Waine's Morecambe Reaction

It is a long way from Plymouth to Morecambe. It is even further from New Zealand to Morecambe.

That was the trip that Ben Waine’s parents have made over the last week, making the journey to see their son in action in the EFL for the first time.

Talk about timing. Waine came on as a 56th minute substitute with Argyle 1-0 down at Morecambe and, after Danny Mayor equalised for the Pilgrims soon after, it was Waine who pounced to score with three minutes to go and finally put Argyle in a winning position.

Jay Matete, who laid on the goal for Waine, scored a goal of his own to seal it in injury time, and the Greens had completed the turnaround to notch a precious win and head back to the top of the Sky Bet League One table.

Waine’s goal was his first in the league, following one in the Papa Johns Trophy against Bristol Rovers, and he was understandably elated to score with several of the Waine clan in attendance.

“Mum and Dad flew over from New Zealand; they've been here for a couple days now,” Ben told Argyle TV after the game. “They literally landed on the day of Wembley. [Morecambe] was their first league game. I had my auntie, uncle and cousins from Newcastle here, and grandma back in the hotel room watching. It just made the day a lot more special.

“It's been hard for them to keep up with games, but believe me, they've been up at 3am in New Zealand watching all of them.

“[The goal had] felt like a long time coming, but it’s a really good time to score, isn't it? I'm just buzzing.”

Waine was one of five subs introduced during the second half, and all made an impact, with all goals scored by players coming from the bench.

Their goals turned the tide, and carried on a pattern of Argyle players impacting the game having emerged from the subs’ bench.

“Quite often as a striker you're told to be patient and wait because you will get the opportunities, especially late on in a game like that,” said Ben.

“It's sometimes hard to keep that faith that it will come. Jay put it right in front of me today, so I couldn't do anything but hit the back of the net. I'm glad I did.

“For strikers it's pretty simple; the impact is a goal or an assist. Workrate is a pretty big given in this kind of environment, but I think the biggest thing is there's no real sulkers in the team. It would be easy, if someone's had a good game and they've been put on the bench, to get their head down and be a bit annoyed at the gaffer, but it never seems to be like that.

“It was a great finish from Danny. Unbelievable. I think it's just about being patient. We could keep lobbing the ball forward over and over again, but we didn’t; we remained patient. Danny got us the goal, the crowd got behind us and all the boys felt the momentum change.

“We capitalised on that momentum."