George Blackwood was delighted to have ended his barren run in front of goal to score a timely match-winner in Adelaide United’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory on Friday night.
The striker netted his first league goal for the Reds, coming off the bench and clinically side footing his finish home following some exceptional wing play by Nikola Mileusnic.
Baba Diawara, another striker who had yet to open his account before last night’s match, also scored courtesy of a towering header from a corner.
Blackwood said it was great that they could both find the back of the net and contribute in the victory.
“It was good to see Baba (Diawara) get on the scoresheet as well,” he said.
“For me it was good to get off the mark and I’m just happy we got the win ultimately.
“It’s a tough place to go and play at Etihad (Stadium) and I’m just really happy we got the win.”
He continued by revealing himself and Diawara have been working tirelessly on the training paddock to change their fortunes in front of goal.
“Both the goals like you said we have been working a lot on our final balls in training and finishing them off in training as well,” he said.
“Me and Baba were in the right positions and the balls came to us and we finished off the goals.
“I don’t want to speak for Baba, but I feel like when me and Baba both get into those positons we are confident we are going to score goals.
“So when get the ball it was just great that we could put the ball in the back of the net and get the win.”
The 20-year-old also said he got the sense luck would be on the Reds’ side, even with their numerical disadvantage, following a sensational display by gloveman Paul Izzo.
“(Paul) Izzo had a great game and it just felt like it was going to work out for us,” he said.
“Even when we went down to nine men, everyone was working hard for each other and it just felt like it was going to be our night.
“And I think we deserved it on the balance of things as well.”
Blackwood also said the result reinforced the belief in the squad considering the manner in which they achieved the gutsy win.
“It’s been good for the team to get another away win under our belt,” he said.
“I think we do really well at grinding out results and we did that again on the weekend when things looked like they were going against us.”
With Daniel Adlung and Ben Garuccio certain absentees for the clash against Newcastle Jets next Saturday after receiving second yellow cards, Blackwood was confident of the squad’s depth.
“We have Vinni (Lia) on the bench and I’m sure he can slide in,” he said.
“And I thought Nathan (Konstandopoulos) probably had his best game of the season as well, he was fantastic for us.
“I think we have a lot of depth and we’ll be able to cope with it, we’ll definitely come out firing again next week.”
Adelaide United will face Newcastle Jets in Round 11 of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 season on Saturday, 16 December at McDonald Jones Stadium. Kick-off is at 5.05pm ACDT.
