The Goulburn Valley Suns were flying high on Tuesday night after a massive 5-0 Australia Cup win at McEwen Reserve.
It was a well-rounded performance from the Suns, with a clean sheet and some tidy finishing seeing the side move on to the next round of the national knockout cup competition.
Coming up against National Premier League Three side the North Sunshine Eagles, the Suns did it in style, with Jamie Hamilton scoring a brace and Willie Sauiluma and Alex Caldow scoring one goal each.
The Suns’ final goal went down as an own goal, however coach Craig Carley could have claimed it as his own.
Speaking about the contest, Carley said the change in competition and distraction that came with cup soccer was good for the team.
“Obviously it was good to get the win but more importantly it was good to get the clean sheet from my perspective, I thought the boys all worked very hard,” Carley said.
“You can only play what’s in front of you and full credit to the boys for sticking to the game plan and playing well.
“It’s no secret that we have plenty of players missing but it also gives an opportunity to step up and I thought some of the younger boys were absolutely fantastic.”
Carley said Tutu Taya put in a great shift at centre back, with Caleb Enders impressive off the bench.
“Caleb’s development since pre-season has just been phenomenal and these are all juniors that we look to really step up and develop into those NPL players,” he said.
With the Suns’ lengthy injury list, Carley pulled on the boots for a run as a second-half substitute, with the head coach explaining it was difficult to juggle playing and coaching week-in week-out.
It has been a difficult start to the NPL Two season so far for the Suns and this win is sure to give them a boost heading in to their next series of matches.
Tuesday night’s win sees the side move on to the next round of the Australia Cup, one step closer to the possibility of playing an A-League side.