ALLOA boss Jim Goodwin was pleased with his players’ resilience after they ground out their first win of the season at home to Queen’s Park last Saturday.

The Wasps were frustrated for long spells, but were rewarded for their efforts when youngster Adam Martin scored a superb winner with five minutes to do.

And the manager hailed his side’s defensive display after they picked up a first clean sheet of the new campaign.

Goodwin told Advertiser Sport: “I’m delighted with the win. We knew how difficult it was going to be, and with them coming off the back of a 5-2 defeat we knew that they would be well-organised.

"I thought their players did very well. But we dug in and got the result.

“I’m especially delighted with the clean sheet. We restricted Queen’s Park to only a couple of shots on target, and Neil Parry didn’t have a whole lot to do.

“The goal was fantastic as well. That’s the sort of impact you want from your substitutes.

"Adam has been chomping at the bit to get on the park for the last few weeks. I’m really pleased that it was him who went and won the game for us.”

Indeed, Goodwin was full of praise for 19-year-old Martin, who climbed off the bench to score the winning goal, and says the teenager is getting better all the time thanks to his continued involvement with the Wasps’ first team.

He said: “Adam has been training with the first team for the last seven or eight months and he’s improving all the time.

"He still has a long way to go, but he’s one we’re very excited about. He’s good with the ball at his feet and he’s always trying to make something happen.

“He scores goals like that three or four times a night in training. It’s something he works really hard on and it’s paying off.”

The manager reckons Saturday’s encounter in Airdrie is one of a host of tricky fixtures his players will have to negotiate this season, but he says they will prepare as they always do in the hope of making it back-to-back wins.

Goodwin added: “We will build on the result and get ready for another difficult game at Airdrie.

"In this league, there’s not a lot between the teams and you can see that from the way the results go on a weekly basis. But for every game, whether it’s home or away, you prepare the same way.”