Ballarat City logged a valuable win away from home as a timely Carl Frankson tap-in in the 78th minute provided City a 1-0 win over Springvale in its National Premier League two west clash.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After a dangerous cross, substitute Josh De Voogel beat the goalkeeper but put his header onto the crossbar which left Frankson the easiest of goals.
In what was an extremely tight contest, Frankson’s goal proved the difference between the two sides and the three points will certainly prove crucial come the business end of the season.
Coach Danny Gnjidic said it was the side’s most disciplined and focused performance of the season.
After a poor start to the season, City has cleared up its basic errors and is now producing some impressive soccer.
“It was as disciplined and as focused a performance as we’ve put together as a team this season,” Gnjidic said.
“It was a tight game and we did what we needed to to win which was good.
“We were conceding goals through individual errors (earlier in the season)...they were elementary, the fact is we’ve cut those out the last four or five weeks and the results speak for themselves.”
Ballarat City sits eighth on the ladder, but has enjoyed four wins from its last five outings.
Gnjidic admitted he would have liked to be closer to the top sides at this stage of the season, however he was buoyed by the response from the early-season slump. And felt that the side had now found the right system and structure and could launch into the second half of the season with confidence.
“We’re still sitting eighth, but we’re six points off second spot.
“I was hoping we’d have a couple of more points (at this stage of the year)...but given the start we had – we were sitting there with one win from the firsts seven and now we’re talking about how far we are from second or third.
“It shows how tight this side of the competition is.
“I’d like to think we’d be in a better position than what we are, but given the way April’s gone, I’m pretty keen to see if we can keep this going. We’ve got some momentum, got some belief in the squad and hopefully that continues.”
Ballarat returns to Morshead Park for its next two matches in what will be the stage for two telling clashes.
City takes on Dandenong Thunder who sit third in the east conference then Melbourne Victory – third on the west ladder.