The thrill of winning a championship still hasn’t worn off for North Sunshine soccer club.
The Eagles enjoyed a dream run last season, winning the state league 2 championship and earning promotion to state league 1.
While the momentum of that success has carried the club through another gruelling pre-season, North Sunshine president Besnik Kutleshi says his players are now focused on a round-one debut against Cairnlea.
“A lot of the boys are still on a high from last year and we’re still talking about it,” he said.
“I think we need to put that in the past a little bit now and work towards some short-term goals we’re trying to achieve.”
Those goals include trying to join the nation’s top echelon of soccer clubs by securing promotion to the National Premier League.
If successful, North Sunshine would be the fifth Brimbank-based team to qualify, with Green Gully, Melbourne Knights, St Albans and Sunshine George Cross already playing in either the NPL or NPL1.
But the Eagles are in no rush and want to give their squad time to develop.
“Obviously the players, the coaching staff and the committee don’t like losing, but we aren’t even talking about championships this year,” Kutleshi said.
“A top-six finish for us would be suitable and then we can keep working towards our longer-term goal, which is to be an NPL club in the next five years.”
Early indications suggest North Sunshine is on the right path to joining the NPL sooner rather than later.
The Eagles have taken on a number of NPL rivals in pre-season practice matches and have been rapt with their ability to match it with their more highly fancied opponents.
North Sunshine got its first serious test at the weekend with its opening match in the national FFA Cup.
After having two byes to start the knockout tournament, North Sunshine beat third round opponent Mornington 5-0.
The Eagles will take on Sunshine George Cross in the fourth round.
