TIME?
A:It’s getting there. There’s light at the end of the tunnel which is good so fingers crossed.
