It’s survival versus ascension, a narrative as old as sport itself, distilled into a single, electrifying match as the Orangemen take on North Sunshine Eagles in the Victorian Premier League Two.
One point is all that separates Craig Carley’s charges from the drop zone.
A win against the already-promoted Eagles will secure the Suns passage back into the division in 2025, and a draw will leave their fate in the hands of 11th-placed Doveton.
Parity was the story of the last time the Suns met North Sunshine, whose gaze is fixed on the pinnacle of promotion.
The Orangemen salvaged a point in a 4-4 slobber knocker of a match in May when a Callum Schorah double paired with a late Sean Grant penalty had the travelling faithful in raptures.
Schorah has gone on to become one of the league’s marquee players, scoring six goals in his past five games to land joint second in the league’s goal-scoring charts with 13.
Topping the standings is North Sunshine’s Redouane Sarakh (14), who is a pantomime villain in the Suns’ eyes due to the French-Algerian striker celebrating like a madman when his side last graced McEwen Reserve.
He’ll return to the scene this Saturday in a game that could have massive ramifications if the hosts are to come up short.
For the Suns, it’s not merely a match; it’s a crucible of survival — and Carley is not short of confidence heading in.
“North Sunshine are another quality outfit, they’ve been promoted, but like I said you can never write our boys off and the last five or six weeks have been phenomenal,” he said.
“We’ve won four on the bounce now; winning is a habit as is losing and we’ve got the momentum.
“We’ll go into the game full of confidence; we don’t want to have to rely on any other team to secure our own safety this year, so we’ll be going out there fully expecting to get the three points.”
Meanwhile, the Suns’ under-23s are joint level with Boroondara-Carey Eagles on 46 points and can secure the league title with a win against North Sunshine’s bottom-ranked youth outfit.
