Tara Murray
Sunbury United’s promotion hopes may be all but over, but Sunbury continues to push in the FV state league 3 north-west competition.
Having not lost in its last seven games, Sunbury extended that to eight with an upset win against second placed Craigieburn City on Saturday.
Sunbury coach Danny Moore said it was their best win of the season.
“It was our biggest win of the season playing against a Craigieburn side that were second placed heading into the game,” he said.
“They are still very much aiming for promotion and they would have been confident. A promotion spot is too far our of reach.
“We want to finish as high as we can. The theme throughout the week was to look to hold up our standards and stick to the principles that have held us in good stead.”
Sunbury hit the lead just before half time through a penalty, before former Sunbury striker Jayden Mercieca levelled the scores for Craigieburn.
Craigieburn went a man down after a red card, with Jake McIntyre scoring his and Sunbury’s second from the resulting penalty.
Aaron Cosgriff scored two goals late to seal the win for Sunbury.
Moore said the pleasing thing was how the group had shown their growth having been in a similar position the week before.
“The boys dominated and I thought we were the better side throughout. We had opportunities and we were able to execute them and score four goals.
“The same thing [the opposition went down a man] happened last week against the Western Eagles.
“We didn’t play well in that scenario and we learned our lesson from last week.”
Moore said the return of Ashley Webster, who they signed in the transfer window, had made a difference with Webster enjoying the return to his former club.
Sunbury sits in sixth spot, just five points behind top side Uni Hill Eagles, who have played one less game.
Heidelberg Eagles are equal on points with Uni Hill and were due to play Monday night after deadline.
Moore said even if they won all three of their remaining games they would likely fall short of a promotion spot.
“The top couple of sides have had loses the last couple of weeks,” he said. “We haven’t lost one in the last eight games.
“If we pull off three wins it will be really tight at the end, which makes it a really interesting season.
“The league is so tight and there’s going to be a few more twists and turns before the season finishes.”
This weekend is a catch up round, with Sunbury having the weekend off. Moore said it came at a perfect time to allow them to rest a few sore bodies.
Sunbury faces Williamstown, one of those teams above it, in the match after the split round.
