The Orangemen have impressed for large periods, if not the majority, of their Victorian Premier League Two encounters this season, but have learned the hard way that one lapse can lead to a collapse.
Facing Brunswick Juventus away at CB Smith Reserve on Saturday, the Suns shipped a penalty in the final five minutes of regular time, hammering home the final nail in a 2-1 loss.
Coach Craig Carley spoke about “managing moments”, saying his side has a clear area that needs work on after throwing away a 1-0 lead to come away empty-handed.
“I don’t think we played bad, I thought we gave a good account of ourselves and had some really good chances that we probably should have done better with,” he said.
“I’ve got no qualms with the performances, I just think we need to manage moments a little bit better.
“We’re making far too many individual mistakes, which is ultimately costing us points.
“It’s something that we need to fix and we need to fix it really fast if we’re going to live up to our expected behaviours.”
Shots on goal flew both sides’ way throughout the first half, but neither team could capitalise as the score remained at nil-all heading into the break.
The Suns broke the deadlock on the hour mark following a slick passing move that unlocked Juventus’ defence, Laywi Niyonkuru raiding the box to eventually crash the ball in.
But while the Suns’ lead was still in its infancy, the first true lapse reared its head.
Suns’ defender Liam Kielty tried to head a long ball over the top to safety from Brunswick, but instead, it rolled right into the path of Greg Siamoa, who found the net and restored parity three minutes after the opener.
Shots flew for either in the ensuing 20 minutes and, just as the game’s wick began to burn towards its end, along came lapse number two.
Juventus tore away on a breaking counter-attack, where a nudge past Suns keeper Ashton Bonsall stirred three undesirables.
Whistle, yellow card, penalty kick.
Up stepped Lewis Gilboy to bury the winner in the bottom-right corner, completing Brunswick’s turnaround and condemning the Suns to a loss, less than half an hour on from when three points looked there for the taking.
It’s no surprise Carley ranks his charges as one of the best footballing sides in the league, but if the Suns are to hit their KPIs, those lapses need to be addressed.
“I think this is the best squad that the club has had for a few years now; the players and the ability are there,” he said.
“We obviously approach every game having looked at footage of opposition teams, we analyse, we come up with a game plan and, to be perfectly honest, nothing has been unpredictable.
“There’s been no side we’ve come across where it’s different to what we expected and that tells me that the boys are more than capable of implementing the game plan, it’s just managing moments and key mistakes.
“At times you can’t always prepare for those I guess, it just comes down to accountability and players staying focused for 95, 100 minutes, whatever the game may be.”
An opportunity to rectify the weekend’s mistakes arrives on Saturday when Geelong Soccer Club rolls into town.
It’s set to be a homecoming for former Suns stalwart Harun Aktas, who was recruited by Makedonia in the off-season.
“We welcome Harun Aktas back and it’ll be good to catch up with him and his family at the game,” Carley said.
“Geelong is a physical side that grinds out results — they try and play football and have got some dangerous players in Tommy Semmy, who’s a class PNG international player.
“It’s going to be a tough game like they all are; I expect them to be similar to Springvale in terms of being defensively really well-structured and looking to hit teams on the counter.
“Hopefully, we can bring that ruthless streak into our game and be really aggressive at both boxes, defensively making sure we’re protecting Ashton in goal and at the other end, taking our chances — that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.”
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