Whatever you call a great goal, Goulburn Valley Suns had them in spades on Saturday as the Orangemen rattled past Doveton in a crucial Victorian Premier League Two tie.
The Suns’ supercharged start had them laughing, up 3-0 at half-time without a care in the world.
A second half pass mark was enough for Craig Carley’s men to walk off Waratah Reserve with three points in the bag following a 3-1 victory, much to the delight of their gaffer.
“We’re really pleased for the boys; we’ve been playing a lot better since getting these new boys in as well and I think it was just having the confidence to really go at them and we done that,” Carley said.
“We obviously got off to a flyer in the first half, 3-0 up, and to be perfectly honest it probably could’ve and should’ve been more at half-time.
“We ground it out in the second half, we knew they were going to throw everything at us and fair play to the boys, they held on.
“We always look dangerous on the counter, so it’s a really pleasing result and performance to be honest.”
Dangerous is an accurate depiction of how the Suns set about their ways.
Four minutes into the game, Sean Grant steamed down the wing and cut the ball back for Callum Schorah to lash home from the apex of the 18-yard box.
If that was good, Brandon Giaccherini had an even better goal cooking 10 minutes later.
Some more sumptuous wing play — this time from Schorah — resulted in his cross deflecting high into the box, only for Giaccherini to come careening through traffic and leather the ball into the net on the volley.
It was the Suns’ day, and they knew it.
As the first half drew nearer to its end, Schorah pounced on a loose Doveton pass on the halfway line and fed through Russell Currie who obliged with a tidy finish.
It took a thumping left-footed drive from Yusong Son to get Doveton a goal back 10 minutes into the second half, but the Orangemen weren’t about to let a three-goal lead slip.
Only once the ref blew for full time could the Suns truly breathe a sigh of relief, though.
Saturday’s win hoists the side out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone, meaning the season's final games become “cup finals” in Carley’s eyes, starting with this weekend’s match against Box Hill United.
“We had a look through the stats the other day and if we’d have been able to hold onto the leads every time we’d gone ahead we’d be outright third and we find ourselves in a relegation battle,” he said.
“We know the magnitude and the size of the game against Box Hill; for us it’s another cup final, it’s another must-win.
“We’ll fully be going there trying to get the three points, and we know if we can get off to a flyer like we did in the home game, it’s certainly a winnable game and that’s how we’re going to approach it this weekend.”
Carley also touched on the influence of gun import Schorah, whose strike against Doveton lifts him to third equal on the league’s golden boot charts.
His eight goals from midfield are nothing short of stellar and with a string of assists adding to his shiny Suns record, Carley had nothing but niceties reserved for his countryman.
“He’s unbelievable, he’s such a good player; it’s not just his goal scoring ability, but his vision, his work rate,” Carley said.
“For me, he’s one of the best imports that we’ve ever got out if not the best import.
“His overall game and his football IQ is sensational and, above all, he works hard.
“We couldn’t be more happy with Cal and hopefully he can push us on for the rest of the season.”
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