Scott Loach's finest moment in professional football

Last updated : 04 September 2015 By Magpie Mick

"The gaffer told Kevin Pilkington (goalkeeper coach) about me being captain first and then he had said to me that I had been focused which I needed to take out onto the pitch," he said.

"I had to be a bit of a leader and I was happy with my performance because I felt I did the right things at the right time.

"I would go as far to say it was probably my finest moment in professional football because to play in my home town and to captain a team, which is something I have never done, was very special.

"It was in front of my daughter, Alma, as well. She is only four months old and probably won't remember any of it.

"I had my mum and dad there, grandads – you name it.

"It was a great moment for me. I just want to kick on and when the chance comes again I have to make sure I take it."

This win ended a run of 4 games without a victory for the Magpies and Loach fully expected it to happen.

"It has been coming," he said. "It could have been four, five or six – a bit like the Accrington game.

"The difference is we eventually put the chances away and we didn't give up.

"Once we scored the first we didn't sit back and went and got the second.

"But we weren't stupid. We kept our shape and I think we did the nitty gritty as well.

"We killed the game when the chance was there and that's what we have been missing for the last couple of games.

"From my position it was great to watch. It's all about consistency moving forward.

"The lads know we have the quality. It was only a week or so ago that we played Villa and the gaffer said to us to remember how we played there.

"We can write Morecambe off because you will have ups and downs over the course of the season because that is League Two.

"We have to make this ground a fortress. Teams know how we are going to try to play. We just have to reproduce the performance we did against Mansfield. It sets us up nicely thinking to ourselves 'we have to build on that now'."