Young Garratt earns MOM Accolade for Performance
Steve Davis was full of praise for his young goalkeeper Ben Garratt after his fantastic penalty save proved decisive in last night’s 2-0 win over MK Dons. Garratt guessed right to save Shaun Williams’ spot kick with the Alex leading 1-0 at the time and his heroics later saw him named man-of-the-match by the club’s supporters group.
Davis was understandably disappointed with the penalty award in the first place after the ball seemed dropped rapidly from a flick on at a corner and into the mid-drift of a helpless Matt Tootle.
After the game, the Alex boss said: “I was disappointed with the penalty decision. I think their centre-back got a touch on it and it has dropped and hit Toots on this thigh more than anything. I don’t think it has hit his hand or arm and it certainly wasn’t deliberate.
“I don’t think the referee could have seen it from where he was anyway. He would have been unsighted from the edge of the box because there was a lot of players’ inside the penalty area.
“The referee gave a contentious penalty when we played Bournemouth here last season so I told the players to be careful. I told them to expect something at either end and told them to make sure it wasn’t against us, but he has given them a soft penalty.
“It was a fantastic save by Ben. The analyst gave him the information so we had some idea where Williams puts them and it paid off. We were delighted for him because he is a young lad trying to find his feet in the game and it will give him some confidence. I thought he had a decent game.”