By Tara Murray
Everything has come together for Sunbury United in the FFV state league 3 north-west competition.
With a core group of players from last season returning and a number of quality signings, Sunbury hopes it has put together a side that will be in the mix this season.
Sunbury vice-president Greg Czapnik said depth-wise, it was the best that there had ever been at the club.
“Lino [Grech] will have a real headache,” Czapnik said of selection.
“It all came together, it was amazing.
“It’s hard to attract players, but when you attract quality players, everybody stands up to see what we have done.
“The signing of Jimmy Daniels was part of the catalyst for signing quality players.
“We had players coming to us. We’ve been knocking back players, which we’ve never done before.”
Sunbury kicked off its season on Saturday in brilliant fashion against Western Eagles, winning 4-1.
Czapnik said it was a match they dominated throughout. They were 2-1 up at half-time.
“We’re pretty ecstatic,” he said.
“It’s the first competitive game with a relatively strong squad.
“We dominated the whole game to be honest. A defensive error from us is what they scored from.
“At 2-1 we were dominate without creating a lot. We had two set pieces and were able to put them away.
“Once we scored the third goal, the game petered out to nothing. They didn’t threaten us and we were doing it pretty easy.”
Josh Metzger and Jimmy Daniels both scored in the first half in their first games for the club.
Beau Summers, in his first full league game for Sunbury, scored the third goal, while Sime Brzoja came off the bench to score the sealer in the 87th minute.
Czapnik said a big positive for the team was that several players are still to come back into the side, including their second striker.
Having got off to a good start, Czapnik said the key for the side was to maintain consistency throughout the whole season.
A lack of consistency has plagued the side for the past few years. Last year they were sitting second and on track for promotion after round 19 before slipping up.
“It’s a tight league with good quality sides,” Czapnik said.
“As long as we are in the mix, maintain the consistency and don’t throw games away, we’ll be happy.”
Sunbury will this week face Williamstown, away.
In state league 4 west, Gisborne had to share the points with Truganina Hornets.
Playing its first game at that level, Gisborne scored once in each half as the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Stratos Cantaro and Connor Maxwell were the goalscorers for Gisborne.
This week Gisborne travels to face Altona North on Saturday afternoon.
MORE FFV NEWS
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/hume-united-takes-a-different-tack-in-a-move-of-great-import/
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/lapses-hobble-brimbank-stallions/
