Thompson refusing to get carried away with form

Gary Thompson celebrates after scoring his second goal in Saturday's 4-2 win over Ards. Picture: John McIlwaine (Press Eye).

If that doesn’t constitute a ‘dream week’ for any player, then it’s difficult to know what does!

Yet the last person you will see getting carried away is Gary Thompson.

The level-headed midfielder is content to keep his head down and simply get on with things, as evidenced in his recent performances.

“I had five goals to my name earlier than this last season and I didn’t score again for the rest of the season!” laughs Thompson.

“Double figures would be lovely but I’m not going to put that sort of pressure on myself.

“I was happy to get a goal through the week and then two more on Saturday. It’s not often I get them so I’ll take them when they come.

“I was reluctant to shoot against Linfield the other week and they went up the other end and scored so I decided after that to try and take it on much earlier and shoot from outside the box and these past couple of weeks it has paid off for me.

Glenn is always at the midfielders to get more goals and that will certainly help us pick up more points.

“The boys are always at me to drive us on - I guess that’s a strength in my game - and if the team win, then that’s the main thing.

“It was a really important game because we knew three points would put a bit of space between ourselves and Ards.

“It was a tricky first half and we went in a wee bit disappointed but those are the type of games we would maybe have lost last year or the start of this year so it was a great three points for us.

“In the past two or three weeks our performances have really improved - people like Davy Munster and Mark Surgenor have come into the team who maybe don’t get the plaudits and they have given us a fresh boost.

“Hopefully we can go and win at Warrenpoint and start looking up the table rather than at the teams behind us,” added Thompson.

Manager Glenn Ferguson is delighted that the 23-year-old has extended his stay at the Showgrounds.

“I’ve known Gary since he was 17 and a young lad coming through at Linfield and I saw his progression and when I went to Distillery, I said to Jimmy Brown that Gary was one of the players we should have got.

“I really like his attitude, I like the way he goes about his business and he looks after himself away from the club.

“When he plays well, he really plays well and it means something to him and of late, he has been playing really well as an attacking midfielder,” added Ferguson.