Sounds of rapture versus ruin summed up a frustrating day at the office for the Goulburn Valley Suns on Saturday.
Following a 3-2 loss, the Suns’ dressing room was deathly quiet following a spray from coach Craig Carley while the team song of victor Doveton reverberated around McEwen Reserve with gusto.
And rightly so, given the nature of the win.
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Skipping forward: Suns’ Taku Hishida. Photo by Megan FisherImage 2 of 8
Winding up: Joe Adoo-Peters launches one long. Photo by Megan FisherImage 3 of 8
Angling in: Suns’ Jamie England chips a ball through. Photo by Megan FisherImage 4 of 8
On the job: Geordie Lelliott clears the ball. Photo by Megan FisherImage 5 of 8
Closing down: Suns’ Greg Nash. Photo by Megan FisherImage 6 of 8
Reading the play: Suns’ Darcy Pawlik. Photo by Megan FisherImage 7 of 8
Great Scot: Suns import Russell Currie. Photo by Megan FisherImage 8 of 8
Man marked: Suns’ Joe Adoo-Peters shadows his opponent. Photo by Megan FisherDoveton exacted a come-from-behind victory in the dying stages, condemning the Suns to an almost identical defeat as the one they suffered the weekend prior.
Carley lamented the loss, citing lapses of concentration in key moments as an Achilles heel of his side.
“Overall I thought it was a game we controlled; the stats tell me we had 65 per cent possession and we’d created 20 chances again,” he said.
“But if you’re conceding three goals at home, you’re not going to win many games unfortunately. We need to hold on to a lead a bit better than we did.
“We can’t keep affording to be missing gilt-edged chances or making poor decisions in front of goal because ultimately teams will punish us.’’
The game began in a lethargic manner with both sides feeling each other out, with neither carving out any shots on goal until the 35th minute.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the score read 1-1.
First it was young Sun Brandon Giaccherini to blast one from range into the top left corner, but Doveton caught the home side’s defence napping from kick-off as Josh Hine levelled proceedings less than 20 seconds after the restart.
The Suns would take the lead early in the second half as prolific forward Russell Currie added to his tally, notching his fourth of the season.
Created by some sumptuous wing play from Giaccherini, Currie tapped the ball home after Taku Hishida’s shot was saved by the Doves’ goalkeeper.
Though the second equaliser didn’t come quite as soon as the first, Doveton would tie things up 10 minutes later as a turnover in the Suns’ defensive third was clinically converted by skipper Josh Frame.
Frame would eventually become the hero as he bundled home a free kick sent into the Orangemen’s box in the 88th minute, well and truly knocking the wind out of the Suns.
The result leaves Carley with some thinking to do, as the team’s record now reads one win and two losses.
“It's getting to the stage for me where I need to start looking at how many more opportunities do I give the players if they’re not going to step up and take these chances,” he said.
“Ultimately, it’s a results-driven business and we should be sitting with nine points on the table and at the moment we’ve got three.
“From my perspective that’s not good enough.”
Carley will be given a chance to shuffle the pack and test new combinations on Tuesday night, as the Suns host Pascoe Vale in round six of the Australia Cup.
Pascoe Vale currently sits equal first in NPL2, with five wins and two losses in the division above the Suns.
Kick-off is at 7.30pm at McEwen Reserve.