Hope work not to no a-Vale

May 31 2014

Shepparton News

With 10 games played, Goulburn Valley Suns are right where many expected them to be — in a relegation dogfight.

From the outset, the goal for the Suns has been top-flight survival and three points against second-bottom Pascoe Vale is a must.

It is a pretty simple equation for Suns coach Peter Zois.

‘‘We have four points on the board and we need a lot more,’’ Zois said.

‘‘It doesn’t mean (tonight) is going to be easy and it doesn’t mean any of the coming games are going to be easy, but we’ll start this Saturday and playing at home we’ll be aiming to take three points.’’

A spirited — and at times dominant — first half performance aga inst Northcote City last weekend was undone with the concession of a further two goals from set pieces late in the first half and Zois has demanded nothing but full concentration from his players this week.

The Suns spent the last 20 minutes of training on Thursday night defending set pieces and will need to execute tonight if they are to win against Pascoe Vale, who has developed a knack from scoring from set pieces.

Ex-Melbourne Victory midfielder Michael Ferrante has been the Vale’s chief tormenter from set pieces with his consistent delivery, but will be out with a cracked rib.

That didn’t stop Pascoe Vale from opening the scoring in last week’s spectacular 2-0 win over Oakleigh Cannons from a corner, meaning Zois is taking nothing for granted.

‘‘They get good delivery and they’ve got good height, so we’re aware of that,’’ Zois said. ‘‘I think their midfield with the likes of (Carl) Recchia and (Luca) Santilli is as good as anyone in the league.

‘‘They’re starting to pick up points, so we have to stop that run and make sure they hit a brick wall when they come here.’’

Fahad Alghazaly is in doubt for tonight’s game, but otherwise Zois will pick his starting XI from the same matchday squad as last week.

Pascoe Vale coach Vitale Ferrante said he was looking forward to bringing his team to Shepparton for arguably his club’s biggest match of the year.

The links between the clubs are already strong, despite the Suns only recently coming into existence.

Cody Selwood, Daniel Chaabani and Hernan Espindola have all played for the Vale and Ferrante said he was glad to see all three playing regularly for the Suns.

‘‘We rate them all highly, and I’m glad they’re getting regular games up here,’’ Ferrante said. ‘‘We know that they could have gone up against Northcote if the bounce of the ball had gone their way, so we expect they’ll come out all guns blazing to try and redeem last week’s result.’’

Ferrante also has connections to the region having played for Cobram in 1997.