North Geelong Warriors FC progressed to Round 6 of the FFA Cup at the hands of FC Clifton Hill at Kevin Bartlett Reserve on Wednesday evening, recording a resounding 5-2 victory.
A sublime hattrick from American import Kene Eze, followed by Michael Anderson and Rudi Saglam singles, the latter also grabbing a hattrick of assists, meant the Warriors made its way back down the highway in good spirit.
Despite holding the majority of the play in the early stages of the game, the Hillmen took the lead on eight minutes when a Clifton Hill attacker struck a free header into Daniel Zilic’s net from close range.
The Warriors hit back immediately. The solitary starting XI change from Saturday’s clash against Whittlesea Ranges, proved to be an inspired one, as the inclusion of Saglam for the suspended Matthew Thorne yielded positive results.
Just two minutes after going behind, Vito Cichello found Saglam with an exquisite ball into space, with Saglam then firing in an inch-perfect cross to Eze who tapped home from close range.
Six minutes later and North Geelong found itself behind once more through an extraordinary goal, again conceding despite having the large majority of the play.
The Clifton Hill left winger cut in from 30 metres out and shot with the outside of his right foot, his attempt finding the top-left corner of Zilic’s goal, who reacted slowly to the ambitious strike.
Twenty-five minutes into the encounter and the game had its fourth goal. Provider for the first goal, Rudi Saglam, turned into the converter of North Geelong’s second when he fired a Nicholas Jurcic cross into the roof of the night with a delightful left-footed strike.
Eze then came close to giving the boys in red the lead for the first time in the encounter, finding room to shoot with a burst of pace following a solo run, but his snapshot bounced off the upright and out.
North Geelong could have found itself behind for the third time in the encounter when Clifton Hill had a huge opportunity to score its third goal from practically its third chance of the game, but the attacker volleyed wide from close range.
The mistake was punished minutes later when Saglam found Eze with another defence-splitting pass and the lethal attacker headed home for his second of the evening.
Shortly after the re-start, North Geelong exerted its dominance when Anderson, with Saglam, once more the assistant, tapped home for North’s fourth.
From then on, the game was all North. The Warriors moved the ball around with precision and intent, creating a plethora of chances with only some wayward finishing the difference between a respectable result and a rout.
It wasn’t until the dying moments of the match when North found its fifth. Late substitute Alessandro Stefano and Nathan Long combined well on the right wing with the latter sending in a fantastic cross, finding the head of Eze who completed an impressive hattrick.
With the win, North Geelong progressed to Round 6 of the FFA Cup. It will need to wait for late April to find out its opponent for the next round. North Geelong are now the only Geelong side remaining in the Cup and are two wins away from potential qualification to the FFA Cup Round of 32 proper.
