An entertaining night at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata saw hosts ATK coming back twice from behind to draw 2-2 against Kerala Blasters FC on Thursday. All the four goalscorers of the match netted their first Hero Indian Super League (ISL) goal to share a point each. Gudjon Baldvinsson and Dimitar Berbatov scored for the visitors, while Ryan Taylor and Tom Thorpe replied back with equalisers. After the final whistle, indiansuperleague.com caught up with the ‘Hero of the match’ Taylor, who ended the night with an assist and a goal. Here are the excerpts from the interview with the Englishman.

Your thoughts on the game?

We showed great character. It has not been easy in the last few weeks with everything that’s been going on. As for the result, we knew we had to dig in. We went one goal down, but we showed a bit of fight and some heart and desire. Especially when we went 2-1 down, we could have fallen and felt sorry for ourselves but we didn’t. I am proud of the boys. We gave a great account of ourselves today.

Tell us about your maiden Hero ISL goal.

We knew that they would always try to find Berbatov and feed him (the ball), so I was sort of ready for their player to play him a little short ball, and I just nicked it off him. In the last game, Bengaluru’s keeper made a good save, so I thought I may as well have a shot. The keeper pulled a save of a clean shot (in the previous game), not so clean this time around, (as it deflected off Lalruatthara) but it goes in. So, it’s up to the moment.

Your next few encounters are on the road. Your take on that?

We just want a positive result, no matter what. Doesn’t matter if it’s here or on the road. We need to get ourselves together and get ready for the next game.

Mathematically it’s still possible for ATK to make the playoffs. What’s the feeling in the camp like?

Yes, we had a discussion after the last game. We wanted to win all five games, you know. We really wanted a win today but it was not our day. It was a tough game and could have gone either way. I think we had the best chances in the second half.

How much do you think Tom Thorpe’s maiden goal means to him?

Since we have Tom back (after his injury), it sort of balances the team. We lost Jordi (Montel) in the first half, but ten days and hopefully, Jordi can get himself back. We have a great balance and (Soram) Poirei was fantastic, too. All the players put in a good shift today and in the dressing room, we are very proud of our team today.