Sunnybank romped to a comfortable victory, though they have the Uni to thank for a couple of gifts that made it such a clear winning margin.

The first half we struggled to get going and Sunnybank, who have a settled squad over a number of years dominated without really causing too much trouble. They were restricted to wild shots from distance that never tested McNaught in goals.

However, with 10 minutes til half time Sunnybank took the lead. A diagonal ball into the box was heading near their striker but a hand on the back saw him take a tumble and the referee pointed to the spot, which looked like the correct decision. Sunnybank captain, Dom Rae, stepped up and struck a confident penalty low to the bottom left corner, just out the reach of McNaught.

McNaught then kept the score to 1-0 with a smart stop palmed away and the second ball scurried away by our defence.

HT: AU 0 – 1 Sunnybank

The second half the University were much improved and dictated a lot of play but similar to Sunnybank in the first half, failed to generate any real chance on goal. We were utilising the wings much better though and Gassama had come on to a game but th end product still a little rusty.

Just when we thought we might have something to work with and grab an equaliser, Sunnybank turned on the heat. They should have doubled their lead when Rae had a point blank header gifted to him free of a challenge but he flashed his effort just wide of the post. However, he got his second moments later and again it was from the penalty mark. Trying to play out from the back, an inside passed to Turek saw him under great pressure and the ball fell to Rae’s feet who turned and headed into the box and just as he was away to shoot his back leg was taken away from him. Again, the right decision and the uni counting their blessings for the introduction of the double jeopardy ruling meaning we got off with a yellow card. However, Rae punished us from the spot once again. The same routine as the first, bottom left, just out of McNaught’s reach.

Two then became three late on. Left back Petrie was afforded too much time 25 yards out and he let loose an absolute rocket of a shot into the top corner. A fantastic strike but too much time given to him.

FT AU 0 – 3 Sunnybank

Disappointing but again, there were signs of some good play. We welcome back captain Chilaka this Tuesday and hopefully we can see some goals added to our performances.

AU Squad: Fraser McNaught, Nizam Abdulkarim, Murray Addison, Joe Sutherland, Luke Spence (Alex Clark), Stuart Smith, Kurtis Turek, Adrian Gassama, Brandon Donnelly, Mourad Ahmanache (Zandey Walton), Owen McColgan

AU MoM: Nizam Abdulkarim – Again a very assured performance at RCB. So comfortable on the ball, although Cryuff turns in his own box under pressure will give his manager an early death! But they came off. A player growing with confidence with every game and quickly becoming a very valuable member of the squad.