Nathan Delfouneso was thrilled to open his account for Town after finding the target during the 2-1 victory over Chelsea’s Development Side on Tuesday evening.
The Robins opened their Checkatrade Trophy Southern Group C campaign in perfect fashion at The County Ground against what was a very talented Blues’ outfit.
Raphael Rossi-Branco thumped home a header in the first-half for his first goal of the season on what was his first start of the new term, before Delfouneso bagged his first strike in Town colours just past the hour mark.
Second-half substitute Mukhtar Ali pulled one back for the visitors courtesy of a stunning effort, but Town produced a fine defensive display to see the game out and claim the three points that were on offer.
And Delfouneso – who replaced Luke Norris just after half-time – was happy to have got off the mark for his new club and to have played his part in the win.
“It was a great delivery by Muzza (Sean Murray) and I was looking to be in the right position to go and get contact on it,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk when asked to explain his goal.
“I turned around and expected it to hit the post and come back out, but I was happy to see the net ripple.
“It is great to be off the mark.
“It means a lot. First goal for the club and first goal of the season means a lot, as a striker you are always looking to go and get that first one as soon as possible.
“I’m really happy to have got it, it was a nice goal and I want to carry it on now and get more goals.
“I need to make sure I’m in the right positions and I need to make sure I’m there to put the ball away.”
Delfouneso now has five games under his belt for Town and the striker feels he is reaching the peak of his powers.
“I feel good, I feel like I’m really getting there and I just look forward to each game,” he added.
“Hopefully the more games I play the better I’ll get, so it was good to get a run-out (against Chelsea).
“We move on to Saturday now, it is a big game especially after last week and we want to get back on track in the league.”
Finally, Delfouneso was full of praise for the way Chelsea’s U23s performed at The County Ground last night, with the Blues’ talented group of youngsters certainly catching the eye.
“They are a good team. They looked good and coming up through the Academies and reserves, playing against Chelsea was always one of the most difficult games.
“They have proven over the years that they are one of the best in Europe – they have won the UEFA Youth League, the youth cups and the league so it was always going to be a tough game.
“They’ve got a lot of good players there so it was always going to be tough, but we managed to get through it.
“You could tell at the end that they were starting to grow in confidence. We probably dropped a bit deep at times, which might of helped them a little bit, but we got the win and got the points on the board.”
