Two five-goal games end in victories for Lara United and Corio in the Morris Finance Cups
Roy Hay
(Click on photos below to enlarge)
Daniel Pancic of Lara United (left) and Ben Zebic of Surfside Waves dispute a loose ball.
Surfside Waves scored two early goals to take the lead against Lara in Group A, but the youngsters from Lara hit back with three unanswered goals before the interval.
The Lara defence stood off Louis Stockman who seized the opportunity and fired the ball home in the 6th minute.
Within less than 60 seconds Jack van Wien was allowed to shoot home a second goal in similar circumstances.
At this point coach Lindsay Falzon must have been more than a little apprehensive that his young team was going to be overrun, but ten minutes later they pulled a goal back.
Jason Hey made the break and the move was finished neatly by Dale Walker.
Four minutes later Lara had a corner on the right and though the ball was cleared to near halfway when it was knocked back in 15-year-old Corey Houston headed the ball over the keeper to bring the teams level.
There were only a couple of minutes left in the first half when Ben Houston lobbed the ball into the net to give Lara a lead they never lost.
The second half was a tale of missed chances for both sides and Lara ran out the winner by three goals to two.
Pregame line-up at Bell Park Sports Club, Lara United on the left, Surfside Waves on the right.
Lara has four points, as do Geelong and North Geelong Youth who meet on Sunday night at 7.20 pm.
Lara could still qualify in Geelong beats North by more than a goal in the final group game.
In the second game an early Geelong Rangers move seemed certain to lead to a goal but the ball rebounded from the cross bar and the Corio defence should have cleared the danger. However, they failed to do so and Ben Noble was left unmarked to head home the opener for the Dark Blues in the 9th minute.
Mmonga Bertin of Geelong Rangers tries to get past Ronnie Clayson of Corio
It took Corio until the 26th minute to get on terms and after an attack down the right Velibor Pavlovic was left unattended on the edge of the penalty area from a pass by Hayden Reed.
Nine minutes into the second half Michael Bothwell and keeper Hayden van der Chys got in a tangle inside the goal area and Pavlovic took advantage to poke the loose ball over the line.
James Pearce had a chance to equalise for Rangers but blasted the ball over the bar and in 44 minutes Pavlovic sprinted clear to complete his hat-trick.
Rangers won a free kick out on the left and Aaron MacLean thumped it along the ground and deceived everyone as the ball finished up just inside the far post.
Rangers had a couple of chances to gain a share of the points, but the Corio defence played out time comfortably enough.
In Group B, Bell Park is assured of top spot, but if they lose to Surf Coast on Sunday night at 6 pm, then the Coasters will pip Corio for second place.