North Geelong overwhelm Geelong in City of Greater Geelong Cup opener
Roy Hay
First Division club North Geelong overwhelmed local rivals Geelong by four goals to nil in the opening match of the 2012 City of Greater Geelong Cup at Bell Park Sports Club on Friday night.
On a balmy evening with a light breeze to keep the temperature down, North put pressure on the Geelong midfield and defence from the start.
As a consequence the Geelong attackers skipper Michael Nikolovski and Darko Lekovski were isolated for long periods, though the latter tested North keeper David Zilic in the third minute.
North were sharp on the flanks with Robbie Zadworny showing no signs of the injury that sidelined him for much of last season.
Aaron D’Antino had a shot saved by Geelong’s Romeo Purlija after six minute, but North got the breakthrough in the tenth.
A series of shots were blocked by the Geelong backline but Reha Kurul’s third effort flew into the net.
North took control thereafter with Geelong occasionally making breakaway attacks but there was no further score in the first half.
After the break Zadworny came in from the left and squared the ball into the path of the onrushing Damien Morrell who thundered it past Purlija in the 44th minute.
Eight minutes later the attack switched to the right and this time Nathan Long finished the move neatly.
Finally Michael Anderson won the ball in midfield and ran through a tiring Geelong backline to complete the scoring in the 62nd minute.
Both sides rotated their players and the game finished with North looking once again like the favourite to lift the trophy.
On Sunday at 6 pm Corio plays Surfcoast followed by Bell Park against Geelong Rangers at 7.10 pm.
City of Greater Geelong Cup 2012
Hosted by Bell Park Sports Club
Team Coach
Bell Park Steven Tillinger
Corio Robbie Noggler
Geelong Peter Stojanovski
Geelong Rangers Dale Harris
North Geelong Ante Skoko
Surfcoast Lindsay Falzon
Fixture
Day Date Time Team G Team G
Fri 3-Feb-12 7.10 North Geelong 4 (Reha Kurul, Damien Morrell, Nathan Long, Michael Anderson) Geelong 0
Sun 5-Feb-12 6.00 Corio Surfcoast
Sun 5-Feb-12 7.10 Bell Park Geelong Rangers
Fri 10-Feb-12 6.00 Geelong Surfcoast
Fri 10-Feb-12 7.10 North Geelong Bell Park
Sun 12-Feb-12 6.00 Corio Bell Park
Sun 12-Feb-12 7.10 North Geelong Geelong Rangers
Fri 17-Feb-12 6.00 Geelong Bell Park
Fri 17-Feb-12 7.10 North Geelong Surfcoast
Sun 19-Feb-12 6.00 Surfcoast Geelong Rangers
Sun 19-Feb-12 7.10 Corio Geelong
Fri 24-Feb-12 6.00 North Geelong Corio
Fri 24-Feb-12 7.10 Geelong Geelong Rangers
Sun 26-Feb-12 6.00 Surfcoast Bell Park
Sun 26-Feb-12 7.10 Geelong Rangers Corio
Sun 4-Mar-12 3.00 3 4
Sun 4-Mar-12 5.00 1 2
League ladder
Team P W D L F A Pts G D
North Geelong 1 1 0 0 4 0 3 4
Geelong 1 0 0 1 0 4 0 -4
Surfcoast 0 0 0
Corio 0 0 0
Geelong Rangers 0 0 0
Bell Park 0 0 0
Goalscorers
Given Surname Club Goals
Total
Reha Kurul North Geelong 1
Damien Morrell North Geelong 1
Nathan Long North Geelong 1
Michael Anderson North Geelong 1