Roy Hay

(Click on images below to enlarge them)

North Geelong won the Geelong Diversity Cup on penalty kicks after a one-all draw with Corio at Elcho Park on Friday night. In the match for third place, Geelong Rangers surprised Geelong with a two–nil victory.

North Geelong and Corio line up before the Diversity Cup final

North played with ten men for all but 40 minutes of the 120 after Michael Boyar was sent off by referee Oleg Grygorian for his second bookable offence. Up to that point the match had been very even and open with some tough challenges by both sides and some very close calls at both ends.

There were plenty of tough challenges in the Grand Final

Boyar and Michael Anderson both had touches in the Corio goalmouth before keeper Alex Kitanovski grasped the ball right on his goal-line, with assistant referee Steven Kolar perfectly positioned to make the decision. Vedran Stojanovic had a header which narrowly cleared the cross-bar and shot over from another through ball.

Ten minutes into the second half the big striker made amends with a bullet-like strike into the top corner to give Corio the lead, which they held till the 75^th minute. The referee spotted an infringement in the box and Matt Townley absolutely buried the penalty kick. The rest of normal and extra time produced lots of incident and many near things but no more goals so the destination of the trophy had to be settled in a penalty shoot-out.

North went first and Townley repeated his pile driver from the spot. Steve Luczo hit the top of the cross-bar with his kick, and Tony Saric scored for North. Stojanovic scored clinically, but when North’s Reha Kurul also put his penalty away and Adrian Cervinski missed for Corio, James Duvcevski stepped up to apply the coup de grace.

Action in the Geelong penalty area in the match against Geelong Rangers for third place

In the match for third place Mathew Sesay hit the post in the 27^th minute as Geelong threatened to run over Rangers, but the rebound was quickly transferred to the other end where Panagiotis Vasileiou gave Rangers the lead. In the second half, former Geelong midfielder Matias Gorisito settled matters by scoring against his old club.

Michael Nikolovski with the Fair Play trophy won by his club, Geelong.

There was some consolation for Geelong which won the fair play trophy. Michael Anderson, skipper of North Geelong, was top scorer and best player, leading his troops in the celebration which concluded the well-attended tournament. Ben Houston of Lara won the Peter Stamatovski trophy. For North, a much tougher challenge awaits in the new Victorian Premier League, while Corio has put together a squad under Robbie Noggler which could give State League Two a real shake this season.

Michael Anderson leads his North Geelong team-mates in their Diversity Cup win celebrations

Roy Hay

The final play-off spots in the Geelong Diversity Cup were settled on Sunday night as Geelong swept Bell Park aside in a four-nil win, while Geelong Rangers and Lara drew two-all. This means that on Friday Geelong will play Rangers in the match for third place at 6 pm, followed by the Grand Final between North Geelong and Corio at 8 pm.

Geelong got an early goal from Jordan Nelson aftr only three minutes of play and Isaac Paclula followed up with a second four minutes later. The result was never in doubt after Matthew Sesay made it three in 20 minutes. In the second half, Bell Park improved and did create the odd chance, but Geelong added a fourth goal from Jasko Ikanovic in the 40^th minute. Geelong coach Ante Didulica took most pleasure from the fact that his team, even with several youngsters getting a run, is playing the way he wants it to do. The emphasis is on ensuring that players in defence are positioned so that the only way opponents can go is by playing the ball in the air. Certainly Bell Park had little answer in this match, but their coach Gino di Giandomenico is determined to persevere with his young team. He knows the road ahead will be tough, but he is committed and resilient and feels he owes it to the club to see it through.

Daniel Conte stumbles as he tries to break clear.

In the second match Lara surprised Rangers with a fearsome strike into the top corner by Ben Houston in the third minute. It took Rangers twenty minutes to gain an equaliser as player-coach Andy Ingham converted a pass from youngster Jak Banks. Ingham then put Rangers ahead just before the interval. Lara, as they have done all through the competition, improved in the second half and deservedly got on terms when Houston went on a solo run through a retreating defence and rounded the keeper to score his second goal. Lara even thought it had got a third goal after a series of corner kicks but it was chalked off. Rangers had the better of the final stages of the match but could not find another goal and the match ended all square.

Ronnie Clayson about to clear his lines for Rangers.

North Geelong and Corio completed their preliminary round matches with wins over Geelong Rangers and Lara respectively in the Geelong Diversity Cup on Friday night. Rangers led North early, but the host team hit back with four goals to win by four-one. Corio had a comfortable two-nil lead in the first half, but conceded two goals from the penalty spot before running out winner by the odd goal in five.

