Josh Ayres so excited that he can't remember his first goal for Rotherham United!
TEENAGE hitman Josh Ayres was so overcome with a goal on his full debut that he couldn't recall what had happened after Rotherham United's fightback victory in the Vertu Trophy this evening.
The 19-year-old marked his first start by hitting in the target during a second-half blitz as the Millers extended their unbeaten run to six matches with a win over Manchester City Under-21s at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
His leaping header made the score 2-2 and Matt Hamshaw's side went on to triumph 4-2 and book their place in the knockout stages.
"My eyes lit up, but I thought I wasn't going to get there," the young striker said. "I saw the cross come in and it just went up in the air. I jumped in and I can't even remember the goal. All I can remember is running off!"
Ayres, who came through the club's youth set-up, had had five days to prepare for his big moment after learning last week that he would be in the squad for the Northern Group E tie.
"The gaffer said last Friday that I'd be involved," he revealed. "I didn't know if that was going to be a start or not. Yesterday he named the team and I found out I was up top. I was really happy and just wanted to get going. I just want to show what I can do, really."
His efforts earned him the Man-of-the-Match award but at one stage he thought events were conspiring against him when he shot tamely at the goalkeeper and also smacked the woodwork before the interval.
He said: "I hit the post and I thought: 'It's not going to be my night, everything's going to go wrong.' It was unlucky, to be fair. But then we made chances and took them in the second half.
With the home team trailing 2-0, Shaun McWilliams reduced the arrears after the interval from the penalty spot before Ayres struck, and Joe Powell and Sean Raggett then added further goals.
The comeback mirrored a previous one in the competition earlier this month when Rotherham turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory.
"We made it hard for ourselves, like we did against Oldham Athletic," Ayres said. "But we just dug in. That's what we've been doing for the past four week or five weeks. It doesn't matter how you get the result, it's just about getting the win and going into the next round."