Goulburn Valley Suns staged a McEwen Reserve massacre on Tuesday night, putting Pascoe Vale to the sword in its first foray of the 2023 Australia Cup.
The Suns hit the travellers for six, with a Russell Currie hat-trick stealing the headlines alongside goals from Jake Brocklebank, Harun Aktas and Elijah Brooker.
Defender Adam Gatcum, who skippered the side on the night, was chuffed at how the Suns bounced back after two league losses on the spin.
“Performance-wise, it was excellent; clinical in front of goal and ruthless at the back,” he said.
“They’re the things that we’ve needed to improve on for the last couple of weeks.
“A couple of players were rested, Jamie (England), Joe (Adoo-Peters), ‘Kiwi’ (Greg Nash), and everyone who came in really stepped up, so it gives the management a few selection headaches heading into the weekend.”
Despite Pascoe Vale sitting a division higher than the Suns, it was the home side which looked a class above as Brocklebank got the ball rolling with a headed effort in the 33rd minute.
Currie, who cannot seem to put a foot wrong in Suns colours this season, then made it two before the break with a curled strike into the top corner to have the home side laughing its way into the sheds.
Currie completed his hat-trick 20 minutes into the second term, and the stake was driven further into Pascoe Vale’s heart as Aktas and Brooker chimed in with late efforts.
After marshalling the Suns’ backline alongside some of the club’s younger stars, Gatcum waxed lyrical about his teammates’ performances.
“I thought the young boys that came up (impressed), Marcus Thomas played right back alongside me and I thought he had a really good game,” Gatcum said.
“ ’Foofa’ (Alexander Georgopoulos) stepped up in goal … which I thought was deserved after the pre-season he had. He took his chance, played out from the back nicely and his distribution was great.
“Harun (Aktas) also really impressed me, his fitness levels are now one of the best in the team.”
While securing passage into the next round of the Australia Cup is a sweet reward, it’s clear the Suns have both eyes firmly fixed on their exploits in National Premier League Three.
Gatcum said the 6-0 masterclass would inject a dose of confidence into the side, and transferring that kind of performance into league fixtures is nothing short of paramount.
“It's good to break that little spell of two defeats on the bounce – we certainly don’t want that to be extended any further – so to break that run was nice,” Gatcum said.
“But our focus is on finishing as high as possible in this league.
“It’s great to win the cup games, but we just have to make sure that it transfers to Saturday fixtures.”