Ashley Miller was beaming after scoring West Ham United's Barclays Premier Reserve League South winner against Arsenal on Monday night, but admitted afterwards that registering winning goals is not something he is too familiar with.
The full-back was in the perfect place to prod home the ball home after Christian Montano's 72nd-minute cross had been parried by Arsenal goalkeeper John Shea. The 19-year-old then played his part in a superb rearguard showing in the final 18 minutes that kept the Gunners and ensured the win that moved Dyer's side up to third in the standings.
"I was quite surprised when the ball came to me but I was confident that I was going to score," Miller said of his goal. "I always pop up with one goal a season for the lads but this was a great game to score in. Hopefully I can get another one later on this year. It's a great feeling to score and to do so against Arsenal was even better. We were just counting down the seconds at the end as we didn't want to concede but scoring the winner was a great feeling."
Miller had the unenviable task of marking England Under-19 international Jack Wilshere, who has played eight times for the Gunners' first team over the past two seasons. But it was a job the Hornchurch-based defender proved to be more than capable of doing as he helped the Hammers complete a league 'double' over the north London side.
"Jack is a good player, but we didn't let him get in and around the ball as much as he wanted to. The boys dug in well and he didn't get much on an impact on us. We also created some chances and could have nicked two or three but it wasn't to be so in the end we had to settle for one."