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Round 6 Preview (Fri 13th May): North Geelong v Southern Stars

For the third week in a row, North Geelong hosts a home match, this time against an impressive new comer to Div 1 in Southern Stars.  A team who has many good credentials with a lot of experience and physical strength.

The Warriors welcome back to the selection table both Milan Batur and Mijo Trupkovic who will provide good options for the coaches.

Southern Stars will be looking to continue its impressive run to date but the Warriors with renewed confidence and a zip in their step will be digging deep to build a run of form.

Round 5 (Match Report – Seniors): North Geelong 1 v Pascoe Vale 0

Courtesy:  Geelong Advertiser

NORTH Geelong notched its first home win of the season courtesy of a first half Matthew Demo strike.

Warriors showed great resolve to eke out the 1-0 victory over Pascoe Vale following its horror 4-1 home defeat to Preston Lions a week previously.

Demo showed that he is well on the road to rebuilding his Warriors career after a broken leg put paid to much of the promising young strikers season in 2010.

He broke the deadlock with just five minutes remaining of the first half, put clear by a slick interchange of passes before finishing clinically.

North was happy to sit back in the second half and attempt to hit Pascoe Vale on the break, with Demo nearly doubling the lead only to be denied by the visitors’ goalkeeper. The rebound fell to Michael Boyar who failed to convert the chance.

Despite having two 17-year-olds in central defence, Warriors fought resolutely and deserved its first clean sheet of the season.

“All week, we worked on our defence and it paid off,” coach Ante Skoko said.

“This result will give the players confidence and give them belief in the game plan.”

Skoko also had words of praise for Demo, who suffered a damaging pause to a career that appeared to be on the up when he was take on by Melbourne Victory’s youth team last summer.

In the earlier game the Under 21s went down 3 nil to a determined and polished young Pascoe Vale side. Pascoe have formed a thorn in the side of the Warriors 21s and we’re sure the Warriors will be bouncing back for vengeance.

Round 5 Preview (Sat 7th May): North Geelong v Pascoe Vale

North Geelong take on Pascoe Vale at home this Saturday afternoon 7^th May.  Under 21s at 1pm and Seniors at 3pm.

The match was initially an away game, however at the request of Pascoe Vale, the Warriors obliged and reversed the fixture at Elcho Park.  An important clash awaits both teams.

Last week The Warriors didn’t come close to resembling the effort that got them their first win against Georgies and Pascoe Vale also faltered at home.

No doubt the coaches will be stressing the importance of bouncing back and getting the season back on track.

We expect a determined Warriors to come out this week and battle hard to get the first home win of the season on board. GO WARRIORS.

Round 1 (Match Report- Women): North Geelong 1 v Darebin Falcons 2

The Women Warriors went down in their first match of the season, although the result was disappointing, what made matters worse was the injury to Nicole Milinkovic which adds to the injury list which includes goalkeeper Jasmina Zdelar.

The Women Warriors are a tough unit and will bounce back.

Round 4 (Match Report – U21’s): North Geelong 5 v Preston 0

In contrast to the seniors match the younger brigade of the Warriors had a field day including three spectacular goals, one from Nick Anderson and two from Callum Ferguson, including a volley he’ll never forget.

The team gels well and performs to a high level at all times. It’s that intensity that needs to carry over though when the young guys get their grip on a position in the first team in order to maintain the high levels of performance required.

The squad is maturing well and by sticking together over the past couple of years they have gathered respect from onlookers, most noticeably several local coaches from other clubs.

Round 8 (Match Report – Seniors): Western Suburbs 1 v North Geelong 0

Western Suburbs had the measure of the young North Geelong side, but had to wait a long time for their only goal. Suburbs went close several times in a scoreless first half with the cross-bar being struck and going close with headers.

The longer the game stayed scoreless the more pressure began to mount on the both teams. The goal came from a deflected cross that found its way across pitch to the feet of the only unmarked player who only had the keeper to beat and slotted it in well.

North Geelong kept plugging away and dominated the last 25 minutes of the match, a few one on ones with the keeper went the keepers way including a couple of terrific saves.

In the dying minutes Batur was heading towards goal as he surged forward to provide a target, he made his way through but the surface did him no favours as the ball bounced up in the torn up goal square and forced Batur to lift the ball too high to deny North Geelong a share of the points.

