Centre back Dom Hyam was delighted with his side’s performance in Coventry City’s 1-0 victory over Gillingham yesterday.
The 23-year-old, who scored the only goal of the game, said that ‘you couldn’t write it better’ after scoring a goal and keeping a clean sheet in the ‘hard-fought’ victory.
“They pushed in the second half”, he said. “They came out flying and we had to deal with everything they threw at us, but we dealt with it very well.”
Temperatures soared to 28 degrees at St Andrews today, with water breaks midway through the first and second half. Hyam believes that the Sky Blues were unaffected by the heat, saying “Every game is the same. Regardless of the conditions, we want to win and put out a game plan to win.”
Hyam’s 26th minute goal was the eventual winner; even though Dom himself admitted it wasn’t the most beautiful finish.
“It was probably my best ever tackle!”, he joked. “It’s my second for the club and hopefully I can get a few more this season.”
The goal came from an excellent Zain Westbrooke corner, which fooled the Gillingham goalkeeper and found its way to the goalscorer. Hyam highlighted the need for City to be a ‘problem from set-pieces’. “It’s one way to score goals; we might as well try and make the most of that when we can.”
After an injury setback, last season’s Player of the Year has had to wait for his chance after an excellent start from new signings Michael Rose and Kyle McFazdean.
“It’s down to me to keep hold of that place, to keep the performances up and keep hold of the jersey.”
“It was tough (to be out of the side). I had a quad strain so that set me back a few weeks during preseason, so I only had half a preseason whilst the rest had a whole one.
“I was always playing catch up. It’s important to take my opportunity when I get it, and I like to think today I have.”
Coventry had kept three clean sheets this season out of four with a back line pairing of McFazdean and Rose, and Hyam is aware of the new competition. He said, “They are both very good technically, but also aren’t afraid to put their bodies on the line.
“I like working with Rosey (Michael Rose) and Fadz (Kyle McFazdean) and it’s all about building partnerships.
“The whole time I’ve been here we’ve had really good competition for centre backs, so when you get the jersey you want to keep hold of it.”
The Sky Blues have looked solid in the first few weeks, with new recruits Marko Marosi and Fankaty Dabo linking up with Brandon Mason to complete the back five.
“We have worked on trying to build from the back.” Hyam said. “If we keep a zero, we’re at least drawing the game - it’s something we want to improve on.”