EXCLUSIVE by GAVIN WILLACY He was hardly the most likely source of Everton's survival ticket fans' hero Duncan Ferguson, the reborn Nick Barmby or veteran Dave Watson were surely more appropriate but the scorer of the goal that kept the Merseysiders beating in the Premiership on Sunday, at Bolton's expense, was well aware of his promotion into Goodison Park folklore. Gareth Farrelly fired in Everton's seventh minute opener against Coventry and, although City equalised two minutes from time, the Irishman's first Premiership goal in the Premiership was still sufficient to keep them afloat. "It is something to be remembered for," he told Football365 in an exclusive interview. "It's nice, but I should have scored earlier in the season than the last game! I deserved a goal and I was delighted, but it doesn't matter who it is who scored, or when. "I've taken a bit of criticism from people lately and I think it was a little warranted. But I've kept trying my hardest and worked hard and thankfully I've been able to repay everyone. It was more a case of doing myself justice on Sunday than making sure justice was done overall. We didn't celebrate after the game, we were just overcome with relief above anything else. There was no jumping around or cheering. We all said afterwards, 'We've got out of jail and never want to go through that again'." Farrelly, bought from Aston Villa's reserve side last summer but dropped more recently by Everton manager Howard Kendall, divided the credit for the last gasp survival between the players and an extraordinarily fraught home crowd. He said: "I did not know I was playing until just before and once we went out there, the atmosphere was unbelievable. It didn't make me nervous, it wound me up. We'd worked hard and when we were down in the gutter, everyone came together. It was an atmosphere to be treasured. I don't think words could describe it. "Scoring so early settled us a bit and gave us something to hang on to. I admit I was shocked to score with my right foot," said the left-sided midfielder. "I thought 'Fair enough' when I hit the target, let alone seeing it fly in!" While 22-year-old Farrelly heads off to Ireland to play in a friendly for the Republic against World Cup qualifiers Mexico, and looks forward to his second full season in the top flight, he is adamant that Everton will make their long-suffering faifhful proud to follow them next season -, rather than have to embark on those celebrations that greeted the undignified great escape of one of England's biggest and most successful clubs on Sunday. "It's up to us to generate the atmosphere next season and not through the fans' desperation," he said. "Hopefully I can wipe the slate clean and start again with more confidence. That applies to the whole team. At least we can start from fresh in the Premiership." Those thoughts were echoed by captain Dave Watson, who also played in the 1994 narrow escape: "We got away with murder throughout the season and for it to come down to the last game and just scrape through is not a matter for celebrating, it is a matter of making sure it doesn't happen again. ''During the close season we have to start bringing players in and make sure we get it right for next season. It is unfair to put anyone through that - especially the supporters. I talked to fans in the week leading up to the game against Coventry and they were more nervous than we were. To put people through that is cruel.''

'BOSSES HAVE SOLD US SHORT' SAYS CRAIG AS KENDALL ASKS FOR PATIENCE   THE SALE of class players has been blamed for the relegation nightmare that scared Everton witless, according to defender Craig Short. Short, one of the defensive heroes of the survival success, pinpointed the bitter frustrations felt by Everton's squad at seeing top players sold, specifically Gary Speed (to Newcastle), Andy Hinchcliffe (Sheffield Wed) and Graham Stuart (to Sheffield United). "It's got to change, from the top to the bottom of the club," he said. "The players don't like being in this situation and we have to take some of the blame for being down at the bottom but neither should the top players have been sold. ''You don't want to see them leaving the club. We have been in the bottom six all season and we have seen two internationals in Speed and Hinchcliffe leave. One was captain of his country and the club and the other was in the England squad. We also sold Graeme Stuart, who is a regular goalscorer and a good player. The players that have been brought in have done well, particularly Carl Tiler and Thomas Myhre. But the players would rather have Speed, Hinchcliffe and Stuart around and come into a bigger squad. What is needed is competition." Meanwhile boss Howard Kendall admitted that Everton face a catch-22 situation of needing to attract top stars to avoid relegation battles, but not being able to do so because of the club's continuing struggles. He said: Last summer we wanted Paul Ince, and other top players, and the fans wanted to see that type of quality here. They expected big names and big money spent but we missed out. "When there are players available of that quality there are other big clubs competing, players look at the possibilities of being successful and we lose out. "We have to improve and then we can start competing again. It won't be this summer, because we are not in that position. But we will slowly improve our position and show people that we are challenging and a more attractive proposition for players to want to come here.

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