“We well and truly deserved it” - Gloucester City boss Mike Cook on Poole Town thrashing

Gloucester City manager Mike Cook was delighted to be back to winning ways this afternoon, and the Tigers did it in some style against Poole Town.

New signing Stanley Anaebonam opened the scoring in the 22nd minute after latching on to a rebound, before assisting two more to finish as the man of the match on his home debut.

Cook said: “He’s a good player and he’ll score some goals as well. A lot of people are saying we’re screaming out for a centre forward, but what we’re screaming out for is just players who can score goals.

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“We’ve just got to mix it around a bit because Joe Hanks is not going to score every week, he won’t do that in the job we’re asking him to do.”

Another man on the scoresheet for the Tigers was Torquay United loanee Jadyn Crosbie, who bagged himself a brace in City’s dominant display.

The youngster got his first just before half time by tapping in from close range, only one minute after Poole had initially equalised from a corner through Joshua Staunton.

Ed Williams made it 3-1 in the 54th minute before Crosbie rounded off the scoring four minutes later capitalising on a spill from the goalkeeper to finish the game 4-1.

Cook said: “I’m really pleased for him because he’s still learning his trade. He’s got potential, he’s got to fulfil that over the next few seasons, at the moment we’re the vehicle for him.

“I thought his overall game today, with winning his headers, linking up play, scoring goals, he was a threat today.”

This was City’s first win since October 22, claiming three crucial points to stay in the mix for promotion.

After a run of average performances, the Tigers have now scored eight goals in two matches, and are starting to gel together in an everchanging team.

Cook was pleased that his side managed to produce such a dominant display, and get over the line once again.

He said: “It makes a difference when you score goals, doesn’t it? I was worried for 10 minutes because I didn’t want them to do to us what we did to Walton last week.

“We haven’t had 90 minutes where we’ve dominated any game so far this season, maybe that’s a little bit unrealistic for us where we are with the team.

“We’ve brought in six or seven players since the beginning of the season so we’re relatively new to each other, but it’s good to have a strong bench today.”

The Tigers now have a two-week break until their next game at home to Chertsey Town, with time to rest and focus on what’s next.

City find themselves in second place, but have played more games than Merthyr Town above them, and AFC Totton below them, relying on them slipping up.

Cook knows that there is more to focus on than other teams’ results, and made clear how his side are looking.

He said: “We’ve just got to do what we can do; I’m not going to be worried about Totton and Merthyr because I can’t do anything about them.

“When we play against them, we’ll worry about them and we’ll know what they are all about, as they will with us.

“We’ve definitely worried more about ourselves this season than worrying about the opposition all the time, and so far this season, that’s worked really well.”

Gloucester City: Thompson, Leadbitter, Duffus, Richards-Everton, Ball, Hanks (Grubb 64), Williams, Burns (Liggett 95), Smalley (Phillips 64), Crosbie (Robinson 90), Anaebonam (Emmett 73).

Poole Town: Plain, Staunton, Whisken (Hewlett 82), Lowes, De Luca (Holmes 74), Touray, Ramos (Almeida 74), Thomas, Slade, Taylor (Nippard 58), Clarke. Sub not used: Starner-Reid.

Attendance: 903.