The boys in navy blue’s incredible unbeaten streak - which stretched all the way back to March - came to a close in a sobering 3-1 defeat at the hands of title rivals Malvern City in round 23.
That result meant that City leapfrogged the Suns into pole position in the premiership race with just four games remaining in the campaign, as the Shepparton side’s quest for glory took a twist.
Still, the main pressing objective for the McEwen Reserve outfit remains securing automatic promotion from the VPL 2, which can be achieved via two more wins in the coming weeks.
Sizing up the threat posed by next opponents Keilor Park, Suns coach Craig Carley spoke with the utmost respect as he acknowledged the fifth-placed side’s strengths ahead of the 250km trip to the state capital.
In the reverse fixture in round 5 back on March 14, the Eagles triumphed with a 4-2 victory, with a brace from Graham Kelly and strikes from Max Branov and Ryouta Yanagisono sealing all three points for the visitors that time out.
“It’s going to be a really, really difficult game,” coach Carley said, assessing the opposition.
“They’ve had some positive results against the teams in and around us and I have a key focus of making sure we don’t lose to the same team twice in the same season.
“Keilor are the only team who can do that - they’re a resilient side that doesn’t concede many goals.
“It’s a difficult surface to play on, so I’m expecting a similar sort of game to Malvern, we’ve just got to be up for the fight and able to compete.
“I think if we can do that and match that, our quality will shine through.”
As for whether avenging last week’s defeat at Malvern will come into the thinking of those within the Suns camp, their helmsman was resolute in ensuring that his troops take things one game at a time.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the boys for the run they went on, Carley added, as he looked back over the best purple patch in the club’s history.
“We’ve been absolutely exceptional these last 16-17 weeks and we just have to put the (Malvern City) game behind us and focus on the game ahead.
“We’ve just got to look forward now and we know that our destiny is in our own hands in terms of getting those two wins out of the last remaining four fixtures.”
The GV Suns will face Keilor Park in the re-arranged round 18 fixture of the VPL 2 on August 8 from 2pm down at Keilor Park Recreation Reserve.
Elsewhere, current league frontrunners Malvern welcome the Eastern Lions to Egan Lee Reserve later that day at 3pm.
