Exeter City striker Ryan Bowman praised the work of the defenders as the Grecians beat Mansfield Town 1-0 at St James Park.
Ryan scored after latching onto a Dean Moxey throw-in in the box and sending a first-time shot past Conrad Logan.
However, against the likes of Danny Rose, Nicky Maynard and CJ Hamilton, it was perhaps the City defence that impressed the most as they reduced the visitors to no shots on target throughout the match.
“I thought we were very good, very solid,” said Ryan. “The five boys at the back were magnificent all the way through the game. I can’t remember them (Mansfield) having a shot on target and with the talent they have got in their team that is a credit to us boys. I felt we were fantastic for the 90 minutes and we deserved the three points.”
Speaking about his goal, Ryan added: “To be fair we work on that quite a lot. When it goes out for a throw-in and the opposition are not quite set.
“Deano (Dean Moxey) or Sweeney (Pierce Sweeney) whoever it is will look for the quick one in behind because, obviously, there are no offsides from a throw-in. The space was there between (Krystian) Pearce and the other centre-half, I got clear and got the shot away and thankfully it went into the back of the net.”
Ryan could have also had a second just before half-time as he sent a header crashing off the inside off the post from a corner.
“We work a lot on set-pieces, day in, day out on the training ground,” he said. “It would have been nice to score from one today, but I got into the space and when I saw it had hit the post I was bitterly disappointed but we managed to get the win and that was the main thing.”
Ryan was also involved in another major incident near the end of the game as Ryan Sweeney was sent-off for elbowing him. "To be fair a bit of pushing but then he has caught me with an elbow right in the midrift," said Ryan. "It was one of those where I was not expecting it and it took the wind out of me. I didn’t he had got sent-off until I got up but you can’t give the referee a chance to send you off by doing that. He can have no complaints.”