By Josip Zilic
North Geelong Warriors will be buoyant about their chances coming into round two of NPL2 against Whittlesea Ranges after an energetic start to the season with a 1-0 win against Melbourne Victory last Sunday.
Hosting for the second week in a row, Whittlesea will want to atone for its 2-0 defeat at the hands of St Albans.
Under the guidance of Gianfranco Impellizeri, Ranges will be set out to unsettle the Warriors and disrupt their positive start to 2018.
North Geelong got off to a shaky start in its clash with Victory, which saw Pierce Waring blaze wide in an early opportunity for the home side.
However, approaching the 10 minute mark new Warrior Darius Madison was on the end of well weighted through-ball, outmuscling his opponent and shooting on target to force a good save from Matthew Sutton.
The remainder of the first half saw the Warriors build their ascendancy. The Warriors were unlucky to not go in the break ahead as Domenico Marafioti saw Sutton off his line, unleashing a 35m shot that hit the bar and bounced on the line, saving the keeper embarrassment.
At the restart it was the Warriors taking command. After another close shave from Marafioti the visitors earned a corner that was headed back across goal by Marafioti for Madison to lunge and slam into the back of the net for his and the Warriors’ opener.
North Geelong maintained the pressure and had several chances build up via skipper Michael Anderson and Madison but none with enough on it to get past Sutton.
After 70 minutes the Warriors were forced into some changes that halted their momentum briefly, allowing Victory to put a couple of chances together. However, Hamish Flavell, in the Warriors goal, was up to the task.
This weekend’s match is at Epping Stadium on Saturday, with kick off at 12:30pm for the under-20s and 3pm for the men’s.
