By JOSIP ZILIC
North Geelong hopes to bounce back from consecutive 4-3 losses against in-form Port Melbourne in National Premier League action at Elcho Park on Saturday.
Port Melbourne is coming off a resounding 4-0 win against Oakleigh, with Kamal Ibrahim the danger man on everyone’s lips. His scoring form and rampant attack at opponents has been a talking point in social media circles.
The Warriors went into last weekend’s Pascoe Vale match missing regulars Vito Cichello, Nathan Long and Daniel Zilic.
Pascoe Vale opened the scoring on 29 minutes with a neat finish from Jake Nakic, who earlier had a couple of near misses.
One minute later it was league top scorer Robbie Zadworny who levelled proceedings when he ran onto a through-ball from the middle of the park to calmly chip the approaching keeper.
After the break the Warriors had an opportunity when Juso Julardzija was upended outside the area. Josh Pugh stepped up and drove low and hard into the bottom left corner past the Alex Pavlidis for a 2-1 lead.
It didn’t last, though, with Joseph Youseff heading in a delightful cross from close range within a minute from the restart after the Warriors lost possession easily on the right flank.
Four minutes later Youseff headed home from the other side at the near post again, this time from a corner.
North Geelong responded when Mark Paleka opening his 2015 account with a smart goal. Under pressure from the defender, he held his ground long enough to slot the ball under Pavlidis, levelling the scores at 3-3.
However, it was Youseff’s day and he made the Warriors pay with another headed near-post finish from a corner with 10 minutes left on the clock.
The Warriors were unable to respond in the dying minutes.
With injuries affecting the squad and two exhilarating results, it will be interesting to see how Micky Colina approaches the Port Melbourne match and whether he adjusts the line-up and its attacking style.
