It was a bitter 3-2 defeat to first-placed Moreland City in round six NPL2 action at the weekend, but the Goulburn Valley Suns have plenty to smile about ahead of their Australia Cup clash on Tuesday night.
A blistering first-half performance at Moreland’s Well Money Park Campbell Reserve had the men in orange carry a 2-0 lead into half-time on Saturday thanks to superb goals from Jamie Hamilton and John Mulimi.
A goal-happy Moreland City side could not find a reply in the first 45 minutes, the Suns’ back four combination of Zachary Balaburov, Sean Pye, Jamie England and Willie Sauiluma holding firm.
“It was a very good performance from the boys,” Suns coach Craig Carley said.
“I can’t fault the effort, obviously the result is disappointing, but the performance was really encouraging.”
City’s cutting-edge started to show after the break, and three goals within seven minutes late into the second period delivered the Suns a knockout blow.
The breakthrough came in the 69th minute through City’s Jamie Latham, who netted his second of the season.
Michael Tzoutzidis brought his side level just four minutes later, before Christos Theodorakopoulos gave his side the advantage just three minutes after that.
Four injuries throughout the match have given Carley further selection headaches as he prepares his side for an Australia Cup clash with North Sunshine Eagles this week.
“We’ll give players games that need game time, obviously it’s not our main priority — our priority is obviously at the moment staying in NPL2,” Carley said.
“It gives us another opportunity for players to stake a claim for first-team football going into next weekend.”
The Suns welcome North Sunshine Eagles to McEwen Reserve for their Australia Cup clash on Tuesday, April 26, with kick-off at 7.30pm.