An un-cohesive U/17’s staged a valuable come from behind draw against a determined Corio. With an Antarctic wind blowing across the ground, Corio took advantage of the conditions in the quagmire at Hume Reserve, despite Geelong dominating possession.

After 20minute of play, Corio went 1-0 up when Geelong conceded a sloppy foul on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick went over the wall only to deflect off keeper Rhett Joy’s arm and into the back of the net. Geelong created a countless number of chances but the boys were extremely wasteful in front of goal with some ordinary finishes that kept Corio’s keeper busy. The best chance of the half went to Danny Gray who ran onto a Jimmy Vo through ball only to have his shot was well saved by the diving keeper.

Soon after the restart Corio went 2-0 up as Geelong struggled in the difficult conditions. Some messy defending and lack of midfield coverage saw a miscued pass fall to a Corio striker who finished with a freak chip over the outstretched arm of keeper Shaun Finn. Now, with frustration set in across the park and tempers flared, it was unlikely hero Tuan Nguyen who beat his defender with ease to peg one back with a classy finish. Inspired by Tuan, Geelong stepped up a gear and finally, after an hour of play, had settled into the game. Alberto Lopez put his blinkers on and with singled minded determination met a ball from Shiva to pass two defenders and beat the keeper at his near post with a powerful shot.

Virtually the whole second half was played in Corio’s half with what looked like an 8-1-1 formation sitting on the edge of their box. With Geelong’s defence line pushed well forward, Corio’s 3^rd goal came on the counterattack after a Geelong defender got bogged and allowed the forward to score with a curling finish.

It seemed Corio would cause the upset of the season despite being under enormous and constant pressure only to clumsily concede a corner with only seconds left to go.  In what was to be the last play of day the “Big Bomber”, Jordan Rendevski pulled out the old “get out of jail" free-card to nod home a fantastic header from an Alberto Lopez corner kick salvaging one valuable point.

The boys will have to put this disappointing result behind them, and switch focus to Wednesday’s catch up game against Surfcoast under the bright lights of Stead Park. So get down to Stead Park on Wednesday night for a 7pm kick-off and support the boys.

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