The Warriors will be after redemption for the hard yards being put in without the rewards.

The young team out on the park deserve more for their endeavour and we’re confident that Friday night’s match against Fawkner will see a turn in fortunes. Let’s get out there to support the Warriors.

In the earlier match the Under 21s faced a similar twist as they battled hard with an under manned squad to cop a goal late in the second half to also be denied a deserved point away from home.

VPL transfer window opens and sees two departures from North

With the Victorian Premier League transfer window opening this week, North Geelong Warriors have had to say farewell to two of it’s bright talents.

Matthew Demo and Reardo Luka are on their way to St Albans Saints.

It’s a big ask for them to step into a club looking to turn it’s fortunes around, however we’ve all been witness to North Geelong players coming through the ranks and we’re positive the two lads can make a difference.

It leaves us with mixed feelings, as happy as we are for them to be given the opportunity, we will miss not having the boys around.

They have grown with the culture of the club and have been terrific for the club both on and off the field. We wanted them to continue being a part of the future build of North Geelong for many years to come, but we understand that opportunities don’t just appear on a daily basis and wish them all the very best in the future.

North Geelong’s opportunity for activity in the transfer window is still a few weeks away and there has been interest in players coming our way, but we’ll wait til the time nears to confirm any names.

In the meantime, to Matthew and Reardo, good luck and enjoy the experience. Football is a short career so make the most of it.

Round 6 (Match Report – Seniors): North 1 vs Southern Stars 3

Courtesy: Goal Weekly

North Geelong must be ruing the chances missed in this game that presented the opportunity for the high flying Southern Stars to register a 3-1 win.

The score line in favour of the visitors was not indicative of the balance of play with the Warriors taking the game up to Southern Stars. It was the home team who began like run-away train with a goal inside 3 minutes of the start through Michael Boyar, who warmed up the locals at a very cold Elcho Park with the opening goal of the game.

The goal inspired the Warriors as they launched a series of attacks that should have produced more goals in the opening 15 minutes. Two golden opportunities were wasted that allowed the visitors to stay in the match. Southern Stars came into the game and went in level at the break with a goal scored from Chris Greechan after 36 minutes.

The Warriors continued to press and were more than a match for the more fancied opponent, but lacked the guile to take the lead. North Geelong came close when hitting the post and the cross-bar and the Stars keeper Robert Acs also played his part by coming out on top saving one on one situations.

Elementary mistakes at the back lead to Southern Stars taking lead in the 72 minute when Noel Fox scored and they made sure of all 3 points with a third goal 6 minutes later from the team’s leading goal scorer Mark Leeech. Southern Stars defence was in no mood to relinquish the lead by playing safe at all times at the back and not taking the kind of risks that lead to kind of goals North Geelong conceded.
North Geelong coach Ante Skoko was happy with his team’s performance despite to loss saying his boys played well and created chances against one of the top teams in this division. 

Melbourne Heart on tour

Wed 4^th May, Melbourne Heart returned to Elcho Park last night for the season preparations and trialling new up and coming players. They took on a representative squad from Geelong which was assembled by the Barwon Sports Academy. Although the scoreline was not in favour of the local team it was none the less a good hit out for the lads as they witnessed what sort of fitness and the skill levels are required to take your game to the A League level.

Early on the contest was quite close and both teams getting early goals, however after a penalty awarded to Heart the game opened up and went the favour of Heart in empahtic style. Well done to all behind the scenes who helped put it together. We wish Melbourne Heart all the best in the coming A League season.

A special thank you to all the North Geelong and Lara U9 kids that came out for a quick match at half time.  We hope you enjoyed it.

04-05-2011: Melbourne Heart vs Geelong Representative team

Melbourne Heart are coming to Geelong on Wed May 4^th and the North Geelong Soccer Club is proud to be able to host this event for the Geelong sporting community.

Geelong clubs providing  players to a collective group to take on Heart as they prepare for their 2011/12 season.

The evening will include training sessions for Barwon Academy and FFA Talent Squads, followed by the match to kick off at 7:30pm.

Also being involved are the Small Sided teams for some half time action.

Date: Wednesday 4 May

 Kick Off: 7.30PM

 Location: Elcho Park

SOCCER legend Josip Skoko has returned to his spiritual home of North Geelong Warriors to aid the club’s 2011 season and help develop its legion of promising young players.