RICHARD Taundry bagged the first goal of his professional career last night and immediately dedicated it to his late father.
The all-action midfielder scored the only goal of the game as The Saddlers recorded a deserved 1-0 victory over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium. And afterwards, Taundry paid tribute to his dad, Steve, who passed away last September.
"It's not long since my dad passed away and I thought when my first goal came I'd look up to the heavens and give him a little thanks," he said. "I could have done it a bit sooner but it's come now. He was a Walsall lad and loved the club, so it was brilliant to get a goal for the club he loved.
"It was an emotional moment to be honest, but a grateful one too."
After biding his time to open his Walsall account, the lifelong Saddler admitted it was a special feeling and one that he is hoping to replicate in the near future. Last night was Taundry's 78th appearance in a Walsall shirt and he is determined to ensure that he doesn't have to wait quite so long to get his name on the scoresheet next time.
"For every young fan it's a dream to score for your own club," he added. "That's that box ticked now and I'll push on from here. It was a great feeling especially as we went on to win. That's the most important thing, that we picked up all three points. I'll aim for five goals this season. I'm going to push on from here."
Although he took the plaudits for his match-winning strike the 21 year-old paid tribute to the rest of his team-mates, who put in an excellent performance to ensure a first win of 2010. Undefeated in four, having conceded just once, Taundry is hoping the team can kick on from here.
"I thought we were composed and compact and deserved the win. It's been a long time coming but we were good value (for the three points). Credit to all the lads. We're solid and keeping cleansheets, which is important. It's time to kick on from here now."
