John Goddard was thrilled with how his return to Woking unfolded on Saturday and he’s now set his sights on getting the new season off to a flying start.
The midfielder returned to his old stomping ground last weekend, pitting his wits against a club for whom he made over 100 appearances for.
Coming off the bench in the second-half, Goddard produced a superb performance and got on the scoresheet to round off a good day at the office for Town.
And the 24-year-old was over the moon with the warm reception he received from the Woking fans and a number of friendly faces.
“It was good to come back,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk exclusively.
“A lot of the playing staff has changed, I know a few of the lads, but it is more the people at the club who volunteer and work so hard and do such a good job at Woking.
“It was good to see some friendly faces and they helped me a lot during my time here, so it is always a good place to come back to.
“I always had a good rapport here with the fans and with the people, they enjoyed watching me play and I brought some excitement.
“We had some successful times here and some good sides which I was a part of, so it was nice to get some appreciation from the Woking fans and they are always very flattering and very kind when they speak to me on social media.
“It was nice to get out there in-front of them.”
And Goddard was thrilled to find the back of the net on Saturday, especially given it was at the end where he enjoyed so many special memories in a Woking shirt.
“I’ve scored quite a few goals down that end and it was nice,” he continued.
“It opened up really well and it was a good pass from Luke Norris. I managed to see the goalkeeper go down quite early so I managed to lift it over him and it was important for us because we were a bit flat at times, but we ended the game on a high which was important and we can now take that into the week ahead with the all-important new season kicking off.”
The victory against Woking was the last game of pre-season for the majority of the first-team squad and Goddard felt it was the perfect way to finish ahead of the season opener against Carlisle.
“There were aspects that we were happy with but there were also aspects that we think we can work on and that’s what pre-season is all about,” he added.
“Winning games is a nice feeling and nothing quite beats turning out in-front of packed stadiums in competitive games. It is a big season for the club and we want to start it on the front foot.”
“It is a blend of both of those things and we’ve been working very hard as a defensive unit, so to get a clean sheet was great.
“Woking have had some good results in pre-season so to get a solid 3-0 win is a good afternoon’s work with lots to build on and lots to work on.
“We’ve been gearing up for Carlisle for five or six weeks now and we want to kick-off the season well.
“It is another important week for us. There will be some boys who will be involved at Chippenham that need minutes which is great, and there will be other boys that need to train hard and impress the manager to get in his Starting XI.
“We’ve got a good group here and we need to work together because Carlisle is a tough place to go on the opening day but, by the same token, if we can go and win there then it could really kick-start our season early on.
“We’re very positive and we’ve got a few days yet to get together on the training pitch and improve, so hopefully we can get a good result up there.
“The hard work won’t stop because the season has started, that’s for sure, but it is nice to have that carrot of three points again and any footballer would say that’s what he plays for.
“Winning games is a nice feeling and nothing quite beats turning out in-front of packed stadiums in competitive games.
“It is a big season for the club and we want to start it on the front foot.”
