Two goals, a clean sheet and three points had the rooms at McEwen Reserve reverberating with the sounds of a jubilant Suns contingent after it dismantled Bulleen Lions 2-0.
With the Theatre of Dreams rocking after its round one win, Suns coach Craig Carley was overjoyed with Saturday's result.
“I am obviously really happy to get off to a great start and the three points. More importantly for me, I was pleased with the performance, effort and application of every single player,” Carley said.
“I thought that we played our brand of football and, make no mistake, Bulleen will be a side that will be challenging come the end of the season.
“Everyone has worked so hard in what has been a very long pre-season and hopefully we can continue to build on this performance.”
Approaching as the underdog, the Suns were put under pressure early — and were almost made to pay if not for an outstanding reflex save from young custodian Zac McLeod 10 minutes in.
However, in the following phases it was the Suns who would dish out the damage.
A slick passage down the left shifted to the right, with Sean Grant nodding home the Suns’ first from a crafty Vani Shamoon cross.
Suns’ metronomic midfielders Shane Dunne and Jamie England worked in harmony to mop up any signs of danger, bolstering a back four which had answers for every question posed by Bulleen.
After the break, the Suns were forced to weather a storm as the Lions bit back with attacking inroads early.
McLeod later popped up with another clutch save to keep his side a goal to the good.
Opposition keeper Wonsuk Choi then produced an outstanding one-on-one stop to deny substitute Brandon Giaccherini.
But there was little he could do about the Suns’ second.
Fresh off the bench, Willie Sauiluma muscled off his man and angled a pass into the path of the incoming Jamie De Smit, who rocketed the ball home from 18 yards.
His 88th-minute strike wrapped up the win, signalling the side's best start to a season since 2017.
The Suns now turn their attention to Saturday, when they will make the trip to face Manningham United Blues away.
In the earlier fixtures, the Suns’ under-19s were felled 4-2, while Marc Anticev's goal for the under-21s wasn't enough to get his side over the line as it went down 2-1.
● An opportunity to exorcise FFA Cup demons has been granted to the Suns.
Yesterday's draw revealed the Suns’ opposition for round four as Casey Comets away — the side which barreled Carley's men out of the competition prematurely in 2019.
While an exact date has not yet been specified, the Suns will head to Craigieburn over Easter weekend looking for revenge.
More local sport
KDL | Excitement builds ahead of 2021 season
Haisman Shield | Mooroopna books a spot in grand final
Latest Lightfoot Medal winner to be crowned
8°C