By JOSIP ZILIC
WITH the final round of the National Premier League coming up on Sunday, North Geelong Warriors will face off against bottom side Brunswick having wrapped up the runners up spot.
Brunswick hasn’t had the results it hoped for in its inaugural NPL1 season, openly opting for a youthful side to build through a three year journey.
Regardless Brunswick does have a knack of frustrating teams with recent close encounters against St Albans and Bendigo attesting to that.
The Warriors had the opportunity to close the gap on league leader Avondale to three points last week, but weren’t up their season’s best, beaten 2-1 by Richmond.
The result ensured Avondale Heights secured the title with an unassailable lead going into the final round.
North Geelong had the better opportunities in the opening minutes with Michael Anderson blasting one over the bar from range on 10 minutes and Juso Julardzija soon after almost sneaking a goal past Christian Rossi, hitting the post.
Richmond opened the scoring just one minute before the break, Tom Cahill making the Warriors’ defence pay for a drop in concentration when he got onto the end of a through ball and advanced Michael Grgic and Matt Townley to drill it past Daniel Zilic.
In the second half the Warriors were visibly lacking in contests, allowing Richmond to sustain pressure utilising Geelong born Richmond winger Ryan Opperman who twice came close in one-on-one duels with Zilic, the keeper holding firm.
Richmond tested the resolve of North Geelong’s defence and in the 70th minute Grgic gave away a free kick just outside the area. Cahill, noticing Zilic arranging his wall, took the initiative to catch him unaware and rounded the keeper to net his second.
North Geelong finally lifted through youthful substitutes Matija Dragovic and Nikola Jurkovic getting involved in lead up play.
The Warriors got on the board in the 88th minute when Nathan Long followed through on a square ball in the box and slammed it home, creating a tense final few minutes.
North Geelong coach Micky Colina credited Richmond for a well-deserved win.
“We had a good opening but we drifted out of the game and Richmond punished us, possibly a little promotion hangover,” Colina said.
“After pulling off a great achievement in securing promotion, some struggled to get their heads around another big game it showed.”
