Warriors secure slot in NPL1

GEELONG will have a team in the 2023 National Premier League with North Geelong Warriors earning a promotion to the second tier of Australian soccer.

Despite a devastating loss on Saturday that saw Moreland City claim the league title, the Warriors secured promotion to NPL1 last weekend after defeating Bulleen Lions 3-0 in front of the home fans at Elcho Park.

Warriors head coach Stuart Begg said the achievement was a team goal since the beginning of the season.

“It was an emotional day for the group.

“We had set the goal of getting promotion the whole year and then that energy we had last week to get us over the line was unbelievable.”

North Geelong finished the season four points in front of Moreland Zebras to claim the second promotion slot, and with no scheduled finals in NPL2, the team can start preparing for 2023.

Begg said the focus of the Warriors throughout the season was a boring yet effectively simple approach, one that allowed the team to secure 15 wins, four draws and just three losses.

“We literally took this season a week at a time.

“I swear, our weekly routine involved a Monday game review, a day of training, then a Thursday game preparation session to prepare ourselves for our upcoming opponents.

“We didn’t dwell on the fact that we were on top of the league for the majority of the season, we just took it a week at a time and that particularly helped the players focus on the important things at hand.”

Prior to attaining promotion this year, North Geelong finished fifth in 2019 and seventh in 2021.

The Warriors will face Melbourne powerhouses including South Melbourne, Port Melbourne,

Oakleigh Cannons and Green Gully in season 2023.