By Brandon Galgano (@bgalgano94) 

Image: Matt Johnson

An incisive Oakleigh Cannons has defeated relegation threatened North Geelong Warriors at a freezing cold Jack Edwards Reserve on Sunday Night.

A brace for Shaun Rooney either side of an own goal from Matt Townley, and a late goal from Mirjan Pavlovic were enough for the hosts to run away as convincing 4-1 winners, despite North Geelong controlling the majority of the second period. 

The first half started off in an even fashion with both sides struggling to adapt to the slippery conditions. 

It was the home side though who found the breakthrough after 11 minutes following some brilliant build up play. 

Following on from a good passing move in midfield the ball was crossed in from the left to Kofi Danning at the back post, who proceeded to tee the ball up for Rooney to fire home from close range to make it 1-0. 

Danning then very nearly made it two with the winger played through on the right before attempting to round Daniel Zilic, who stood tall to deny the former Sydney FC man with his legs. 

Rooney was the next to go close in the 35th minute with the former Newcastle Jets striker firing his free kick just wide of the post with Zilic seemingly beaten. 

Going into the break with only a slender lead, North Geelong would’ve hoped they could get themselves back into the contest but those hopes were dented just six minutes after the break as an own goal from Townley made it 2-0. 

Following a good move down the line, the ball was cut back towards Pavlovic, who despite being beaten to the ball, put enough pressure on Townley to slide the ball into his own net. 

North Geelong was not out of the contest though with the likes of Rudi Saglam and Michael Anderson causing problems for Oakleigh at the back throughout with only the final pass lacking for the visitors. 

The Warriors had the perfect opportunity to get back into the contest though as they won a penalty in the 65th minute. 

Townley made no mistake from the spot, slotting home off the post to make it 2-1 with just under half an hour to play. 

Oakleigh wasted no time in restoring its two goal advantage though, scoring a third just two minutes later. 

A poor clearance from the Zilic fell at the feet of Rooney who made no mistake in slotting home to make it 3-1 in the 67th minute. 

A straight red card for Dean Piemonte in the 75th minute for a studs up challenge yet again made life difficult for the hosts, who had to play the last quarter of the match with ten men.

But it didn’t make a difference as Pavlovic grabbed a deserved goal in stoppage time to make it 4-1 Oakleigh. 

The result means that North Geelong remains locked in a relegation battle but still sits third bottom in the relegation playoff spot, ahead of both Werribee City and Dandenong Thunder. 

Match Details: 

Oakleigh Cannons 4 (Rooney 11’, 67’, Townley O.G 51’ Pavlovic 90’) defeated North Geelong Warriors 1 (Townley PEN 65’) at Jack Edwards Reserve. 

Oakleigh Cannons XI: 76 John HONOS, 18 Adam LE CORNU (10 Dean PIEMONTE 45’), 6 Steve PANTELIDIS, 3 John BLACK, 12 Tremayne SADLER, 21 Jakob WILLIAMS, 11 Kofi DANNING, 22 Matthew FOSCHINI (15 Jake MCLEAN 45’), 14 Mirjan PAVLOVIC, 16 Sean ROONEY (8 Dusan BOSNJAK), 26 Lambros HONOS 

Unused Substitutes: 35 Lajos HUN 

Yellow Cards: Le Cornu 5’ 

Red Cards: Piemonte 75’ 

North Geelong Warriors XI: 1 Daniel ZILIC, 17 Nicholas JURCIC, 16 Michael GRGIC, 3 Matt TOWNLEY, 2 Darren LEWIS, 6 Josh PUGH (10 Yusuf YUSUF 83’), 23 Michael ANDERSON, 7 Reardo LUKA, 8 Vito CICHELLO, 9 Rudi SAGLAM (11 Juso JULARDZIJA 57’), 14 Mark PALEKA

Unused Substitutes: 31 Hamish FLAVELL, 5 Anthony BANOVAC, 19 Matija DRAGOVIC     

Yellow Cards: Cichello 25’, Grgic 34’ 

Red Cards: NIL