"I thought the chance had gone" (From This Is Local London)

"I thought the chance had gone"

3:33pm Tuesday 5th February 2013 in Latest Sport By Andy Carswell

GOALSCORER Matt McClure admitted he thought he'd wasted Wanderers' last chance to snatch a win at Gillingham last night.

The substitute - back in the squad after missing Blues' last game after his partner went into labour on matchday - fired home the only goal of the game five minutes from time as Wanderers continue to climb the table.

But a minute before that he shanked wide after breaking the floundering Gillingham offside trap to go through one on one with home keeper Stuart Nelson.

And he admitted: "I thought that was it gone. To start off with I thought I was offside so I had a look at the linesman. His flag didn't go up and I changed my mind about three times where I was going to put it, which is the worst thing you can do."

He more than made amends moments later as he flicked up Josh Scowen's pass before turning past two Gills defenders and rifling past Nelson for the winner.

It was a far more difficult chance to convert than the one he'd just fluffed but he said: "I like those. They are more instinctive rather than having time to think where to put it. It's a bit more my type of finish."

That strike was his ninth goal in 16 games and he said: "I'd like it to be 20-odd by the end of the season, so I need to keep going."

Things are going well on and off the pitch for McClure, who recently became a dad to Layla.

The 21-year-old striker said: "Becoming a dad was an exciting time for me at home. On the pitch I'm scoring goals, so I've been happy on both fronts."