Confidence grows as Suns enjoy goal blitz against Sharks

Matthew Galea

April 15 2014

Shepparton News

The kids are all right at Goulburn Valley Suns.

The under-20 Suns picked up their first win of the season with a huge 5-0 win over Port Melbourne Sharks on Saturday night.

If finding the back of the net was a problem in the previous week’s 0-0 draw against Heidelberg United, the opposite was true at McEwen Reserve at the weekend with Abdullah Wahidi leading the way with a first-half hat-trick.

The goals came thick and fast for Wahidi, scoring in the 21st, 28th and 38th minutes — much to the delight of coach Serkan Aktas, who said the striker was still to hit full fitness.

‘‘He’s done a ton of work out there and he’s still only 50 per cent fit,’’ Aktas said.

‘‘It was good for him to get those goals because he’s got all the skills and the way he put them away . . . he probably could have had five or six.

‘‘Every single goal was well worked, we had a lot of pressure up front with the squeeze, but he showed a lot of strong body work and turned his defenders inside out.’’

However, the goal of the day went to Joey Hogarty who produced a sublime chip from outside the box to beat the opposing goalkeeper in the 68th minute.

‘‘He was probably just outside the 18-yard box, on the corner. We were screaming ‘chip him, chip him’ and he managed to pull it off,’’ Aktas said.

Geordie Lelliot completed the scoring with a late penalty in the 86th minute after winning the foul himself.

Riley Hamilton and Matthew Gleeson were standouts once again for the Suns as they continued to prove themselves as two of the region’s most promising talents.

Rossi Lagana also got more time under his belt as he continues his bid to join his brother Frankie in the senior side.

Aktas said the result was vindication for the processes being put in place at training, and said the boys were starting to believe they could make a real impact in the competition.

‘‘I can’t say a bad word about the performance. Everything we touched turned to gold and we never looked in trouble,’’ Aktas said.

‘‘It’s coming along really well, I’m really pleased.

‘‘The boys are rapt, getting a bit of team spirit going and they’re starting to believe we can do very well in the competition and I agree with them.’’