There is well and truly light at the end of the tunnel for Western Region Football League club North Sunshine.
Long known as the competition’s cellar dwellers, the Roadrunners have made fantastic improvements this season, winning two games and putting in a number of competitive performances.
Previously, the club had not won more than one game in any of the past five seasons, nor has it finished a season off the bottom of the ladder.
At the half-way point of the division 3 season, North Sunshine is in seventh spot on the table. Roadrunners’ vice president Paul Comino said he could see the improved results coming.
“We have been picking up for a couple of years, so it hasn’t been an overnight thing,” he said. “Our scoring hasn’t been great over the last couple of years but our possession and our pressure on the ball carrier has been pretty good.
“This year, we have worked on getting people who can kick goals. We have had a few young blokes come in and it has revitalised the place a little bit.”
Both North Sunshine’s wins have come against last year’s division 3 premier Braybrook. The Roadrunners just missed out on adding a third to their tally, going down by four points against Laverton in round six.
Admitting the past few years had been difficult, Comino said the determination of players speaks volumes for the people involved at the club.
“The people we had just hung tough. They just wanted to play football,” he said. “We seem to get some positives out of every game, even some of the bigger losses.
“Even though we have been down on the bottom, we like to stick together.”
After a tough loss against Parkside at the weekend, North Sunshine wants to add to its wins in the second half of the season at a home match against Laverton and another hit-out against Braybrook.
