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Tonbridge’s players performed for Steve McKimm on Saturday after a tough week for their manager.
McKimm’s men moved another giant stride towards National League South survival as Tommy Wood scored the only goal in their 1-0 win against Welling at Longmead.
The Angels manager was delighted with the win, which leaves them six points clear of basement boys Welling, and he revealed he had asked for a performance from his side after a challenging week for him, leading up to the game.
“I’m not worried about performances, I’m worried about points,” said McKimm.
“If we had, had one shot on target and scored one goal and got three points - whatever the doubters want to say and whatever the purists want to say - if I’m being honest, I couldn’t care less!
“My job relies on results. These players’ performances decide whether they stay in the team through getting results and that’s how it is.
“This week leading up to the game, it has probably been one of the toughest off-the-field for me personally. I asked the boys to do me a favour and get three points to make my weekend better and my week better, and they have gone and done exactly what I asked.
“That shows exactly how much respect they have got for me and I’m very, very pleased.”
Wood’s first-half strike was his 13th goal this season - and his 12th in Tonbridge’s last 16 matches.
McKimm commented: “He has done really well. He did really well before Christmas - just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“Goalscorers are known for their goals. He could probably be sitting here now with 24 or 25 goals with some of the chances we have created. But he’s not.
“He has 13, he has done really well. Every single player out there today was fantastic.
“Let’s have it right, a lot of people look at what you do with the ball - (but) it’s about what you do without the ball. I thought, to a man, what they did without the ball was restrict Welling to some long-range chances.
“Jonny (Henly, the Angels keeper) hasn’t had a real defining save to make, whereas their keeper did when Woody and Coombesy (Adam Coombes) went through.
“So overall, let’s look at it the other way.
“We haven’t got the sixth best defensive record in the league for no reason. We are organised and we are hard to beat.
“The other thing I need to learn as a manager is a remedy to put the ball in the net on a more regular basis.”
McKimm also explained the decision to substitute first-half substitute Jamie Fielding in the latter stages of the match.
He revealed: “Unfortunately, Jamie Fielding stopped training halfway through on Thursday. He hasn’t been right.
“He said he hasn’t been right for the last few weeks to Melvin (Slight), the physio, but we brought him on. To be fair, he didn’t do anything wrong but that isn’t the Jamie Fielding we have had over the last few months because Jamie has been superb for us.
“He was disappointed to come off. It’s never nice for a substitute to be substituted but I’ve got to look at his welfare.
“No matter how much he tells me he’s OK, I looked at that and he wasn’t, because that’s not the Jamie Fielding of old.”
Fielding had come on in the first period, as he replaced Crystal Palace loanee James Taylor, who McKimm feared had suffered concussion.
Tonbridge will visit Hampton on Tuesday.