Dominic Versace of Corio (left) takes on Jake Maxwell of Lara

In the early match, Cori struck twice in two minutes midway through the first half against Lara. Elton Savice finished a sweet move down the left but cutting in and firing past Rhett Joy. Garrison Grigg playing in an unaccustomed position in attack then put a delicate chip over the stranded keeper. Chol ‘Peter’ Mangar robbed the keeper early in the second half but his shot hit the post. After Corio squandered a number of chances Damien Nasta ran at their defence and was brought down for a penalty converted by Ben Houston. Houston had a chance to equalise a few minutes later but shot wide when clear through on goal. Corio broke quickly and Savice got his second goal cutting in this time from the right wing. Three minutes later Heath Urquhart was brought down in the Corio box and Houston scored his second penalty, but Corio held on for the win and second place on the ladder. Lara, coached by Dale Harris, deserve a lot of credit for their second half revival.

Action from North Geelong versus Geelong Rangers

Geelong Rangers surprised North Geelong by taking the lead in their first real attack in the 19^th minute. Player-coach Andy Ingham got the finishing touch. It took North till the last minute of the first half to get on terms when Vito Chichello’s long shot just clipped the inside of the post on its way into the net. Five minutes after the break Michael Anderson was given far too much space and walked through a static back line to put North ahead. Six minutes later Rangers hesitated expecting a free kick in their favour in midfield but North played on and Nathan Long ran through to put the Warriors two up. His initial effort was blocked by Lyndon Malesic, but Long recovered quicker and slid the ball home. Michael Anderson got his second goal, a real route one effort after a long clearance by North keeper Franjo Saric.

On Sunday night the preliminary round robin concludes with Bell Park versus Geelong, followed by Lara against Geelong Rangers. Geelong and Rangers are favoured to win and hence meet in the play-off for third place on Friday 28^th February.

Roy Hay

Corio made sure that this year’s Grand Final in the Geelong Diversity Cup will be a replay of last year’s match against North Geelong by defeating Geelong Rangers by a goal to nil at Elcho Park on Sunday night.

There were only four minutes left to play and both sides were down to ten men, when Corio striker Vedran Stojanovic found a bit of space in the penalty area leaving himself one-on one with Rangers keeper Hayden van der Chys.

Stojanovic converted this chance which was almost the first he had received since the second minute when he headed Chol ‘Peter’ Mangar’s long diagonal cross over the bar.

Referee Daniel Breen had his hands full in a taut competitive match in which he sent off Mijo Marinovic of Corio and David Valys of Geelong Rangers. Strangely he stopped the game in the second half after marking the spot for a Rangers’s defensive wall, then wandered off for a drink before restarting the match. There was another curious incident when the Corio keeper took a goal kick and only succeeded in putting the ball over his own goal line gifting Geelong Rangers a corner kick. Rangers’ coach Andy Ingham brought himself on as substitute when his team went a goal down but he was unable to find an equaliser for Geelong Rangers.

In the early game Geelong gave several of its younger players a run but was still too strong for Lara though it could not score in the even and scoreless first half. Jordan Nelson had been late in arriving for the match, so he started on the bench. Coming on at the beginning of the second he settled the match with a fierce drive in the 47^th minute.

Rangers and Geelong are now the most likely to contest the play-off for third spot; Meantime next Friday, Bell Park meets Geelong and Lara completes the round robin stage against Geelong Rangers.

Captions for pics

Four Corio stalwarts at the Geelong Diversity Cup, left to right, Joe Fiala, Mario Gregorio, Sergio di Blasi, Sophocles Mantzaridis.

Jasmin Ikanovic of Geelong about to shoot under challenge from Lara’s Dylan Weeks (7).

Roy Hay

North Geelong celebrated its selection for the Victorian Premier League with a three-nil win over Bell Park in the Diversity Cup at Elcho Park on Friday night. Corio also won its second round match with a three-two victory against Geelong.

Corio and North had shared the points in their opening fixture so for both clubs it was important that they got a win. North struggled against Provisional League side Bell Park in the first half and there was no score at the interval. Michael Anderson and Ross Wallis both struck the woodwork for North, but Park also had its chances when Nathan Havenus and Julian Barbagallo had good openings which they both were unable to convert. The second half was only six minutes old when North broke down the right wing and Anderson finished from close range. Five minutes later North’s Vito Clemello was sent off for dissent, but the remaining ten men went further ahead a couple of minutes after that. Again the ball was moved swiftly down the right flank and though the first shot on goal was blocked, Anderson pounced to score from even shorter range. Bell Park’s best response came on the hour mark with a sweeping move from deep in defence to the edge of the North penalty area, but when the final shot flew over the bar, Park’s chances went with it.  Reardo Luka, who had a fine game for North, added a third goal with a couple of minutes left for play.

Does Reardo Luka (7) of North Geelong really know where the ball is?

