Champs sink Warriors
North Geelong’s first home game in the NPL ended in a 3-0 loss to premier South Melbourne.
SATURDAY’S 3-0 loss to NPL Victoria champion South Melbourne was harsh on North Geelong, according to coach Micky Colina.
A big crowd was on hand at Elcho Park as the Warriors played their first home match in Victoria’s top-flight since 1997.
And North Geelong started brightly, with only the woodwork denying Juzo Julardzija a spectacular third-minute opener from 20 metres.
Chris Taylor’s South looked dangerous on the break, though, and after goalkeeper Daniel Zilic kept out Milos Lujic with a one-handed save, David Stirton nodded the visitors into the lead on the halfhour mark.
Stirton then combined superbly with Lujic — last season’s NPL Victoria top scorer — for South’s second, scored by the latter five minutes before the break, before substitute Andy Brennan sealed the win in the latter stages with a smart finish.
“Three-nil is not a fair indication of the game,” Colina said afterwards.
“People that weren’t here will think that North Geelong got smacked 3-0.
“They created a few opportunities and took them. We created quite a few and we didn’t. It really comes down to composure.
“We’ll keep working on things in training and get into the habit of finishing everything off.
“We need to get into the habit of hitting the back of the net, regardless of how simple or difficult the opportunity might be.
“I can’t fault the effort. There is no question about the desire of the players. ”
Despite the scoreline being harsher than the 2-0 loss North Geelong suffered in their season-opener at Bentleigh Greens, this was a muchimproved performance from the Warriors.
Midfield pair Vito Cichello and Nikola Jurkovic were impressive, while Julardzija was unlucky that his industrious performance was not rewarded with a goal.
The 17-year-old Jurkovic — thrown into the fray after Michael Grgic suffered a hamstring injury at Bentleigh the previous weekend — was praised by Colina.
“He was great today. Players will get opportunities this season,” he said.
“We proved that last year and the kids that came in did the right things and got rewarded with a spot on the roster this year.
“I’m a big fan of the development side of things. You have got to give young players opportunities and back them.”
Warriors forward Mark Paleka was also quick to highlight Jurkovic’s performance, saying: “I’m very proud of him. He’s Geelong bred, from this club. We haven’t seen one of those players for a long time.
“I’m very confident in him. In the next couple of years he’s going to be a really good player.”
The challenges keep coming for Colina’s men, with a trip to Green Gully — which has won both of its matches this season — next on the agenda on Wednesday (8.30pm kick-off).
‘I just think we were a little bit naive at times and that’s probably what cost us.’ WARRIORS COACH MICKY COLINA