Ivan Karlović said scoring a last-gasp equaliser against Melbourne City was a testament to Adelaide United’s desire and never say die attitude.
Georgia Campagnale’s 97th minute strike following a well-worked attacking move saw the Reds draw level and ensure their unbeaten Westfield W-League 2018/19 streak remained intact.
Karlović believed grabbing a point, albeit in dramatic circumstances, was a fair result on the balance of play.
“I thought we probably paid too much respect to them,” Karlović said.
“And probably the first-half we were a little bit overawed and second-half we started to push the game and got our reward in the end which I thought we deserved.”
The Reds Head Coach said he always thought his team had a goal in them, due to their high fitness levels and the players fighting until the end.
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He was also pleased that all three substitutes – Isabel Hodgson, Campagnale and Charlotte Grant – made an impact off the bench.
“We’ve strong belief in the level of our conditioning and our substitutes all came on and made a difference,” he said
“With obviously Georgia scoring the goal, Izzy (Isabel Hodgson) had an impact and young Charlie (Charlotte Grant) had an impact in the short period of time that she was on.
“We had a lot of run in our legs and we were really pushing for that last half an hour to find that equaliser and just felt that it was coming, and thankfully it came.”
Now four games into the new season and undefeated, Karlović hoped they can use their strong start as a platform to continue building.
“I think we’ve continuously improved in every game,” he admitted.
“And probably on the weekend, probably wasn’t one of our better performances as a group.
“And we know that and we recognise that, the players do, and we want to continue to improve from that.
“We’ve set a good benchmark for ourselves as a group and a standard that we want to adhere to so we just want to keep improving each week.”
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The Reds now welcome a free-scoring Perth Glory side to Marden Sports Complex on Thursday night for the battle for second spot on the ladder.
Karlović acknowledged Perth’s firepower including none other than Matildas star, Sam Kerr, but was confident his team can match them and control the game.
“They’ve got some good attacking players and they score goals,” he stated.
“But at the same time, we’ve got some very good attacking players so they need to be mindful of them too.
“We’ll go out there to play our game and look to control the game and hopefully get a good result at home in front of a good crowd.
“The girls deserve a lot of support because they’re doing fantastically well and we just want to continue our good start.”
Adelaide United host Perth Glory in Round 6 of the Westfield W-League 2018/19 season on Thursday, 6 December at Marden Sports Complex. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACDT. Gates open at 6.00pm.
