Nathaniel MG Cup final Player of the Match Ryan Brobbel was delighted to finally get his hands on the trophy Saturday night.
The Saints are serial trophy winners, but the MG Cup has evaded their grasp since 2018. They put that record straight last night, and Brobbel says it does mean more having not had the crown in their cabinet for a while.
“I think it does mean more because we haven’t won it for a while. It was called off for COVID for a year and then other times we’ve been knocked out in the early rounds, but we want to win everything we can.
“We haven’t been able to get our hands on this for a few years but it’s nice to have it in our grasp now.”
This could just be the start of a historical season for Craig Harrison’s men, who could win an unprecedented quadruple this season. While the achievement is certainly tantalising, Brobbel is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
“We can’t look past any team that we come up against in our league; you only need to look back to last year when we slipped up at Cardiff Met.
“With the Scottish Challenge Cup, we’re playing oppositions that we’re not used to playing every week, so we just have to take each game as it comes.”
Brobbel ended by praising Swansea City and believes they can take a lot from the final defeat.
“They were obviously a very different opposition to what we’re used to, and it’s brilliant for them to be able to have pushed on and get to the final.
“But we weren’t going to let that get to us. We want to win everything that we’re in and it’s nice to be able to lift the cup.
“Swansea are really good on the ball, like they always have been for many years. It’s good for them to know maybe where they need to get to and where they want to be.
“It could be good for their careers to go through this defeat and make them hungrier to perhaps win this competition in the future.”
It’s certainly a feeling shared by Swansea manager Anthony Wright. Despite the heavy defeat, Wright is proud of how his players stood up to the challenge, particularly in the second half.
“We came into this game looking to win it. In the first half, I thought that we had too many tough moments. We looked a little lost at times in possession, and that is full credit to TNS.
“I thought they were on the front foot and were really aggressive in their work, and I think at times we struggled to cope with that.
“Every game we play is a learning curve for these players. We’ve got a really young group of players, and at half time, they could have caved in, and then this game could have been any score that TNS wanted it to be.
“But I thought we controlled things a lot in the second half, and the players grew and gained confidence throughout the game.
“The players will definitely learn from this, and they’ll understand that you can’t play with fear, and you have to step up to the challenge.”
Swansea captain Filip Lissah echoed the thoughts of his manager. Despite feeling the scoreline perhaps wasn’t fully reflective of the game, Lissah feels the experience will prove valuable to his team in the long run.
“We definitely will take a lot from this game. The scoreline maybe doesn’t fully reflect the way we performed, and we felt like we were still in it for large parts of the game. Then in the last 20 minutes when it opens up and the margin grows.
“We had good moments, but we’re playing a very good side, and all the boys will be able to take a lot from playing against a fully professional men’s team.
“We don’t get that chance often, and we’re delighted to have made it to this stage of the competition, but we couldn’t get over the final hurdle today.”
