On Sunday, the Suns clipped Boroondara Eagles’ wings to earn their first away victory of the Victorian Premier League Two season, 14 rounds into the campaign.
Funnily enough, the wings were where the Orangemen found their joy as wide men Danny Edwards and Mangara Munguakonkha both doubled up during a 4-1 win that was made possible by some safe keeping at the back.
Suns custodian Ashton Bonsall pulled off a catalogue of great stops to numb the opposition’s sting during an affair that coach Craig Carley labelled a “bit of a weird game”.
“The scoreline at times was probably closer than what it should’ve been; I thought Ashton in goals was brilliant in making saves and actually keeping us in the game when we were 1-0 up,” Carley said.
“We could’ve gone in at half-time a couple of goals down, apart from Ashton’s heroics.
“Second half, we tweaked a couple of things and Mangara came on and produced a couple of pieces of magic, but we were really clinical in that second half.”
Desperate for an away win after four losses and two draws on the road, the Suns hit the front early as a long switch out to the left found Edwards, who cut inside and flashed home on his right.
Though ahead, Bonsall was kept busy as Boroondara pricked and probed in the final third while the Suns were sucked into the Eagles’ direct style of play.
However, in the second half, the passing became shorter and the game became sweeter.
Edwards had his second not long after the hour mark, his initial shot saved on the line before volleying the scraps into the roof of the net.
Munguakonkha then arrived off the bench with a point to prove, slamming home two curling efforts into the bottom corner within minutes of each other to put the result beyond reasonable doubt.
Boroondara managed to find a late consolation goal, but it did little to dampen Carley’s spirits after checking off a long-awaited milestone, 365 days after the Suns’ most recent away win.
“It was really pleasing to get our first win on the road this season,” he said.
“It’s been coming for a while and the performances have been good, but it’s good to have a solid performance and get the result, so (I’m) really pleased.”
Carley also spoke about his side’s fluidity in the front line and squad depth, touching on the crucial aspect of local development as a regional VPL2 club.
“That goes to show the program that we’ve had in place for a number of years now in terms of developing local talented boys and they’re starting to showcase their skills on that senior stage,” he said.
“It’s an environment where we know we have to produce locally based players and we rely on the boys we do get across to help nurture that program.
“Again, credit to the junior coaches, the 23s coaches et cetera, in trying to get these boys up to the standard we need them at a senior level.”
The Suns are back at home this Saturday, taking on Altona City at McEwen Reserve at 6pm.
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