GOALKEEPER Paul Evans hailed his Tividale teammates after making his full debut for the club during the Walsall Senior Cup triumph over Romulus on Monday night.

Evans, 29, joined ‘Dale last month following the departure of Jack Hayfield to Tipton Town and the former Halesowen Town stopper is looking forward to the upcoming semi-final against either Bolehall Swifts or Chasetown at The Beeches.

He said “I haven’t played for a while and it was good to finally make my debut for the club.

“I was due to play in the JW Hunt Cup against Sporting Khalsa a few days after I’d signed but the game fell victim to the weather so that never materialised.

“Monday night was fantastic.

“120 minutes and a penalty shoot out wasn’t the most ideal scenario for my first game back, my legs certainly felt it in the morning but as a keeper you have to enjoy the penalties and I thought I should of saved their second but we won in the end so that’s the main thing.

“We have a great bunch of players and staff here, both on and off the pitch and everybody has made me feel welcome.

“I knew quite a few of the lads before I came so it was easy to settle in.

“I’m just pleased we managed to win the shoot-out having not played particularly well in the regulation 90 minutes and the 30 minutes of extra time.

“As a team I thought we defended brilliantly and limited them to only one or two shots all game.

“Adding to that three clean sheets on the bounce shows as a team we have a top defensive unit.

“Credit to Nigel (Penney), he didn’t panic and picked his spot.”

Evans is hoping to get more game time between now and the end of the current campaign but accepts that current No.1 Charlie Price is in great form for Tivi this season.

“It would be nice to play more games, for sure.

“Every player wants to be involved and it’s probably even more difficult as a goalkeeper to get minutes on the field.

“Charlie is still only 21 but he’s had a fantastic season and developing into a top, top ‘keeper, there’s no doubting that and obviously there is competition for the No.1 jersey but if I can help Charlie to improve further in training or after games, I will.

“I’m sure the management team doesn’t want any player to just be happy on the bench, everyone pushing for a starting place will only keep performances high and ultimately get us results.

“I will keep working hard to push Charlie and hope opportunities come along the way.”