Late double pushes Goulburn Valley Suns ever closer to survival after knocking over Box Hill United

Away to Box Hill United, the Suns rolled the shutters during a tricky first half weather-wise and flashed home with two late efforts to seal a 2-0 victory.

According to coach Craig Carley he couldn’t have asked for a more dogged defensive showing from his side in the biting cold and swirling gusts to stamp a clean sheet against the odds.

“It was a really resilient display to be honest; obviously (they were) tough, tough conditions with the rain coming in sideways and the wind,” he said.

“Box Hill is always a tough place to go at the best of times; it was a bit of a hilly pitch, so we were against the wind and going uphill in the first half.

“We had to weather the storm at times in terms of the pressure, but once we got in at half-time, made a couple of slight adjustments and the boys executed the game plan perfectly.”

While the Suns struck late to win the game, it took a Goliath pair of saves from new shot-stopper Jonathan Pithoulas to ensure parity at the half.

At the quarter-hour mark, Box Hill pounced with a big switch out to the right, which was cut back for an oncoming runner.

Pithoulas splayed himself and made a great save from a well-connected low drive and 10 minutes later, he was at it again.

This time, United’s counter resulted in a one-on-one effort down the left side, with Pithoulas producing an exemplary near-post parry to keep his side level.

Box Hill, while having more of the ball in the first half, hadn’t really threatened apart from the two earlier chances and was made to pay for its wastefulness in front of goal during the dying embers,

And who else was it to bring the hammer down other than Callum Schorah.

Substitute Lawyi Niyonkuru won a penalty not long after coming on which Scorah duly dispatched and minutes later the Englishman assisted Russell Currie from a free-kick, the big man heading home for his 10th goal of the season.

“Obviously scoring two goals and not conceding, coming away with a clean sheet was a huge boost for the team against a really good Box Hill team,” Carley said.

“You can see why they only conceded 29 goals before the game, they set themselves up really well with their defensive structure, but the boys were immense.

“Our defensive display was brilliant and we limited them to not many attacking options. I’m really happy with the three points and again, it just keeps us in the fight another week longer in this tussle near the bottom of the table.”

Despite Saturday’s victory, Carley knows the job is far from done.

The Suns return to McEwen Reserve for the final three games of the season and up first is Beaumaris.

Though Beaumaris sit rock bottom and are at $1.01 odds for relegation, the Suns lost to the Sharks last time the two sides met.

In Carley’s eyes, that cannot be repeated.

“By all accounts, Beaumaris have certainly picked up a few new players and are playing a good brand of football, and we know that every game in this league is a difficult game,” he said.

“If we don’t turn up on our game, we’ll get rolled over.

“It’s always been a bit of a bogey side Beaumaris, but we know what’s at stake for us and we know that this is a must-win game.

“We can’t afford to come away with anything less than three points if we’re going to give ourselves a chance of survival.

“We’ll certainly prepare for the win and go in playing an attacking brand of football and it’s just good to be back at home for these last three games and be able to dictate terms on our patch.”