Derby goalscorer David Williams has urged his Melbourne Heart teammates not to rest on their laurels after an impressive showing in round one.
Melbourne derbies are special moments, especially for the victorious team.
But Melbourne Heart winger David Williams has warned Heart can ill afford to dwell on Friday’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory and instead must focus its energies on the Club’s next game against Wellington Phoenix.
“[It was a] beautiful way to kick it off all the boys are pumped,” Williams reflected during a recovery session yesterday.
“But from Monday onwards it-s all about Wellington and trying to back up the great work that we did [on Friday].”
While there have been suggestions that Heart had flown under the radar after an underwhelming pre-season performance against Perth Glory, Williams said Aloisi’s side had been ready for the occasion on Friday.
“As a team I wasn-t surprised [with the performance] because we-ve worked hard and we-ve had four months to work on exactly what we-re doing and I think we did it well,” Williams said.
“The way we set up tactically was the best we could.
“John [Aloisi] and Foxey [assistant coach Hayden Foxe] have drilled us quite well and I think it showed when we played a high pressing game.”
But Williams admitted the win wasn’t as comfortable as they had hoped, with Victory keeper Lawrence Thomas making a string of good saves to keep the second period scoreless, including three saves to deny Williams.
“We didn-t get all of the rewards that we wanted, especially from myself, but we came away with three points,” Williams said.
“It doesn-t matter if it-s one nil or five nil, it-s still a result and something we needed and something to get our confidence up.”
Heart’s main focus now is to ensure it can kill off its opponents when presented with the opportunity and it can guarantee Williams will be lurking in the penalty box for more goals next week.
After a one-goal return last season, Williams is hungry for more action, even if his 14th minute strike against Victory was slightly opportunistic.
Williams admitted the original lofted ball from Richard Garcia may have been meant for strike partner Dylan Macallister.
“No wasn-t [meant for me], but as we-re all told you have to be loitering around the back post,” Williams said.
“As a striker or a winger it-s vital to be there even if you-re not going to get it, just making sure you have good habits and luckily it paid off and it-s a little bit of a poachers goal, but a goal-s a goal.
“It gave me a lot of confidence, the feeling you get from it is amazing and hopefully there are more to come.”
Heart faces Wellington on Sunday 14 October at AAMI Park.
