This season’s Victorian Premier League Two tilt has been Rube Goldberg machine-esque for the Suns, with complex twists and turns jolting Craig Carley’s side up and down the ladder whenever the road ahead appears too straight.
However, Saturday finally brought about a degree of stability.
The Orangemen saw off Nunawading City 2-1 at Mahoney’s Reserve to cling on to sixth spot.
And though the scoreline suggests a fairly tame match, it wasn’t.
A missed penalty, four yellow cards and a late winner points to a hands-on-head, hearts-in-mouth affair and Carley was glad to come out smiling on the right side of it.
“It was a fairly even game; ‘Nuna’ are a quality footballing side and they’re in a rich vein of form at the moment,” Carley said.
“We prepared for them as best we could, watched their last four games’ footage and knew they might have a few heavier legs going into the game with their excellent cup win on Tuesday night against Hume.
“But we were fully focused on the task and, obviously, coming away with the three points, which ultimately we achieved.”
Nunawading entered the game on a crest of emotion, having beaten National Premier League side Hume City midweek to book a spot in the Australia Cup round of 32.
Rest assured, the host kept that raised bar high against the Suns.
Though the game remained scoreless at the break, Carley admitted his side was on the back foot and was sluggish early on as City looked the likelier to score with probing moves in the opening 20 minutes.
Instead, the Suns were gifted a gilt-edged opportunity to break the deadlock before half-time, but Callum Schorah was unable to convert from the penalty spot.
Schorah was spared his blushes in the 53rd minute when Suns forward Brandon Giaccherini latched on to goalkeeper Ashton Bonsall’s long kick, running past the defender and slotting calmly off his weaker foot.
That joy was short-lived as Santiago Domingo Lupino equalised three minutes later and, as the clock wound down towards full-time, the tension dialled up tenfold.
Carley needed a game-changing moment and he certainly got one.
With 82 minutes on the clock, a silky sequence saw Schorah thread the ball through the middle third to Stefan Pigatto, who popped it into Mangara Munguakonkha’s feet.
The mercurial winger struck truly into the bottom corner from outside the box, securing the Suns all three points and a foothold heading into this weekend’s game against Pascoe Vale.
Though sitting bottom, the Rams knocked down fifth-ranked Essendon Royals on Friday night and possess league-leading striker Tom Barforosh (11 goals).
However, Carley is more focused on his own troops and, after Saturday, believes the result may be the morale injection the Suns need to fly further up the ladder.
“Hopefully, the result against Nuna will give the boys some confidence in going ahead and doing that,” he said.
“We want to, at a very minimum, make those playoffs and we know we haven’t had that run of results like the teams above us have had.
“Everyone is beating everyone, it shows how competitive and tight the league is and all it takes is two or three consistent results to elevate you further up the league.
“The belief is there from the coaching staff to the players, it’s just about going all in with what we’re doing and seeing where it takes us.”
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