Sunshine was made to work hard for it but is finally on the board in the Western Football League division 1 competition.
The Kangaroos first win of the season wasn’t pretty nor the way they wanted to play, but they were still able to get the job done against Point Cook on Saturday.
Kangaroos coach Guy Barbuto said it was nice to get some reward for the hard work that they’ve put in.
“It felt good,” he said. “We’ve shown glimpses of looking at our best this season, but hadn’t been able to put it together.
“It was good to finally get that win on the board. We didn’t put all the pieces together but it was a start.”
Barbuto said Saturday’s game wasn’t the greatest skill execution from either side, partly due to the pressure they were putting on each other.
The Kangaroos led by 10 points at quarter time before the Bulldogs led at both the other two breaks.
The margin was 10 points at the final change.
Four goals to two in the final quarter forced the game to go down to the wire, with the Kangaroos able to do just enough to get the win.
Barbuto said it was a good, hard game of football.
“We thought we were the more dominant side,” he said. “We gave away a couple of silly free kicks and 50 metres which kept them in the game.
“We should have won by more, but getting the win sets us up for hopefully a few more wins for the rest of the season.”
Riley Buckland kicked three goals for the Kangaroos, while Matthew Cravino kicked two.
Mark Mazzeo and Thomas Schwarzenberg led the way on Saturday, with Barbuto saying they had been their two standouts all season.
Patrick O’Keefe, Nick McKay and Ethan Sivijs were other standouts according to the coach.
Barbuto said one of the biggest issues for them early in the season has been the lack of cohesion in the side.
They’ve had a number of changes in the off season, while have been hit hard by injury and availability.
Barbuto said they were hoping with being closer to having a full list available, they would be able to implement more of their structures and rotations.
The Kangaroos have a bye this week with interleague.
Barbuto said he would have liked them to have continued on with the momentum.
“We face Werribee Districts after the break and we’re looking forward to that challenge,” he said.
“Anyone on their day can beat anyone. We wait and see and hopefully we are up for a good fight.”
In other results, Caroline Springs beat Albion, 16.17 (113)-6.11 (47).
Malik Elfakahani kicked six goals for the Lakers with Cooper Pepi named best on ground. Johnathan O’Brien was named the Cats beat.
In division 2, Braybrook beat Laverton, Albanvale lost to North Footscray and Sunshine Heights beat Tarneit.
