By Adem Barolli (@adembarolli)

A four-goal first half ensured travelling side Werribee the points against a winless Goulburn Valley Suns at McEwen Reserve on Saturday night, in a seven-goal thriller finishing 4-3.

In an eventful opening to the game, Anthony Ragusa opened the scoring for Werribee in the 15th minute after a well-taken goal inside the box.

Suns winger Ben Clarke’s mazy run lead to the equaliser, after Steven Cudrig was awarded with an own goal after his tackle on Clarke trickled the ball over the line in the 22nd minute.

But from then on, it was all Werribee for the remainder of the first half.

Scoring three more goals in the first half, Werribee’s second came from a well-taken corner as Zois Galanopoulos was on the receiving end with a powerful header.

In quick succession Werribee then doubled its lead to 3-1 in the 36th minute, as Ryan Filipovic pounced on a loose ball from 12 yards to score his second of the season.

Finally to round off the impressive first half, left-back Oliver Rowland scored an absolute belter from 30 yards that crashed in off the upright to leave old teammate and keeper Phil Petrovski stranded.

It was a tale of two halves however, as the Suns were the far superior side in the second half.

In the 52nd minute, the NPL’s equal leading goalscorer Craig Carley scored his fifth of the season after neatly placing his shot into the bottom corner.

As the Suns’ confidence rose, they were awarded a penalty with 15 minutes left as Clarke was brought down inside the box by keeper Tommy Dunn after a great through ball from Nick Kalafatis.

Former Hyundai A-League player Kristian Sarkies stepped up and scored from the resulting penalty, placing his spot kick in the bottom right-hand corner.

The Suns’ late revival was to prove to no avail however, as Werribee held on for a thrilling win.

With three wins from five matches, Rowland said he and his Werribee teammates would continue to surprise this season.

“We’ve shocked a few people, now people are going to start looking at us as a challenge…although people are saying that we have a young inexperienced team. If they want to take us lightly then do it at your own peril, we’re here to win games of football, not to make up numbers,” Rowland said.  

Suns winger Ben Clarke assured the club’s fans that it would take time for his side to produce its best.

“Were a fairly new team as everyone knows, at the minute we’re just trying to work on our structure and getting everything right in training,” Clarke said.

“We’re only going to get better as a team and as individuals.”

The Suns will hit the road for the first time next week as they visit Green Gully in search of their first point, while surprise packet Werribee will travel to Northcote City on Saturday.

MATCH DETAILS

Goulburn Valley Suns 3 (Cudrig 22’, Carley 52’, Sarkies 76’ pen.) defeated by Werribee City 4 (Ragusa 14’, Galanopoulos 32’, Filipovic 36’, Rowland 44’) at McEwen Reserve [HT: 1-4]

Goulburn Valley Suns: Phil Petrovski (GK), Cody Sellwood, Nick Kalafatis, Naum Sekulovski, Josh Glover (Zach Paraskevas 50’), Frankie Lagana (Rudy Saglam 85’), Ben Clarke, Daniel Chaabani, Craig Carley (Hernan Espindola 70’), Kristian Sarkies, Stipo Andrijasevic

Unused Subs: Fahed Alghazaly, Abdullah Wahidi.

Yellow Cards: Paraskevas 80’

Werribee City: Tommy Dunn (GK), Oliver Rowland, Simon Symeoy, Ryan Filipovic, Zois Galanopoulos, Anthony Ragusa (Damir Marusic 85’), Milan Savic, Joshua Groenewald (Matthew Cundari 50’), Ray Markley (Bobby Vidanovski 46’), Ivica Praiz, Steven Cudrig.

Unused Subs: Robert Naumoski, Roderick Yousef.

Yellow Cards: Markley 24’, Cudrig 39’, Rowland 42’, Dunn 75’.