North Geelong on the attack against Corio
North Geelong defeat Corio, Rangers and Surfcoast draw
By Roy Hay
In the third round of matches in the City of greater Geelong Cup at Stead Park on Friday, a completely changed North Geelong line-up defeated Corio by three goals to one.
In the second match Surfcoast and Geelong Rangers cancelled each other out in a scoreless draw.
With the Croatian tournament coming up at the weekend, North coach Vinko Buljubasic recast his squad to give another batch of youngsters and new signings a run.
The revised formation clicked immediately and when North got a corner on the left, Dean Taravillo sent it over and centre-back Yanni Mantzaridis rose above the defence to head the opening goal after only three minutes.
Corio tried hard to respond but without Chris Greechan and Juma Wade the attack lacked some of last season’s effectiveness.
North added to its lead six minutes into the second half when Nathan Cook completed a good passing move with a cool finish.
Seven minutes later Kristian Edwards got on the end of a free kick and beat Semir Bisanovic for the third goal.
Corio got a consolation effort in the last minute through Daniel Wilson, but North consolidated its position at the top of the table.
In the second match Surfcoast had the better of the first half, but Rangers dominated for long spells in the second.
Both midfields and defences were able to neutralize each other’s attacks so the game ended in stalemate.
Darren Mc Callum had the clearest chance of the night for Rangers when he beat the offside trap but shot wide with only keeper Barry Schroeter to beat.
Billy Bunce started and finished one of Surfcoast’s best moves but his final shot was well saved by Shaun Finn.
Hector Nunez pulled the strings for Surfcoast in midfield, while Adrian Begg added skill and steel at the back.
For Rangers David Ellis and Stuart Begg kept their younger colleagues on their toes by example and exhortation.