Goulburn Valley Suns kick off the action on Saturday afternoon with a massive encounter, seeking to go eight games unbeaten by taking down Nunawading City at McEwen Reserve.
“We love playing against the best teams and Nunawading are right up there in NPL3 this year,” coach Craig Carley said.
“They’ll be coming to us on a high having beaten (Melbourne) Victory, but in saying that they lost 6-1 two weeks back to North Sunshine, so it just shows just how tight the league is.
“If we can prepare correctly, physically and mentally, we’ll come in and we’ll take the three points.”
The Suns hold a favourable away record having not lost a game on the road, but have dropped two games on their back paddock.
Carley wants a fix up in the home form guide and sees Saturday as a prime chance to set things straight.
“We need to make our home ground a bit of a fortress, it’s no secret that in years gone by our away record has been better than our home record,” he said.
“If we can turn that around, there’s no reason why we can’t be competing and beating these top sides in our league.”
• Round five of Bendigo Amateur Soccer League welcomes a second versus third epic as Shepparton United takes on Epsom in division one men’s.
The Blues can generate some breathing room as Epsom trails a point behind, while level on points with United is Shepparton South.
Rob Harmeston’s charges face a trip away to Truscott Reserve against Eaglehawk and Tatura also hits the road to take on Colts.
In the women’s, South goes in search of its first win when taking on Eaglehawk and Tatura meets top-of-the-table Colts.
Division two match play has Shepparton host La Trobe University, while Shepparton Jaguars have an away day against Golden City.
• On the hardwood, Shepparton Gators look to redeem their recent loss to RMIT as Coburg arrives at the Swamp on Sunday.
The Gators take to the court in third position with a 6-2 ledger in comparison to the Giants’ 3-5 record, but slim losses to both sides in the last round will likely mean a point is there to be proven at the tip-off.
One man to watch out for in Coburg’s ranks is monster inside the paint Romaric Zaire who averages two blocks a game, also ranking inside the competition’s top six sharpshooters with 22.5 points a game.
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