Geelong Soccer Club sitting pretty at summit

April 26th, 2010

GEELONG SC stormed to the top of State League 3 with an impressive 3-0 demolition of fellow front-runner Sunbury United.

The result was more impressive given the absence of Geelong's coach Vata Garcia. The former Benfica forward has taken three weeks off to go to his native Angola for personal reasons.
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Coached by reserve team boss Lou Temelkovski, Geelong proved that it will be a force to be reckoned with this season, following the struggles of 2009.

Michael Nikolovski, whose season was wrecked last year with knee problems, scored the opening goal with a neat strike in the first half.

Moments into the second period, Geelong doubled its lead via former Geelong Rangers forward Troy Hardy.

Hardy then notched his second of the game, and the third of his fledgling Geelong career, to seal the win.

The club is now on top of State League 3 on goals scored, with a promotion charge a distinct possibility.

The 2008 season saw a similar promotion push, with Geelong leading the ladder for much of the year before falling away badly towards the end of the campaign.

Will Talev, head of football operations at Geelong, said the club was looking to learn from the mistakes of its past.

"It's too early to say anything about promotion this season," he said. "We'll take it week to week, but confidence is sky high among the players."

WERRIBEE CITY 0GEELONG RANGERS 1

Rangers grabbed an invaluable win as it got its first points of the season at high-flying Werribee. The visitors dominated long periods of the first half and took the lead shortly before half time. Ronnie Clayson played a through ball for Ryan Calder, with the young striker slotting his first senior goal for the club.

Although former Socceroo striker Joe Spiteri hit the bar for Werribee, he was largely kept quiet by Clayson, with Dave Valys also outstanding. "This is out kickstart," said Rangers coach Rod van der Chys. "Apart from the three points, it gets that monkey off our back."

WHITTLESEA UTD 3 CORIO 2

A questionable refereeing decision cost Corio dearly as its unbeaten start to the season went up in flames against Whittlesea.
Andrew Palmieri's goal cancelled out an early Whittlesea opener, before a scorching 30-metre drive by Ivan Biscan gave Corio the lead.
After Whittlesea was reduced to 10 men, it appeared that Corio would push on for the win.
However, a dubious penalty was awarded to the home side which it scored via re-take after Angelo di Mauro saved the initial attempt. A long-range free kick then won the game for Whittlesea.
"The players were angry after the game," said coach Kit Grechen.

SURF COAST 3 EPPING CITY 1

A flurry of first-half goals saw Surf Coast crush a previously unbeaten Epping team.
The visitor scored first, but Surf Coast didn't look back, scoring within minutes via Ian Crane after a Joe Bunce flick on.
Billy Bunce then put in a cross for Crane to make it 2-1, before Mat Roberts scored a brilliant solo effort, beating two men before cracking a 30-metre rocket past the hapless goalkeeper.

BELL PARK 3 MELBOURNE TORNADO 1

Following two defeats in its opening two matches, Bell Park enjoyed a home win against Melbourne Tornado.
Forward Rodney Antoine gave Bell Park a half-time lead before further goals from Nick Hopper and Antoine sealed the win.

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