The GV Suns' Callum Schorah will be hoping to continue his stellar form against Whittlesea.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
The GV Suns will be out for revenge in the reverse fixture against Whittlesea United in the VPL 2 - after falling to defeat at the hands of their upcoming opponents in the opening week of the campaign.
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The visitors stunned those gathered at John McEwen Reserve in mid-February, emerging from a tightly-contested battle with all three points following a 2-1 win courtesy of a last-ditch winner from Mohammad Al Saadi.
Fast forward over three months and the Shepparton outfit is currently enjoying a purple patch on the field on the eve of its visit to Epping Stadium, having put together a run of 10 games without defeat to set a new club record.
Despite juggling Australia Cup commitments in recent weeks, Craig Carley’s charges have been tireless in their pursuit of points - claiming the spoils in round 13 in the league versus Box Hill United courtesy of an injury time winner from Danny Edwards.
That timely strike meant that the Goulburn Valley side remains eight points adrift of current VPL2 pacesetters Malvern City at this midway stage of the term.
The hosts for this round 14 fixture will come into the clash in 10th position in the league ladder, albeit having secured wins over Keilor Park and Nunawading City either side of a draw with Moreland City this month.
Addressing the challenge posed by Whittlesea ahead of the 200km trip down to Melbourne’s Epping Stadium, Suns head coach Carley provided a balanced assessment of the opposition’s strengths.
“They’re a better side than what the league table shows at the moment,” he said.
“They’ve won the last two games so they’re a good footballing side, they’re strong and love a physical battle.
“But we set our own standards and one of our standards is that we don’t lose twice to any team in one season,” he said, referencing the round one loss against Whittlesea earlier this year.
“They beat us in round one, scoring in the last minute, so we want to keep our own momentum going and rectify that - I felt like we deserved a lot more (in round one).
GV Suns head coach Craig Carley has given his assessment of the strengths of Whittlesea United.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
“We’re on the road again and we’re familiar with the pitch having played there (Epping Stadium) against Green Gully a few weeks back so we’re going there full of confidence.”
Giving an overview of his side’s performance across the campaign so far, Carley also issued praise to his squad for their dedicated contributions this term.
“I think it comes down to the energy in training, the boys are all pushing,” he said.
“They raise the bar every single session and each game -and now we’ve reached the midway point of the season and it’s an A-plus for the boys so far.
“We’re five points clear in second and we’re still trying to chase down Malvern who have been the pacesetters and we’re still in the good and got a good draw in that.
“So we couldn’t have asked for anything better than that and, at the end of the day, it’s the players who do all the hard work.
“We can lead (the players) and instruct them as much as we can but, ultimately, they’ve got to buy into that process and so far they have - they’re getting their rewards for that at the moment.”
The GV Suns face off against Whittlesea United in round 14 of the VPL 2 season from 6pm on May 23 at Epping Stadium, Melbourne.
