By Mark Gojszyk (@hahahamark)

In the battle of the NPL 1 strugglers, it was North Geelong Warriors that triumphed over Whittlesea Ranges 4-0 at Epping Stadium on Saturday night.
 
Reardo Luka earned the match ball for the Warriors with a classy hat-trick, while his partner in crime Mark Paleka added the fourth goal for the visitors.
 
Whittlesea may feel aggrieved at the 4-0 scoreline, having dominated large spells of possession and taking a catalogue of shots, only to be denied by North Geelong custodian Frano Saric on numerous occasions.
 
In a must-win game for two clubs languishing in the lower echelons of the NPL 1 table, it was the home side that started the contest brighter.
 
The first chance fell to Whittlesea’s Tomislav Trbuhovich in the seventh minute, but the New Zealand youth striker misread a Matt Iuliano cross from the left wing and nodded the ball safely wide.
 
Just a minute later an almost identical scenario ensued, with Trbuhovich this time connecting to a scrambled cross with his feet, however his shot was desperately blocked by Saric.
 
Instead it would be the Warriors opening the scoring against the run of play in the 14th minute, with Paleka and Luka catching out the Whittlesea defence, the former playing the latter through for a neat finish.
 
Paleka had the chance to double the lead minutes later after getting on the end of a long ball, but his shot was well saved by Anthony Raspudic.
 
He quickly launched the ball forward, which found its way to Iuliano, who shot low and hard but couldn’t beat the ‘keeper.
 
Trbuhovich was constantly in the thick of the action, but went unrewarded each time.
 
He was denied on a third occasion when, after latching onto an Iuliano low cross and taking a touch, shot at the near post but Saric was there to block him again.
 
Whittlesea would again be punished for a defensive lapse on the stroke of halftime.
 
After conceding a needless free-kick near the right corner flag, a low free-kick was bundled across the goal-line and landed at the feet of Paleka, who placed the ball into the back of the net.
 
Whittlesea’s young troops would have felt like nothing was going their way, and their sentiments were compounded by a controversial penalty call just after halftime.
 
Robert Zadworny was played in behind John Reale, and despite seemingly missing the opportunity to shoot due to the arrival of Whittlesea’s defensive reinforcement, was controversially adjudged to have been taken down in the box by Daniel Sotiropoulos.
 
Luka then stepped up to the spot to score his second goal of the game.
 
Another controversial refereeing decision again raised the ire of the home side.
 
After being the victim of a rash challenge by Zadworny, who earned a yellow card for his efforts, Iuliano was sent off for his second yellow card, this time for dissent.
 
The decision prevented any slight chance of a comeback, and when Nick Jurcic’s low ball into the box metLuka for the easiest of tap-ins to complete his hat-trick, the contest was well and truly dead.
 
But just to rub salt into the wound, Trbuhovich saw another point-blank shot smothered by Raspudic just before full time, capping off his frustratingly fruitless night.
 
North Geelong coach Ante Skoko was elated with the result, believing it was just reward for his team’s endeavour in the face of recent weeks’ adversities.
 
“The last few weeks we’ve played relatively well but haven’t scored or made errors and were punished, so I think our performances have been getting better and the boys are playing well,” Skoko said.
 
“We’re starting to the get the basic things right, and it showed today, that when we play simply and quickly that it’s effective.”
 
Whittlesea coach Vinko Buljabasic was unavailable for comment, but a club official noted that the club was disappointed at conceding goals against the run of play, along with some refereeing decisions that changed the course of the game.

MATCH DETAILS
 
Whittlesea Ranges 0 defeated by North Geelong Warriors 4 (Luka 14’ 51’ 78’, Paleka 40’) at Epping Stadium [HT 0:0]
 
Whittlesea Ranges: 1. Anthony RASPUDIC (GK), 4. Mark VANGELI, 23. Daniel SOTIROPOULOS, 15. John REALE, 14. Daniel PELUSO (19. Damian SILJANOSKI 84’), 13. Adem MUSTEDANAGIC, 16. Mile RISTOV (5. Ahmet TURER 56’), 7. Jarrod DEL MONACO, 17. Girolano COSTANZA (25. Daniel GIOGHA 56’), 12. Tomislav TRBUHOVICH, 10. Matthew IULIANO
 
Unused Subs: 27. James RIZZARDO, 21 Johnny VOLKANOVSKI
 
Yellow Cards: Iuliano 62’ 65’, John Reale 76’
 
Red Cards: Iuliano 65’
 
North Geelong Warriors: 22. Frano SARIC, 15. Reha KURUL, 11. Matt TOWNLEY (3. James DUVCEVSKI 85’), 2. Darren LEWIS, 6. Michael GRGIC, 8. Vito CICHELLO, 9. Michael BOYAR, 12. Nathan LONG, 10. Robert ZADWORNY (17. Nikolas JURCIC 75’), 7. Reardo LUKA (4. Nathan COOK 80’), 14. Mark PALEKA
 
Unused Subs: 5. Nikola JURKOVIC, 1. Daniel ZILIC
 
Yellow Cards: Luka 16’, Townley 65’
 
Red Cards: None