‘Roy of the Rovers lives on’ – Everton boss David Moyes delighted with Jermaine Beckford’s winner against Chelsea

David Moyes, the Everton manager. (Getty Images)

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Everton manager David Moyes has expressed his delight with Jermaine Beckford after the striker secured a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Goodison Park on the final day of the season.

The former Leeds man broke the deadlock with a quarter of an hour remaining with a stunning solo effort and the hosts held on, despite having lost Seamus Coleman to a red card on the 54th minute.

“Roy of the Rovers lives on,” Moyes told reporters following the win. “Getting it in your own box, dribbling past three players, getting up there and it just bouncing in. It was a really good goal. It epitomised the whole performance.

“We played with 11 men and did well with 10 and I thought it was a good game.

“The goalkeepers made loads of saves but I thought we had the best chances. I was pleased with how the players played.”

The hosts were dealt a blow less than 10 minutes into the second half as Coleman was sent off for a dangerous looking lunge on John Obi Mikel, having already picked up a yellow card less than a minute into the second half, and Moyes agreed that the Irishman deserved to be dismissed.

He said: “I thought it was a sending off. The referees aren’t out there to send people off. Seamus had a bad touch, let the ball go away from him which means he had to lunge for it and when you look at it he does leave the ground, so I think a booking was right and it was his second one.

“I think the referee called it right.”

Beckford’s stike was his 10th of the season and the Toffees boss was quick to praise the instinctive forward, who joined the club last year.

He said: “The boy has had three chances. He’s scored one of them and he maybe could have had another couple. We knew when he came to the club that there are bits in his game that will infuriate you but he’ll always get you goals.

“I think he had one in the first half. Johnny Heitinga was standing square for a tap in but maybe that’s what goal scorers do, they don’t see other players, they see back of the net.

“He’s scored 10 goals this year, I think with the amount of starts that is what we expected of him. He’s scored some big goals. I don’t think at the end of the season that you’ll ever be that disappointed with his goals return. His goals will be the reason that he’s on the field.”

Despite the win, Moyes was quick to temper expectations ahead of the 2011-2012 campaign, stating that his side will struggle to get beyond seventh next season.

He said: “I don’t want us to blow expectations out of the water. Maybe seventh is the best we are going to get.

“A lot of people think that it’s not good enough and at the start of the season I was one of the people that thought we could do better than seventh but I had to reassess that when I saw what’s going to be spent and what’s going to be done.

“I’ve got to praise the players for what they’ve done from Christmas onwards.

“I’m here, I’m the manager and that’s what I want to do. I want to have a club where I can give the supporters something and I want us to have a fresh challenge when we come back next season.”