Whalley relieved to banish penalty woes against Shots

Hatters winger Shaun Whalley was relieved to banish the memories of Southport as he netted from the penalty spot at Aldershot Town on Tuesday night, writes Mike Simmonds.
Shaun Whalley is brought down for Town's penalty on Tuesday nightShaun Whalley is brought down for Town's penalty on Tuesday night
Shaun Whalley is brought down for Town's penalty on Tuesday night

The summer signing had missed his last attempt from 12 yards at his former club on the opening day, with Luton going down to a 1-0 defeat.

But he was the first to grab the ball after being brought down by Lewis Young in the box with 10 minutes remaining, and then coolly beat Nick Pope to earn Town a 3-3 draw.

Whalley said: “I was just delighted to win the penalty and as soon as I won the penalty, I did want to take it.

“I feel like I let the lads down on the first game of the season and let myself down.

“I’ve not really done well since then either which has been disappointing.

“I was thinking about the Southport penalty as I just wanted to get off the mark, erase that from my memory and luckily I did.

“It was a long wait and I know the defenders were trying to put me off a little bit, but I managed to calm my nerves and tucked it away.

“Hopefully now I’ve got that out of the way I can get back to playing as I can.”

On the penalty itself, Shots defender Jake Goodman, who spent time on loan at Hatters last season, said: “I think the referee has been a bit hard on Youngy there.

“From where I was it was never a penalty, but he seemed to be giving everything against us and nothing with us, so it was a bit unfair.”

That’s not how Whalley saw it though as he said: “I’ve knocked it between two defenders and they’ve sort of sandwiched me out of it.

“It all happened quickly, but I don’t know, the referee gave it and I’m glad he gave it.”

Team-mate Andy Parry felt that Whalley had shown great nerve to step up again, particularly after being denied at Haig Avenue.

He said: “I was just hoping he scored it.

“Everyone has confidence in him to go and score because he is the penalty taker.

“He showed good courage because he missed one against Southport on the opening day, so to pick the ball up and do it again is fair play to him.”

Parry was also celebrating his first goal for Town during the evening, prodding home from close range, as he added: “It is always nice to score your first goal even if you don’t know too much about it.

“It just took a little nick off my knee, but they all count.”

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