GV Suns stun Green Gully in cup giant-killing

Continuing from where they left off in their league campaign, the Suns arrived in Melbourne in buoyant mood hoping to spoil the party in front of 10,000 spectators.

It took just nine minutes for the side from Shepparton to gain an early foothold in proceedings as Curtis Hughes continued his rich vein of form in front of goal by firing the Suns into a shock lead.

The free-scoring forward turned poacher once more as he converted a sumptuous searching cross from the right flank, exhibiting close control before firing past the flailing Gully keeper.

Head coach Carley has impressed during league fixtures with his approach to game management and his troops were able to execute his message once more during the remainder of the first half.

Maintaining their one-goal advantage heading into the break, the Englishman was eager to stress the need for focus while addressing his players in the changing room.

“We’d certainly done our homework coming into the game and watched their last three,” he said, recalling his half-time briefing.

“We knew where we could expose them but the main message to the boys was to enjoy the occasion and go out and compete.

“Then, I told them ‘our very best is good enough to beat any team, regardless of the competition they play in’.”

However, coming up against opposition from one division above in the Australian league pyramid, Carley will have been under no illusions that the tie was going to be a mere formality from here.

“We reset at half-time and we knew [Green Gully] would come out and re-galvanize,” he said.

“It was about understanding that they would have a spell where they were on top of ten or fifteen minutes and we needed to ride that wave.

“So we had to stick to to playing short football and not playing a game that we’re not familiar with like going direct.

“We wanted to make sure we were compact and narrow as a team so we were protecting the centre and defending in wider areas.”

Demonstrating the immensity of the challenge facing the Shepp side, the hosts eventually snatched an equalizer Elioan Kifle before the hour mark.

Ensuring a grandstand finish to proceedings in Melbourne, it was clear that both teams were not willing to go down without a fight - and a 30-minute tussle for ascendency soon ensued.

Still, the momentum that the Suns had built up during the infancy of the league campaign paid dividends in this war of attrition as they arguably produced the standout moment of their season with a timely winner just one-minute shy of the final whistle.

With the seconds ticking down at Epping Stadium, then Danny Edwards produced a moment of magic that will live long in the memory as he booked his side’s ticket to fifth round of the competition.

Cutting inside from the left wing, the forward sparked rapturous celebrations from staff and players alike with a 30-yard piledriver reminiscent of Steven Gerrard in the English FA Cup final in 2006.

“Full credit to the boys, they rode the wave [of pressure] and came back stronger in the second half of that second half,” Carley said of the match-winning goal.

“It wasn’t just Danny’s goal but I thought he was Man of the Match on the day.

“He is an incredible football player and you can see why he’s been a professional - he was everywhere on that pitch and was a pleasure to watch.”

“He’s a pleasure to coach, we know what he’s capable of and he’s just produced another bit of magic this week.“

Putting the seal on a historic giant-killing victory in the knockout tie, the former Fleetwood Town marksman has now written his name into Australian Cup folklore.

In a rousing reflection following one of the most impressive 90-minute displays of his tenure so far, Carley’s pride was palpable.

“Full credit to the boys, they’ve gone out there and been really resilient in the performance and competed,” he said.

“Anyone watching would have thought we were the higher-ranked team - it wasn’t just the result, the performance was really pleasing as well.“

“We know their best is good enough to compete with anyone and I couldn’t be prouder of the performance they put in.”