By Jordan Lim (@JordanLim24)

North Geelong Warriors has turned the tables on a fast-starting Dandenong City to clinch a 2-1 win in the two sides’ rain-affected NPL 1 clash at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex.

It was three first-half goals that shaped the match; a fortuitous free-kick from Matthew Townley and a thunderbolt from Vito Cichello cancelling out Keegan Ziada’s opener for Dandenong City.

The game got off to a poor start for the Warriors with defender Michael Grgic substituted with a groin injury in the fifth minute, forcing a drastic restructure in defence.

Things then went from bad to worse for North Geelong as it fell behind to a Ziada strike.

The ninth-minute goal was bundled through by the opportunistic forward, whose pressure forced keeper Frano Saric to spill, leaving him with the goal at his mercy.

The away side only had to wait four minutes for its equaliser from a free kick, which came in unconventional fashion.

With the ball situated 30 yards out to the left of goals, a curling cross towards the far post beat everyone including the keeper, who was left stranded by some poor defending from his back four.

North Geelong then went ahead in the 31st minute as a Vito Cichello rocket put it in the lead.

Cichello took a touch in midfield before unleashing a rapier-like strike from 30 yards, which left Dandenong keeper Dennys Martin no chance.

The excitement of the first half was in stark contrast to that of the second, where heavy rain and wind played its hand in an error-riddled conclusion to the game.

Dandenong went close to equalising in the 71st minute through Ziada, who forced a smart double save from Warriors shot stopper Martin on his near post.

The North Geelong defence stood firm in the wet to close the game out, albeit without some late drama.

Goalscorer Matt Townley’s back pass in injury time was seemingly destined for the net before goalkeeper Saric athletically cleared off the line, sparing his teammates’ blushes.

North Geelong coach Ante Skoko was pleased with how his makeshift back four settled into the game after the early injury to Grgic forced changes in defence.

“Look we rode our luck in the first 10 minutes, unfortunately we have another injury,” Skoko said.

“We found the first 10 minutes were very difficult when we were trying to pull them together to work a bit more compact and then after that I felt we started getting back to a little bit of shape.”

Counterpart Ivan Duzel was left bemused at his side’s failure to capitalise on its early momentum, before surrendering it completely after conceding two unfortunate goals.

“The momentum [we lost by] not concentrating properly, because on the free-kick we have four, five players over six foot that they shouldn’t let the ball touch the ground,” Duzel said.

“The second goal is coming from our mistake of the passing.

“Coming into a situation where [Cichello] has 30-40 metres by himself, if he wants to score the goal, he just shot the ball and the ball went in.”

Match Details

FT: Dandenong City 1 (Ziada 9’) defeated by North Geelong Warriors 2 (Townley 14’, Cichello 31’)

HT: Dandenong City 1 North Geelong Warriors 2

Dandenong City: 1. Dennys Martin (GK) 3. Halil Gur 5. Alex Rojas (14. Goran Jozeljic 62’) 6. John Carroll (C) 8. Dario Matkovic 9. Damien Miskulin 10. Keegan Ziada 12. Shaun Filipovic (11. Raymond Lay 71’) 15. Andres Jerez 19. Nicholas Glavan 23. Steven Topalovic (17. Danijel Buhic 85’)

Unused Sub(s): 31. Kirby Ziada

Yellow Card(s): Gur 73′

North Geelong Warriors: 22. Frano Saric (GK) 2. Matthew Townley 4. Nathan Cook 5. Michael Grgic (10. Robert Zadworny 9’) 6. Nicholas Jurcic (12. Nicholas Anderson 85’) 7. Reardo Luka 8. Vito Cichello 9. Michael Anderson (C) 11. Michael Bojar (14. Paleka 62’) 13. Nathan Long 15. Reha Kurul

Unused Sub(s): 1. Daniel Zilic 3. Jackson Davis

Yellow Card(s): Luka 91′