Coach hopes fitness work pays off

Matthew Galea

July 19 2014

Shepparton News

Goulburn Valley Suns are seeking redemption when they face Green Gully in National Premier Leagues Victoria action at McEwen Reserve tonight.

The last time the Suns played the Cavaliers, a 1-0 loss sealed the end of Melvyn Wilkes’ short stint as the club’s inaugural senior coach.

New boss David Davkovski, who was a member of the coaching team on that night, believes the Suns can atone.

‘‘We played a good game back then,’’ Davkovski said.

‘‘We lost the game, but I thought we should have had at least one penalty.’’

With just one win and two draws to show for their efforts this campaign, Davkovski said he was looking for any advantage he could get and tapped into the insights of former Gully pair Ardian Vuniqi and Bryan Vanega.

‘‘We’ve got a bit of inside knowledge this week with Ardian and Bryan,’’ he said.

Davkovski forecast a stronger attacking approach from the Suns, who showed some good signs despite last week’s 1-0 loss to the Port Melbourne Sharks.

‘‘We were a bit careful last week and wanted to just stop the avalanche of goals we were conceding,’’ he said.

‘‘We’ll be on the front foot this week. When we lose the ball the defensive transition will have to be quick, but we’ll try and get forward because we think they’re a bit slow at the back.

‘‘We did another intense session on Wednesday and the boys are responding. It’s not just fitness, it’s awareness as to when we get forward as well and picking our moments.’’

Davkovski said he would slightly re-jig his starting line-up with Ben Clarke available after recovering from illness, while one certainty would be Cody Sellwood at right back.

‘‘He (Sellwood) gave us a lot of drive from back there last week even though he was stiffening up after 35 minutes,’’ he said.

‘‘He’s probably our most consistent player and I want to give my left and right backs licence to push forward as much as they can.

Family and adult passes will be available at Shepparton Junior Soccer Association fixtures today, allowing players and family free entry into tonight’s game.

Kick-off is at 6.30 pm.