Kwabena Appiah admits he considered seeing a psychiatrist before finally ending his long A-League goal drought against Adelaide United on Sunday.
Appiah scored his first goal in Canberra last weekend after four and a half years and 52 games in the competition. The Mariners forward struck in the 79th minute, helping his club to a vital 2-1 win over the Reds.
Appiah said he had been waiting "far too long" for his maiden strike.
"I was starting to think I was cursed, I was going to start seeing a psychiatrist," the 24-year old admited.
"I just couldn't believe that I scored and I'm happy that I got the monkey off my back.... if you don't keep the faith what else do you have? To be honest I did lose a bit of faith here and there but I guess perserverance paid off.
"Coming on is not an easy thing to do but Paolo's put a lof faith in me. Coming on and helping us get the three points and cross that line and get our first back-to-back win in a long time is a great feeling."
Appiah, who started his career with the Central Coast before stints with Western Sydney and Wellington, rejoined the Gosford club before the start of the 2016/2017 season. The winger is keen to add to his goal tally.
"Definitely, hopefully I can get a few more goals," he said.
"There's nine games left so plenty of time to get to the target I wanted to achieve at the end of the season."
The Mariners have notched consecutive victories against Perth and Adelaide, lifting them off the bottom of the A-League ladder.
"We've been puting in a lot of work on the training park," Appiah said.
"We've been very unlucky this season with some results not going our way. We should have had a few more wins to be honest."
The Mariners head to Spotless Stadium this weekend to take on the Wanderers. Appiah believes a win this Sunday can ignite a push towards the finals.
"100%," the striker said.
"If we get three points this weekend against Western Sydney Wanderers, who've come off a top win against Wellington, I think we'll only be two points off and that's when we can really make something happen."
Related Articles

Former Socceroo Sainsbury returns to Mariners in ALM

Socceroos midfield star Nisbet joins Scottish side Ross
.jpg&h=172&w=306&c=1&s=1)