"It's a great feeling" - Dierseruvwe's delight after striker gets first Town goals

Mani Dierseruvwe finally got his FC Halifax Town career up and running with his brace against Gateshead on Tuesday night.

And the striker admitted he was relieved his wait for a first Halifax goal was now over.

"It's a great feeling, for the first one especially, just to get that out of the way," he said.

"I looked back and thankfully I wasn't offside, and had a good celebration with the fans.

"It's been a long time coming, seven games with no goals obviously, as a striker, is something that eats at you a little bit.

"But I just tried to stay confident and keep doing the right things.

"I had a chance in the first-half but thankfully the ball hit the back of the net and it was just relief all round I think.

"It's a massive weight off the shoulders. Obviously as a striker you just want to get off the mark, start off well at a new club.

"I obviously wanted to score in the first game but unfortunately it took me seven, but it was a great night to get it and I'm thankful we got the three points and I managed to get the two goals."

Both Dierseruvwe's goals were courtesy of fine finishes, the first a low shot across goal from inside the box and the second a powerful drive from the edge of the box into the bottom corner, more befitting of a forward who'd long since got off the mark.

"As a striker you're going to miss chances, they come and they go and you just have to stay calm when they do come," he said.

"Thankfully I stayed calm and put them away."

Dierseruvwe had produced some good hold-up and link play for Town so far this season, but admitted it's goals he will be judged on.

"It doesn't really matter what you do as a striker in-between the boxes, it is about the numbers," he said.

"I've noticed that in my career so I'm thankful I'm playing well, managed to stay in the team and hopefully I can go from strength-to-strength now and get some more goals.

"The manager's shown faith in me by keeping me in the team, and I'm really grateful for that, to stay in the team after seven games without scoring is a big thing for me, and I'm very thankful and grateful for the opportunity to still play and I'm happy to repay him."

Dierseruvwe is confident The Shaymen have turned a corner following their poor start to the season, having now picked up seven points from their last three outings.

"I think we've started on a good run in terms of results now, the last three games we've won two and drawn one, two of them away," he said.

"We've got another two away games now and hopefully we can go there, personally get more goals myself, and as a team, hopefully get some more wins.

"The first five games were very disappointing and it was something we were not really happy with.

"So we've definitely turned a corner and the last three games we've definitely performed well.

"To be fair we performed well before that but it's about winning games and getting the result so we've definitely turned a corner on that."

Town looked a different team after Dierseruvwe's two goals on Tuesday night, no longer inhibited, playing with more freedom and belief.

"That's the thing with football, goals change games and goals give you confidence," he said.

"When you're winning a game and you're ahead, you've got more confidence and belief that you can get another one.

"It is a mental game and in the times we've been behind, we've probably not been strong enough, but I think we're definitely building a good spirit within each other and working hard for each other.

"We'll keep doing that and hopefully it stands us in good stead."

The Town striker feels this can only be the start for Halifax and that there is still a lot of improvement still to be made.

"100 per cent, I think there's a lot more to come from us, there's a lot more gears to get through," he said.

"We're still a team that's gelling together, we're all trying to work to each other's strengths.

"I like balls into the box early and we're working on that in training, things like that.

"With time, with more continuity with the team and the more good performances we get, we'll start building momentum."

Dierseruvwe was again partnered in attack in midweek by Angelo Capello, who has shone in the side since manager Chris Millington switched to a 3-5-2 system.

"I'm not really fussed what kind of formation we play," Dierseruvwe said.

"For me, I just need to get myself in positions to score goals.

"Angelo does help me a lot, he does a lot of work and he's a top, top player that grafts, he gets in people's faces.

"He does help me and do that part of the game for me, so I'm thankful to be playing with him at the minute."