Huge maturity from Stevenage's on-loan Chelsea man Jamie Cumming as he deals with 'the life of a keeper'
Jamie Cumming produced a man of the match performance for Stevenage against Newport County. - Credit: DAVID LOVEDAY/TGS PHOTO
One week earlier Jamie Cumming was suffering the horror of a deflected clearance bouncing into his goal after a mere 14 seconds.
Fast forward seven days though and the young on-loan Chelsea man showed his mental fortitude is up there with the best of them with a starring performance for Stevenage in their 0-0 draw at Newport County.
And the 21-year-old says mistakes, especially for a goalkeeper, are the cornerstone of building a successful career.
"It’s the life of a keeper," he said with a huge maturity. "It happens and it happens at every level. You have to deal with it and move on.
"If you think about these things then you will struggle so I’ve moved on and am looking forward to the rest of the season.
"I’m loving getting these games, it’s what it is all about, that’s the way to learn.
"You don’t learn if you don’t make mistakes so I have to learn from the mistakes at this level to be able to deal with it at a higher level."
And it continues to be an excellent year for Boro's new number one and the defenders in front of him.
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Despite their lowly league position Stevenage have conceded just 31 in 32 games, the sixth best record in the division, with the stalemate at Rodney Parade the 12th clean sheet.
Cumming said: "Defensively we have been brilliant this season. It’s just the other end of the pitch, putting the ball into the back of the net, where we are struggling.
"If we converted some of these 0-0 draws into 1-0 wins then we’d be up near the play-offs.
"Those are the fine margins in this league and that’s what we have to get better at.
"It was obviously a tough game with the pitch but we had chances to win and the best chance too.
"If you don’t put that away then you are going to struggle but if you are not going to win then at least don’t lose it.
"A point is not the worst result in the world."
And the bombardment of the Boro box late on is just another stop on the learning curve for Cumming.
He said: "That’s what this league is about and it happens every week.
"It’s something I have to stand up too and I thought I did alright, coming to collect crosses, and we also defended set-pieces brilliantly.
"Everyone was heading it and putting their body on the line, we defended well."
