By JOSIP ZILIC
NORTH Geelong Warriors is back into National Premier League action this Saturday, away against Hume City.
Both teams will take some scoring confidence into the match after coming away from their Westfield FFA Cup round four clashes with convincing five-goal wins.
Hume managed to put away Riversdale FC 5-0, while North Geelong notched up its second 6-1 win of the year when it played Manningham United Blues.
The Blues proved a determined combatant, taking up the fight to their more-fancied opponents in the first half.
A fortunate own goal opened the account for North Geelong but Manningham quickly responded moments later to put the teams at 1-1 by the interval.
The half-time break must have sparked the Warriors into action. Their dominance came into play, with Vito Cichello providing the spark on 53 minutes when he rounded his opponent and put the ball away in a one-on-one with the keeper.
Manningham continued to provide resistance but was unable to create further pressure on North Geelong.
With the match approaching the closing stages, Reardo Luka, who had returned to full fitness after a pre-season shoulder injury, stepped up to finish cleanly and take the match to 3-1.
An avalanche of goals quickly followed as Manningham capitulated while trying to get a counter goal. Nikola Jurkovic, Tomislav Trbuhovic and Milan Sekulic all scored within a minute of each other to blow the score out to 6-1.
Coach Micky Colina was delighted.
“It’s the first time the club has gone past this round for some years now,” he said.
“It was good to get a range of scorers on the sheet, too, especially with the three forced changes due to injury with Mark Paleka, Robbie Zadworny and Nathan Long all missing action.”
The changes provided Colina with an insight into players waiting in the wings as the season progresses and what to consider for Saturday’s Hume clash at ABD Stadium, in Valley Park, Broadmeadows.
Kick-off is 7pm.
