Lions punch in four goals
Geelong Soccer Club recorded its first win of the State League 1 season on Saturday night with a convincing 4-0 defeat of FC Strathmore in a scintillating performance at Stead Park.
Striker Caleb Mikulic headed home the first of his two goals for the evening on 26 minutes to give the home side a 1-0 lead at the break.
Ante Moric’s men came out all guns blazing in the second half with two quickfire goals in two minutes; Jye Spiteri doubling the Lions’ lead in the 49th minute before Denis Daluri made it 3-0 after 51 minutes to effectively put the game to bed.
Mikulic secured his brace in the 80th minute to complete the rout at 4-0 and send the fans on the terraces wild.
It was a dominant and controlled display of football from the Lions who have now recorded four points from their opening three games.
After the game, coach Moric praised his team and said it was a deserved result.
“We were very positive, coming into this game, after a very good second half comeback against Sydenham last week,” Moric said.
“We really continued that momentum into this game, which was the most pleasing aspect, as we dominated the ball for long periods and scored some nice goals.
“We were really connected as a team tonight.
“The opposition threw extra numbers forward in the second half, but we remained calm, we had a solid shape and most importantly we were starting to communicate with each other.”
The Lions will now turn their attention to next this
week’s game, a tough home clash with early title favourites Ballarat City.
“We’re really looking forward to a really tough game against Ballarat.
“I think they would be favourites at this stage. We are definitely the underdogs,” Moric said.
In VPL1 round 9 action, North Geelong Warriors
remain firmly anchored to the bottom of the standings after succumbing to Bentleigh Greens 3-0 at the Kingston Soccer Complex on Saturday. In other State Leagues games, Corio drew 2-2 with Whittlesea United in State 1 and Geelong Rangers lost 3-1 to Albion Rovers in State 2. In State 4, Surf Coast defeated Westside Strikers 10, Bell Park defeated Barnestoneworth United 3-0 for its first win of the season, while Barwon SC suffered a humiliating 7-0 defeat at home to title favourites Keilor Wolves.
In the local derby in State League 5, Lara United ran out 1-0 winners over Surfside Waves in a tight contest at Shell Road Reserve.