Laverton Park’s front line did not score a single goal for five weeks in the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 5.
The Reds had wondered where their next goal would come from, until Saturday, when they put seven goals past Gisborne in a 7-1 mauling at Laverton Park Reserve.
“The way we’ve been playing, we didn’t expect this at all,” Reds coach Vince De La Plaza told Star Weekly.
“We’ve gone six weeks without a win and actually five weeks without scoring a goal.
“We were really struggling, so first thing [this] was good win, then a good result in terms of goal difference for us.”
It has been a surprisingly tough initiation for Laverton Park in the bottom tier of the state leagues.
If the relegated Reds thought it would swoon its way back to state league 4, they got a rude awakening.
It has been a tough season for the Reds and their thrashing of Gisborne only releases the pressure valve slightly.
“We’ll move up to fifth,” De La Plaza said. “It’s a bit better to be mid-table than to be down the bottom like we have been. We’re 16 points behind second spot, so it’s a long way.
“All we’re thinking about at the moment is to try and get a couple more wins on the board to finish mid-table.”
A lack of depth has brought about Laverton Park’s demise this season.
The Reds sorely missed Felipe Jara with a succession of injuries.
Jara played on Saturday and was one of the Reds’ best, but he is in doubt for the next game after picking up a fresh injury.
Perhaps the biggest void left unfilled has been that of Luis Bustos, who is out for the remainder of the year with a knee injury.
Bustos is only a teenager, but his impact in the midfield cannot be underestimated.
“Since he’s gone down, we’ve just dropped that intensity in the midfield,” De La Plaza said.
“Even though he’s a young kid, a boy who stepped up from the under 17s last year, he’s made a big difference to the team.”
At least for 90 minutes, Laverton Park’s worries went away as they feasted with seven goals.
Javier Sobarzo was the star of the show with a hat-trick, while Mayani Isdore scored a double.
De La Plaza hopes it will be a turning point in Laverton Park’s season.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” he said.
“We pretty much had a full squad to pick from this week, whereas the last six weeks we’ve struggled to get numbers on the park.
“We know we can score again.
“We thought we weren’t going to be able to score for the rest of the season the way we were going!”
In state league 4, Altona North had an upset 3-2 win over Newmarket Phoenix in a thriller at Debneys Park.
David Dennerley scored the winner for North late on, following goals to Patrick Barba and James Conversano.
In state league 1, Altona Magic’s clash with Diamond Valley United was postponed for a second time due to an unsatisfactory pitch at Partingtons Flat.
