Kerala Blasters FC secured their first win of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 after beating NorthEast United FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Friday thanks to local boy CK Vineeth’s winner. The match also saw Wes Brown’s first appearance in the league, and he came up with a Hero of the Match performance.

Speaking to the media in the post-match press conference was a relieved Kerala head coach Rene Meulensteen, and he began by lauding Brown’s debut performance. “To be honest, I did not expect Wes to see out the 90 minutes,” he said. “I am delighted for him. I thought he was excellent. I thought the decision to park him up in front of the back four was good and I am delighted for him.”

Meulensteen admitted that while he was worried that his team were not getting the second goal, in the end he was satisfied with the clean sheet. “I had three heart attacks!” he exclaimed. “When you watch as a manager, you need that second goal. We were just unlucky at times. Courage (Pekuson) hit the post, Jakichand (Singh) hit the post. But more than anything, I am happy about the clean sheet. That is something which we worked very hard for.”

The former Manchester United assistant coach also expressed his happiness having pleased the passionate Kerala fans. “There is no better signal for confidence to flow in a team than a win,” Meulensteen explained. “I am happy to put a smile on the faces of the fans. The belief has never been away. We got good players; we know we can play good football. You have to bear in mind that we have been together for only two and a half months. We have come a long way.”

Before concluding, he praised the Highlanders for their commendable effort in the match. “I have to say credit to the manager (Joao de Deus),” the Dutchman said. “He’s a wonderful guy and a great coach. It is great to share the same passion with him. I thought they were well organised. It took an absolutely quality goal from our end to break them down. Obviously, I am very happy that we kept the three points with us today.”