George Blackwood was delighted with the team’s disciplined performance as Adelaide United secured a 1-0 win over Wellington Phoenix in Round 18.
The striker scored what proved to be the decisive goal in the 32nd minute, and consequently ended a three match winless streak.
The victory over Wellington helped the Reds consolidate fifth spot on the table and build a six-point buffer between them and the chasing pack.
United’s triumph also closed the gap on the fourth-placed Melbourne Victory to just one point.
Blackwood was thrilled his side managed to come away with the win across the ditch in what traditionally is a hard place to travel for visiting teams.
“It’s always a tough place to play in Wellington and we are really happy we came away with the three points,” he said.
“I thought it was a good team effort in the end and we did well.”
The 20-year-old admitted it was pleasing to rebound from a tough defeat the week before, but said there is still lots of room for improvement.
“I think the most important thing was to bounce back from the 5-0 loss (against Melbourne City),” he said.
“To keep a clean sheet was really, really good and obviously to get a goal in the first-half helped us a lot as well.
“Maybe towards the end of the second-half we could’ve kept playing a little bit more rather than have gone back in our shell.
“But all in all it was good to get the result, it’s always a really hard place to play.”
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Blackwood is in the midst of a rich vein of scoring form, having now netted four league goals in his last six appearances.
The former Sydney FC forward discussed his match-winning strike and revealed he intended to finish his effort through the legs of gloveman, Lewis Italiano.
“In the end I got it from half-way and I knew they were on my heels the whole time,” he recounted.
“So in the end my last touch was a bit further out in front of me and I thought (Goran) Paracki was going to slide in.
“So I slid in front of him and the only real spot I could go was between his legs so that’s what I did and it worked out for me.”
Adelaide now turn their attention towards Saturday night’s home clash against Perth Glory.
Blackwood expects the Reds to come away with the three points if they remain focused and play to their full potential.
“We want to win and for sure every game we want to win,” he continued.
“They’re coming off a good win as well, but I think we have the quality to get the result especially at home.
“And they’ll come out all guns blazing, they’re a really attacking side.
“But I think we’ll be able to counter that and hopefully we can score a lot of goals and keep another clean sheet.”
Adelaide United host Perth Glory in Round 19 of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 season on Saturday, 3 February at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.20pm ACDT.
