By Tonci Prusac

North Geelong Warriors and Dandenong City shared the spoils in a highly entertaining 3-3 draw in NPL 1 action at Elcho Park on Saturday.

The Warriors went into the Round 14 clash in red-hot form, having scored nine goals in their past two matches under recently appointed coach Mick Colina.

The 12th-placed Dandenong City was smarting from a disappointing 2-0 loss to Richmond, which saw the visitors stuck in the lower region of the table.

A surprise omission from North Geelong's starting line-up was in-form attacker Reardo Luka, who started on the bench despite scoring a hat-trick in the 6-1 drubbing of bottom-placed Brunswick City last week.

It was suspected Luka may have fractured his foot in that win, but x-rays revealed that was not the case. Nonetheless, Colina was reluctant to risk Luka on such a treacherous surface.

The Warriors started off the better of the two outfits, with their first shot on goal coming in the second minute, before they earned two corners within the space of a minute.

Their attacking mindset paid dividends in the 10th minute when St Albans recruit Juso Julardzija found himself in open space at the top of the penalty box and slammed the ball past Dandenong 'keeper John Carroll for the opener.

It seemed North Geelong had gone to sleep after taking the lead, as the Sean Seavill show suddenly took centre stage.

Against the run of play, the slippery Dandenong striker found himself on the end of a delightful build-up and with just Daniel Zilic to beat, he calmly rounded the tall custodian to slot home the equaliser in the 14th minute.

Just two minutes later, Seavill was brought down on the edge of the box.

From the resulting free kick, a mad goalmouth scramble saw ex-Melbourne Victory star Simon Storey push the ball over the line to give Dandenong a 2-1 lead.

As the half-hour mark ticked by, North started to look dangerous again, as Nathan Long made several attacking forays into the opposition half, ably supported by the Warriors midfield.

One such delightful build-up - in the 39th minute - saw the Warriors string together a series of rapid passes and culminated in winger Rob Zadworny crossing it in to an unmarked Mark Paleka.

The tall striker was presented with a simple tap-in, which he obliged, to score the leveler just before halftime.

In the second stanza, the game continued its fast and furious tempo as both sides pressed forward in search of an early goal.

It was the home side which took the lead in the 55th minute, when Stipe Trbuhovic crossed to Paleka, who managed to fend the ball off, allowing Julardzija to nip in and tuck the ball away for North Geelong’s third goal.  

But just five minutes later, it was Dandenong City’s turn to get back on the scoresheet.

Keegan Ziada dispossessed his Warriors counterpart deep in his own attacking half and then neatly passed to Seavill, who once again found himself in a one-on-one with Zilic.

In a case of deja vu, the Dandenong attacker elegantly rounded the ‘keeper to nab the equaliser in the 60th minute.

Over the next 20 minutes, both coaches used up their full quota of substitutes in an effort to find the winner, but in the end it became a futile effort as both sides trudged off the heavy pitch accompanied by a thoroughly entertaining 3-3 draw.

Colina said he was pleased to see his Warriors charges walk away with point.

“I was happy with the attacking side of our game, today, but at the same time you need to ensure the defensive structure needs to be efficient and well organised,” North Geelong coach Mick Colina said.

“Today, it wasn’t the structure that was in question, rather individual defensive errors, which can be attributed to a mixture of youth and inexperience.

“At the end of the day, we both walk away with one point and everyone is happy.”

Dandenong coach Ivan Duzel was disappointed his troops came away with just a point, despite scoring three times as the away side.

“The game was played out at an excellent tempo, on a hard and heavy surface. The wind out there was really making things hard for both teams, but there’s not much you can do about it,” Duzel said.

“In the end, to score three goals away from home and only come away with a point is a bit disappointing but it was an entertaining game for the big crowd here today and both sides should be fairly happy at the end of the day.”

In Round 15 action next week, North Geelong will face high-flying Box Hill United in a difficult away game, while Dandenong City will host the lowly Brunswick City.

MATCH DETAILS

North Geelong Warriors 3 (Julardzija 10’ 55’, Paleka 39’) drew with Dandenong City 3 (Seavill 14’ 60’, Storey 16’) at Elcho Park [HT: 2-2]

North Geelong Warriors: 1 Daniel ZILIC, 16 Michael GRGIC, 3 Matthew Townley, 99 Nathan LONG, 17 Nicholas JURCIC (7 Reardo LUKA 83’), 8 Vito CICHELLO, 2 Darren LEWIS (23 Michael BOYAR 70’), 4 Stipe TRBUHOVIC (Nicholas ANDERSON 75’), 30 Juso JULARDZIJA, 14 Mark PALEKA, 10 Rob ZADWORNY.

Subs not used: 31 Hamish FLAVELL, 21 Jackson DAVIS.

Yellow cards: GRGIC 40’, CICHELLO 50’.

Red cards: None

Dandenong City: 6 John CARROLL, 10 Sean SEAVILL, 31 Marko STEVANJA, 7 Keegan ZIADA, 9 Damien MISKULIN, 19 Nicholas GLAVAN, 21 Joseph SIEH, 14 Karim EL HILALI (11 Raymond LAY 78’), 3 Simon STOREY (2 Goran JOZELJIC 65’), 12 Shawn FILIPOVIC (22 Andres JENEZ 60’), 8 Dario MATKOVIC.

Subs not used: 1 Dennys MARTIN.

Yellow cards: EL HILALI 40’

Red cards: None