Win crucial for survival

June 28 2014

Shepparton News

Goulburn Valley Suns could be a different-looking outfit when it travels to Ballarat this weekend.

The bottom-placed Suns will take on second-last Ballarat Red Devils in a genuine National Premier League Victoria relegation six-pointer as they look to cut the gap between them from five points to two.

A loss would be disastrous for the Suns, who went down 3-2 last time these sides met in round two to the last kick of the day and it would almost certainly spell the end of their already slim survival hopes.

Former Melbourne Heart defender Simon Colosimo has finally received his international clearance from Dempo Soccer Club in India and is set to start for the Suns in a match where defence will be crucial.

‘‘Simon is Simon, for this level, he’ll be great,’’ Suns coach Peter Zois said.

‘‘He still needs a bit of match rhythm, but he’s looked very sharp and he has leadership qualities that are very rare in most players and he has it in abundance.’’

Colosimo will join fellow new signings Ardian Vuniqi, Brian Vanega (both from Green Gully) and Anthony Barbaro (Canberra FC), who have already made their Suns debuts, in the team.

American striker Zachary Foxhoven is also set to feature in the match-day squad for his Suns debut after sighing from college side Louisville Cardinals.

Zois said he was excited by what Foxhoven brought to the table, but could not guarantee he would start.

‘‘He’s a young striker of a good height and build and as a player what attracted me to him was that he’s someone who liked to face forward and make those runs in behind the defence,’’ Zois said.

‘‘He gets on the end of crosses and makes those runs, but he’s good when he drops in as well.

‘‘We lost Stipo (Andrijasevic), so we had a position to fill up top and when his CV came across with a DVD, I liked what I saw, so we went ahead with it.’’

Barbaro is an 18-year-old defender who impressed in his time at FC Canberra and offers depth in defence.

Zois said the additions would offer him greater tactical versatility, despite losing Andrijasevic and Kristian Sarkies in the same window.

‘‘I think we’ve got a solid squad together, but this week is crucial,’’ Zois said.

‘‘They’re quite similar to us in that they’ve probably got a bit of an inexperienced squad that was rushed together like us.

‘‘Being in a regional area, maybe they can’t attract the more experienced NPL players and, like us, don’t have a lot of locals with experience at this level.’’