A 16-year-old has taken the Australia Cup by storm after a match winning display off the bench but he wasn’t the only youngster to impress off the bench.
Manchester City supporters were in confident mood in the Spanish capital ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg clash with Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola’s outfit were knocked out by Los Blancos at the same stage in last season’s competition but did not then have Erling Haaland in their ranks. The Norwegian striker has already hit the 50-goal mark in his first season as a City player, with supporters believing they now possess the biggest weapon in world football.
Despite playing at a level five tiers below the Warriors, Chisholm United gave North Geelong a major scare.
Earlier, 17-year-old Luke Zivcic had opened the scoring for the youthful Warriors in the 25th minute before another youngster, 20-year-old Kaman Mayan, hit the back of the net in the 56th minute for North’s second.
With scores locked at 2-2 at the start of extra time, Juric bobbed up to tuck away the winner in the 91st minute – his maiden senior goal for the Warriors, who will now meet sister club and fellow NPL outfit St Albans Saints in next week’s Round 6 tie.
“It’s always great to get a result and progress in any competition, as it builds confidence, morale and momentum,” a relieved Warriors’ coach Tomi Gavran said after the game.
“It’s never easy playing against a team from a lower division as they always want to cause an upset and I thought they put up a real fight.
“We played some good football in patches and then showed some grit to hold off a late flurry in extra time.”
Juric looks to cross. Photo: Paul Zivcic.
Gavran used the midweek Cup opportunity to give some of the squad’s promising youngsters their full senior debuts, ahead of what is expected to be an arduous second half of the NPL league campaign for the Warriors who are battling to stave off relegation.
“We had some of our youngsters both in the starting line up and come off the bench and it paid off with all our goals being scored by them,” explained a proud Gavran.
“I thought they all had a real impact including Rocker Ramage who got his first start in midfield and Spencer Hand who came off the bench.
“They’ll all benefit from this experience and I’ll continue to expose our young talent where possible.”
Marko Juric looks to dribble past an opponent. Photo: Paul Zivcic
Meanwhile, at nearby Stead Park, Geelong SC also qualified for the next round of the nationwide knockout tournament with a narrow 2-1 triumph over State League 2 outfit Hampton East Brighton.
Goals from Alex Stojanovski and Lionel Masudi secured the youthful Lions’ squad a spot in Round 6, where they will meet State League 1 side Brimbank Stallions.
On Sunday, the Warriors travel to NPL Victoria heavyweights South Melbourne to conclude the first half of the league season.
North Geelong Senior Women’s team were eliminated from the female Cup equivalent, the Nike FC Cup, after going down 0-9 to crack NPLW side Preston Lions at Elcho Park on Thursday night.