ISAAC Olaofe scored his first two goals for Sutton this season over the last week – coming out on top against two former Millwall captains.
Olaofe got his first Football League goal at the weekend, the winner against a Crawley side with Tony Craig at the heart of the defence.
And he managed to grab a word with the play-off winning ex-Lions skipper.
“I did. I came on and during the game players speak,” Olaofe said. “I said to him, ‘you probably don’t remember me’. And he replied, ‘don’t be silly’.
“We spoke after the game and he said good luck for the season. I was probably about 16 or 17 when I was in and around the under-23s environment and we trained close to the first team [on Calmont Road] so I used to see them.”
Last week, Olaofe scored in a 2-0 win against Portsmouth in their EFL Trophy game at Fratton Park.
Pompey had Shaun Williams in their side. The midfielder wore the armband a number of times in his seven-and-a-half seasons at The Den before leaving in the summer.
Olaofe also caught up with Mahlon Romeo, who is on loan at Portsmouth from Millwall.
“I spoke to Mahlon before the game. I didn’t see Willo before but I spoke to him (laughs), just a quick, ‘you alright, Willo?’ during the game,” Olaofe said.
“Then I spoke to Mahlon and Willo afterwards and they were just giving me advice, saying they were proud of me and to just keep doing what I’m doing.
“It was nice to see a player like Shaun Williams who’s a Millwall legend. I grew up watching him when I was in the academy. Watching him in training as well, he’s a really good professional.”
Sutton host Swindon Town this evening and could move into the automatic promotion places with a win.
Olaofe was late making his League Two debut this season after injury delayed his return on loan to the club.
It’s their first campaign in the Football League, but Olaofe isn’t surprised with how well they are doing.
He explained: “In all honesty, it hasn’t taken me by surprise because I know the squad that we have and the staff and management team. This year it’s very strong.
“We had a meeting at the start of the season – I wasn’t part of it – but our aim was to try to get to the play-offs.
“We’re sitting in a good position now but it’s still early in the season so we’ll just take it game by game.
“But, little old Sutton, in fifth in League Two right now. But you can’t get too carried away.”
*Read a longer interview with Isaac Olaofe in this Thursday’s Southwark News, where he talks about what he does away from football – as he is three years into a six-year degree course at The Open University.
Image: Paul Loughlin