Jonny Williams was absolutely delighted to finally bag his first goal in Charlton colours as he sent the Addicks on their way to victory against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday.
The Wales international had to wait 53 games before finding the net, but his first strike came in timely fashion, putting his side into a first-half lead, before Chuks Aneke added a second late on to seal a 2-0 win on the south coast.
And after also netting his first international goal for Wales earlier in the month, Williams is hoping to build on those strikes and add goalscoring as another string to his bow.
“I’m over the moon,” he said.
“I wondered if I would ever score my first goal for this club! It’s an unbelievable feeling against a good side.
“It’s about getting in there and having the belief that I’ll score, whereas before I may have been the one dribbling and playing it wide so I’m never close enough to get that goal.
“As soon as Jake [Forster-Caskey] played that ball out wide, I thought I’d sprint into the box. You see someone like Raheem Sterling score so many of those goals and the gaffer has been telling me to get on the end of them, so I’m delighted. He’s shown his faith to keep playing me. I’ve brought some different strengths into my game, so hopefully I can keep doing that now.”
As revealed by Lee Bowyer in his own post-match interview, the boss predicted Williams first Addicks goal when he addressed his players during training on Friday morning.
And Williams has insisted that he will continue to get into those goalscoring positions.
“I didn’t have an option really because he was telling the whole team that I was going to score today when we were doing team shape in training!” he explained.
“I’m getting in the right positions now and I’ve just got to keep doing it. I think the goals will come. I got my first for Wales a few weeks ago and now I’ve got my first goal for Charlton.
I’ll keep getting into the box and bring a different side to my game.”
“[Bowyer] keeps telling me to get into the box and I’ll score and today was a great ball across the face of goal – I couldn’t really miss from there! It was great service and a great move and I’m over the moon to get on the end of it.”
Meanwhile, Williams dedicated his goal to the supporters, with the 27-year old grateful to the fans for sticking by him during his nearly two years at The Valley.
“It was a great team performance and I was delighted to be a part of that,” he said.
“This club has meant a lot to me over the last couple of years. To go up and come back down again was unfortunate, so it would be great to get back up again.
“Hopefully by then we might have some fans in because they’ve stuck by me along the ups and downs. So that was for them.”
The Addicks take on Fleetwood Town on Tuesday. Click here to purchase your pass to watch the game.