In the early game, Geelong started where they left off in their opening match by dominating the first twenty minutes against Corio. Matthew Sesay placed a free kick along the ground to Jordan Nelson who fired home past a sleeping Corio defence. Geelong could have been three up shortly after but Sesay had his shot saved after an excellent run from deep and Jasmin Ikanovic lobbed the ball over the Corio keeper but just wide of the goal. Geelong coach Ante Didulica said afterwards that the failure to take these opportunities let Corio back into the game and when Geelong lost the ball in midfield Vedran Stojanovic took advantage to equalise on the half-hour. Two minutes later Corio was in front as a cross from the right was met by Yianni Mantzaridis with a firm header which gave keeper Dylan Nikolovski no chance. Five minutes after the break Ikanovic made up for his earlier miss with a well struck free kick which found the net through a mass of bodies. Keeper Nikolovski injured his shoulder and had to come off with veteran Romeo Purlija taking his place. The match was heading for a draw when Stojanovic latched on to a long ball forward and ran on to give Corio a somewhat fortunate victory. Though as Robbie Noggler said afterwards, ‘The players stuck at it.’ But they did it the hard way.

Corio’s two-goal hero Vedran Stojanovic (left) outstrips the Geelong defence, backed by winger Elton Savice (15).

On Sunday night Geelong Rangers plays Bell Park at 7 pm, followed by North Geelong against Lara at 8.20 pm.

Roy Hay

Geelong and Bell Park came out on top against Geelong Rangers and Lara respectively at North Geelong’s Elcho Park to complete round one of matches in the Geelong Community Shield on Sunday night.

Geelong lost Aleksander Stanisic with what looked like a serious leg injury inside the first minute. After settling down, Geelong dominated the rest of the first half against Rangers and ran to a two-nil lead thanks to a successful penalty kick and bit of opportunism by nuggety striker Jasko Ikanovic. Rangers fought back after the break and created numerous openings but was unable to convert any of them into goals. Then teenager Adam Milenkovski of Geelong was given space to work his way from the left wing into the middle and he finished with a rocket shot into the top corner to complete the three-nil win. Rangers’ assistant coach Adrian Begg thought that Rangers’ youngsters did their best in the absence of a number of senior players, while Ante Didulica of Geelong praised his defence for their efforts.

Daniel Innes (23) of Geelong Rangers closes down two Geelong attackers.

Bell Park took the lead against Lara in the 28^th minute. Matt Demo showed experience and coolness in front of goal with a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal following an attack down the right win. In the second half Lara came more into the game and in the 50^th minute a corner kick from the left found its way to Ben Houston who had positioned himself correctly near the far edge of the penalty area. Showing great technique the youngster struck a sweet volley which gave the Park keeper Matthew Damjanovic no chance at all. Parity only lasted four minutes and Bell Park won a free kick on the left. Matt Demo drove the ball along the ground through a ruck of bodies and just inside the far post. James Kociski might have got the slightest of touches but referee Mitko Nikolovski credited the goal to Demo. Lara should have been on terms in the last minute of play when a handball in the area gave Simon Purtill the chance to equalise from the penalty spot. But Damjanovic blocked the kick and Purtill struck the bar with the rebound and the ball was hooked clear by the Park defence as the referee blew the final whistle.

A flying header by Bell Park’s Ifeanyi Ihfeanacho (34) goes just wide of the Lara goal.

North Geelong and Corio drew two-all in the opening match in the 2014 Geelong Community Shield which this year celebrates the diversity of the groups involved in the local game. The curtain raiser involved a team of youngsters from Afghanistan and another made up of players from seven different countries in Asia and Africa. If anyone doubts that multiculturalism is alive and well in Australia today, this match was a powerful demonstration that football can bring people together and help them settle into our modern society.

Action from the curtain raiser on opening night.

Last year’s champion, North Geelong, took the lead after only five minutes when Corio keeper Alex Kitanovski handled a pass back and conceded an indirect free kick. Michael Anderson rolled the ball into the path of Ross Wallis who blasted the ball through the defensive wall and into the net. It took Corio until the 27^th minute to find an equaliser when a corner kick bobbled around the North goal area before Justin Hanns, who had come up from defence, poked it home.

Justin Hanns (centre) and Steve Luczo (right) combine to clear their lines for Corio against North Geelong.

The second half was only six minutes old when Michael Boyar took advantage of some slack defending by Corio to restore North’s lead. But that only lasted a couple of minute until Liam Nelson latched on to a throw-in from the right and beat Franjo Saric from close range. North did have the ball in the net after a corner kick but the goal was chalked off for obstruction though there did not seem to be much in the incident. North did not protest and the match petered out in a draw.

Robbie Noggler of Corio and Ante Sarcevic of North, the coaches, were philosophical about the opening game, conscious of the mistakes and rustiness of the predominantly young players, but happy to have the first outing under their belts. Sarcevic, whose first competitive games as North coach this was, said, “It’s much harder than playing.”

On Friday 7 February, Corio takes on Geelong at 7 pm, followed by North Geelong versus Bell Park at 8.20 pm. North’s floodlights enable these games to be played later in the evening to the benefit of all concerned.