By Adem Barolli (@adembarolli)

Pascoe Vale has defeated a nine-man Goulburn Valley Suns 2-0 in a wet and rather dour outing at McEwen Reserve in Shepparton on Saturday night.

Jonathan Voulgaris was the star on the night for Pascoe Vale, netting a goal either side of the interval to see his side extend the gap between Vale and the Suns at the bottom of the NPL table.

Discipline has been a constant issue for the Suns of late and it reappeared  with two players being sent off.

Promising youngster Stipo Adrijasevic was first sent off for a stray elbow behind play, forcing contact on his Pascoe Vale counterpart.

Teammate Frank Lagana was then sent off after being cautioned twice by match official Brenton Hayward, but by then the damage had already been done.

Voulgaris’s mazy run delivered the game’s first goal in the 36th minute.

The Pascoe Vale winger cut in from the right-hand side and placed his left-foot shoot into the bottom-left corner, leaving Suns goalkeeper Phillip Petrovski stranded.

The second again came from neat wing play again as Voulgaris was lucky to find himself open inside the 18-yard box.

Voulgaris’s driven shot was deflected into the Suns goal after Nick Kalafatis was incapable of clearing the goal-bound shot.

In contrast, the Suns hadn’t troubled their travelling opponents too much.

Goulburn Valley’s best chance arose in second half when Ben Clarke rounded Stefaan Sardelic in goal, but Clarke saw his shot rebound off the upright from a tight angle.

Suns manager Peter Zois was relatively upset with the outcome.

“All in all, the result is very disappointing, it’s a game that you must win and we went 2-0 down. We’re four points after 11 rounds and that is the reality of it. At the moment it’s just not at the level it needs to be and we need to pick it up,” Zois said.

“We’ve got injuries and we’ve got red cards and we have a thin squad so that’s where we are at the moment, it’s disappointing and very frustrating.”

Pascoe Vale coach Vitale Ferrante was more upbeat about his side’s run of two successive wins.

“I’m happy with what we’ve been doing … It was good, it was competitive and considering the conditions I was happy with how we went about it,” Ferrante said.

Ferrante will be hoping his side can continue their rich vein of form as they travel to take on Port Melbourne next week, while the Suns are again at home to face Dandenong Thunder.

MATCH DETAILS

Goulburn Valley Suns 0 defeated by Pascoe Vale 2 (Voulgaris 36’, 71’) at McEwen Reserve (HT:0-1)

Goulburn Valley Suns: 1. Phillip PETROVSKI, 2. Cody SELLWOOD (14. Anthony COLANDRO), 3. Naum SEKULOVSKI, 5. Nick KALAFATIS, 7. Benjamin CLARKE, 9. Craig CARLEY, 10. Kristian SARKIES, 11. Ridvan SAGLAM (4. Thomas LANGMAN), 16. Frankie LAGANA, 19. Hernan ESPINDOLA (13. Zachary PARASKEVAS), 21. Stipo ANDRIJASEVIC.

Unused subs: 1. Joey HOGARTY, 22. Jake KEATING

Yellow cards: CARLEY 40’, CLARKE 72’, LAGANA 83’

Red cards: ANDRIJASEVIC 77’, LAGANA 89’

Pascoe Vale: 1. Stefaan SARDELIC, 2. Adrian TALARICO, 3. Nathan MEGIC, 4. Tomislav MILARDOVIC, 7. Luca SANTILLI, 8. Joseph YOUSSEF, 10. Davey VAN’T SCHIP (12. Eli LUTTMER), 11. Jonathan VOULGARIS (6. Roberto DE VITO), 14. Alvaro CARILLO 15. Mark PISTININZI, 16. Marco SANTILLI.

Unused subs: 18. Vladimir KHAMEES, 19. Daniel HUTCHISON, 25. Yarran SOYER

Yellow cards: L. SANTILLI 32’, M. SANTILLI

Red cards: None

Image credit: Sportsgraphy