Tara Murray
Sunbury United needs to snap out of a slump if it’s to get season back on track in the FV state league 3 north west competition.
Sunbury has dropped their last three matches and in the process slipped from second, and in a promotion spot, to fourth spot. They now sit seven points behind second placed Altona North.
Sunbury president Greg Czapnik said the drop off was a mixture of form and fielding a depleted side.
“After Friday’s game I did a snapshot of how many were missing from the start of the season,” he said.
“We had 15 players from the first squad [in round one] that were missing. We picked up a couple of players, but the guys we were missing were long term injuries, some who have given up playing, a couple who have left and a couple of others not available.
“I haven’t experienced anything like this in my time in the game before.”
Czapnik said in their most recent game against Craigieburn City, they had 11 senior players plus three young players on the bench.
He said on top of those missing, there were some players stepping away from the game completely.
He said while they still had a decent side on the park, results weren’t coming their way.
“We’ve picked up five points from the last 21 points,” he said.
“Three games we picked up points and let points go in four others. It was very disappointing.
“We had a period where we were up for such a long period of time. Things looked quite good, but a week is a long time in football.”
Czapnik said the boys continued to create chances to score, but weren’t able to convert when it mattered.
With six games to go, including Saturday’s match against Moonee Ponds, not all hope is lost for Sunbury.
Czapnik said it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
“I think when things don’t go their way heads drop and we’re in a bad place at the moment.
“As quickly as it turned sour, it could turn positive. We need to get a win and get the confidence back.
“We still want to finish as high as we can. We’re better than what we’re showing at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Gisborne is set to face Golden Plains on Saturday.
The Sky Blues are in fourth spot heading into the match.
