That’s the mantra Goulburn Valley Suns adopted on Saturday afternoon against Essendon Royals at Nasiol Stadium as a three-goal first half catapulted the Orangemen to their first victory in the new Victorian Premier League Two campaign.
New Zealand import forward Curtis Hughes netted a brace to complement Mohammed Al Gazaly’s opener, though the Royals would bite back hard after the break.
Despite conceding twice in the second half, Suns coach Craig Carley was proud of his side for digging in and confirming what was a hard fought three points.
“Firstly, I’m really proud of the boys to get that first win,” he said.
“It’s a difficult game against a very good side - Essendon, obviously they’ve had two defeats in the first two games but they’re a much better side (than that) and they’ll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
“For us, it was a really resilient performance in the end.”
Having the luxury of looking at extensive Essendon game footage, the Suns went in well prepped for the dethroning of the Royals.
All it took was eight minutes to get the party started.
Al Gazaly bundled home the scraps from a long throw after Essendon failed to clear, pumping wind into the Suns’ sails early doors.
And on the half hour mark, Hughes waltzed on through with the show stopper.
The striker received the ball out wide, drifted inside and skipped past his man before unleashing a cannon from 30 yards that fizzed under the bar and in.
Five minutes later he was at it again, utilising some clever movement to get beyond the defence and slot home for a brace on debut.
“I think Curtis is going to be a top, top striker to be honest,” Carley said.
“It was obviously disappointing not to have him round one, he had a slight hamstring niggle, but his movement off the ball, he’s so sharp.
“He’s certainly exciting and we look forward to him scoring many more goals for us this season.”
The Suns walked into the sheds 3-0 up, and if they were expecting an Essendon reply, they got one.
Lethal forward Jordan Adeyemi pegged one back four minutes after the restart from a tight angle and was able to double his tally in the 83rd minute, setting up a tight final few stages.
But the Orangemen’s earlier hard work - paired with some steely defending - paid dividends at the final whistle despite a Royals pushback in the second 45.
“I felt we started defending a little bit too deep - we were on our 18 yard box - and probably not being brave enough to play under that pressure,” Carley said.
“When your backs are against the wall you still have to try and be brave enough to play through the thirds, and at times I felt we went too direct and gave the ball straight back to them.
“They scored their first goal very early in the second half and we knew it was going to be backs against the wall defending from there.
“Credit to the boys, they managed to do that but we know we can be better within moments in the game with ball retention.”
The Suns are back at home this weekend, taking on an Altona City side with a win and a draw to its name.
Come Saturday night, Carley is hoping to reinstate McEwen Reserve’s reputation as a fortress.
“We felt a lit bit unjust in that first game so we need to rectify that this week in what’s going to be another tough test,” he said.
“Hopefully we can do that; get the community and a crowd behind us and cheer the boys on, that’d be great.”
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