A bright day for juniors

May 20 2014

Shepparton News

Goulburn Valley Suns once again proved competitive against some of Melbourne’s best when Northcote City visited Vibert Reserve for round six of National Premier Leagues Victoria east junior action.

From six matches, the Suns took two wins and a draw, including a first win for the Suns’ under-16 team that has had the benefit of picking up some new players from Shepparton United, who will be available every week.

The under-16s won 4-0 courtesy of goals from Abraham Lulerhe (two), Cooper Gosstray and Christian Maheshe.

Maheshe’s goal was particularly spectacular, scoring from a free kick from half-way.

‘‘He had a free kick near the half-way line and I called out to Christian and said ‘I bet you can’t hit the crossbar from there’,’’ Suns junior technical director Pat Kielty said.

‘‘Sure enough he did, and it went in off the crossbar.’’

Suns senior players Frankie and Rossi Lagana, Tom Langman and Craig Carley were also on hand to watch the under-16 and under-12 games.

Carley had coaching duties to attend to with the under-14s and oversaw a thrilling contest that finished 3-3.

Isaac Read, Zach Hutchison and Alou Koul got the goals for the Suns.

The under-12s fought valiantly against top side Northcote City, but went down 6-1.

The under-15s went down 8-1 and remain the only worry for Kielty in terms of numbers.

The side had 12 players on Sunday, but only five of those were under-15 players, with the other seven coming from under-14 and 13 teams.

Under-14 player Fedah Aziz played three games on Sunday, filling in for the under-15 and 16 sides as well.

The under-13s lost 2-1 in a hard-fought contest, dropping out of the top four in the process, despite Liam Kielty’s fine effort.

The under-18s capped the day on a positive note with a 3-1 win.

After six rounds of junior competition, Kielty was happy with where the teams were at.

‘‘We’ve not been the whipping boys some might have expected,’’ Kielty said.

‘‘We don’t have a single team on the bottom and half the teams are in the top half of their tables.’’

In round seven, Football Federation Victoria’s State and National Training Centre teams will travel to Shepparton — meaning the state’s best coaches will be there to have a look at the region’s juniors.