Suns take some big scalps

May 27 2014

Shepparton News

Goulburn Valley Suns were put up against Victoria’s best on Sunday and the youngsters did not disappoint.

Vibert Reserve was host to a number of Football Federation Victoria representative and development teams in the latest round of National Premier Leagues Victoria eastern conference junior action.

The Suns won two and lost two of the four games.

The under-12 Suns’ side got the day off to a great start with a 2-1 win against a bigger and stronger under-13 girls’ state side.

The girls had the under-13 boys’ state goalkeeper in goals, but the Suns’ youngsters managed to beat him twice in the first half to set up a fantastic win to keep them in the top half of the under-12 table.

Zach Ferlauto and Brandon Giaccherini got the goals, before goalkeeper James Nieuwenhuizen held off the opposition in the second half to ensure the points stayed with the Suns.

The under-14 Suns defeated a talented Skilleroos team — an under-13 representative team — 2-0.

Isaac Read and Thomas Corso were the goal-scorers for the Suns, moving them to fifth on the ladder.

‘‘That was a really good game. It was good end-to-end stuff,’’ Suns junior technical director Pat Kielty said.

‘‘Our goalkeeper Sebastian Turner made the difference. The Skilleroos were very talented and matched us play for play.’’

The under-15 side did well just to field a team, with a number of players having to back up from earlier games and put in a hard shift against the under-14 Victorian boys’ team.

Five under-14s and an under-13 stepped up to play alongside their older clubmates and went down 4-0.

‘‘You’ve got to admire their heart. They were very competitive in the first half,’’ Kielty said.

‘‘They lost their structure in the second half, but a lot of them were playing a second game and were very tired.

‘‘That’s just the way it’s going to be in that age group unless we can get more players.’’

The under-18 side put in a spirited performance after going 4-0 down at half-time against the FFV National Training Centre under-15 side, but lost 4-3.