Saturday afternoon’s clash against Avondale FC was, quite frankly, a must win for the North Geelong Warriors, were they to keep alive any reasonable chance of avoiding automatic relegation back to the NPL 1.
A 2-1 win, coupled with the collapses in recent weeks of both Dandenong Thunder and Werribee City makes the battle at the bottom end of the ladder arguably more exciting that the fight at the top. Damir Kulas spoke to Micky Colina after that clash, the man tasked with keeping alive the NPL status of the proud regional club.
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DK: Firstly Micky, congratulations on the victory. Not only the club’s third win of the season but a priceless victory away from home which moves the Warriors off the foot of the table. Thoughts on the game?
MC: I think we came into this game knowing that it was always going to be a scrap. Obviously we’re desperate, while they are in a comfortable position on the ladder compared to us and are a very physical side with the game being played on a tight ground, so all these things pointed to the encounter being a physical contest.
When you add all those things together, the quality of football is not going to be high on the agenda, but we came here with a game plan and tactically I am wrapped with the lads as to the way they went about the jobs set out for them. One thing I always knew we had was a lot of fight and passion in that dressing room. With a bit of luck and some quality finishing we got rewarded. In saying that, had we been a bit smarter, we probably could have had a couple of more.
The way that the season and ladder positions have eventuated, we’ve seen a pack of teams move away from the bottom three and into relative safety. Given the way things have gone, is the main priority now for you guys to finish 12th on the ladder, giving you the second chance play-off against the third best team from NPL1?
Well that’s the reality of it to be honest. We know that we came into this competition to try and just survive given the challenges we face as a club in terms of personnel and budget. We made a club decision to go in with the same squad which got us promoted, and that is no secret to anybody. In the end, we looked for respect and credibility as a football club which I think we have achieved based on the comments and feedback I have received from others. At the same time, we have seen what it takes to be a decent side in this competition with there being a fine-line between being comfortable and battling for survival.
Had we had a few quality individuals in the front third who could finish off the many chances we create, maybe it would have been a different story. Going back to the initial question, the way the positions on the ladder have panned out, that’s the reality of it and we will be looking to grab onto that position. Mathematically it could be beyond that but realistically we are aiming for 12th as our target and anything above that we’d be over the moon about. We came together as a group and re-assessed our priorities and came to the conclusion that we will not die wondering and do our best to take that position. But for now, as cliché as it sounds, we will take it one game at a time and worry about Northcote City at home next weekend.
Although you kept the same squad from last season, in the mid-season transfer window you were forced into the transfer market, bringing in Gareth Richards, Yusuf Yusuf and Ridvan Saglam. Some eyebrows were raised when you brought in Richards considering his age and the fact that he had not played in the Victorian top-flight for a while now. How pleasing is it to have seen him score two goals and vindicate your decision to bring him in?
We faced some challenges in the window, given we had a young and inexperienced squad as well as losing Robbie [Zadworny] to the Knights, who in reality we have not managed replace. No disrespect to the guys we brought in but we knew we needed people who would be able to get us across the line and they were three individuals to bolster our depth up, taking into consideration injuries. Gareth is an honest and hard worker who has shown that every time he has performed for us. I’m happy for him to get his name on the scoresheet as he’s been unlucky in the last few weeks, so it’s just reward for him. He gives us another dimension up top as an option so I’m wrapped for him but on the other hand disappointed as he has to go back to the UK for three weeks. [It’s] a drag and it’ll test our depth, but that’s football.
Particularly impressive against Avondale FC was the form of both Matt Townley your skipper at the back and his central-defensive partner Michael Grgic who set up one of the goals. How pleased were you with their displays in defensive, given you yourself are an ex-defender?
I’m wrapped for them as we were together a lot and feel for them at times as a defender knowing that I’ve been in these situations in the VPL in the past. You have seasons where your team struggles to score up front and the defenders are often in the firing line at the back. The pressure builds up and sometimes they have been victims of the fact that we don’t score goals where we do create chances.
Sometimes this season we have been on the back of score lines which are an unfair reflection of their performances and abilities as footballers. They are two great individuals and I am pleased with the discipline they put on show [on Saturday] and the fact that they kept their shape and were strong and aggressive. [Both of them are] able to play football and I suppose we are getting smarter knowing when to play and when to get ugly and today there was more of the latter. But I am just pleased for the lads to come away with the victory.
If you guys to end up taking 12th place, a potential play-off could ensure between the Warriors and its sister club, and of course your old club St Albans Saints, thoughts on that potential match-up?
You never know as anything is possible but we’ll deal with whatever happens. I’m a big believer in fate and whatever happens we’ll learn from it and we’ll grow as the club has a vision. Promotion wasn’t on the agenda but we’ve embraced it and learnt a lot from it and hopefully [we’ll] be a part of it next season. But at the moment we’ll just need to focus on Northcote next week.