Tara Murray
Everything clicked for Sunbury United in the FV state league 3 north-west on Saturday against Brunswick Zebras.
After a slow start to the season, Sunbury went into the match having claimed points in their last three matches.
That momentum continued on Saturday with a massive 7-1 win.
Sunbury started strongly and led 2-0 at half time.
It continued the momentum in the second half to run away with the win.
Sunbury coach Danny Moore said they weren’t getting ahead of themselves, but it would definitely help the group going forward.
“It was a good day for the club,” he said. “Our reserves had a win against Brunswick’s seconds who are top of the table.
“I think yesterday [Saturday] is an example of what happens when everything clicks. Through the start of the season one area has been going and another not as strong.
“All the planets aligned.”
Damian Rastocic kicked four goals for the Sunbury, while Jake McIntyre, Rakan Filfel and Jason Hayne also got on the scoreboard.
The Zebras did finish with 10 men, but the score line was already 7-1 when that occurred.
The win was Sunbury’s third of the season.
Having been at the bottom of the ladder not long ago, Sunbury is now up to seventh on the ladder and is quickly closing the gap on the sides above it.
Moore said they know they still have a lot of work to do this season.
“We’re trying not to read too much into it as it doesn’t really change the ladder,” he said.
“We wanted to set ourselves for the second half of the year with a couple of strong performances. We haven’t picked up as many points we would have liked in the last couple of rounds, but the strong result like yesterday [Saturday] is a massive lift.”
There is a bye this weekend across the competition.
Sunbury will be at home again, taking on Altona North which is in third spot, four points ahead of Sunbury.
Moore said while they would like to keep the momentum going the break would be a good opportunity to reset for the second half of the season.
“We had a really tough start against the Altona North, the Western Eagles, Laverton and Williamstown and I think they are the top four teams. We know these games the next few weeks will be tough, but we want to reverse the tables and the boys are keen to learn from the process and the mistakes we made.”
Meanwhile in state league 4 west, Gisborne continues to push the sides at the top of the ladder with a good win on Saturday.
Facing ETA Buffalo Club of Victoria, the Sky Blues won 1-0.
The Sky Blues move to third on the table.
