Mattie's winner against Gillingham, with his right foot, trickled past former West Ham keeper Steve Banks, but he says:
"They all count so I was pleased with it.
"It was an important three points, we got them, so I am delighted.
"The goals are coming a little bit so I am happy with that but the main thing is to keep picking up the wins at home and get a few points away.
"It was a long week after the previous Saturday when we weren't very happy.
"No one took it well after Millwall, it was a horrible day all round, but we bounced back and that is the main thing.
"We had to show a bit of character and it is hard to do at home.
"We have got a target and hopefully we will reach that."
As for the fact that West Ham are at Alan Pardew's old club Reading on Saturday, Mattie says the hype doesn't bother him.
"It is just another game with three points to play for," he insists.
Alan Pardew may be expecting some stick at Reading, but perhaps no one was prepared for the negativity Christian Dailly got from some fans even before the game on Saturday against Gillingham.
A minority it may have been that even booed his name when it was read out, but Christian had the last laugh with a good performance - and very nearly a goal.
"He came through it and at one point the fans started applauding him, which was nice - and the first thing everyone did in the dressing room afterwards was shake his hand," says Mattie.
"It is my job to protect him which is why I went onto the pitch at the end and shook his hand - I was proud of him," adds Alan.
"We put in a performance the week before that we can't be proud of so there were a few who had to dig deep on Saturday, Christian Dailly in particular - I thought he was excellent.
"It was a tough game, and we did a job when even though at times we struggled to cope with them.
"Mattie Etherington was terrific and deserved his goal; he gives us a lot from the left but it was good to see him score through the middle."
David Connolly has withdrawn from the Eire squad to face the Czech Republic on Wednesday evening at Lansdowne Road.
David made his comeback from a thigh problem on Saturday after missing three games, but was replaced by Adam Nowland in the second half.