By: Lachlan SHIRLEY

ROUND 14 of the Geelong Region Men’s Division 1 competition kicks off on Friday night (tonight) with the Surfside Waves hosting Corio SC at Shell Road Reserve in Ocean Grove.

Surfside currently occupies 2^nd spot on the table with 30 points, while Corio sits 4^th with 21 points.

Corio will be looking to close the gap between themselves and the top two and will aim to use last week’s positive result (a 6-0 defeat of Breakwater Eagles) to boost their confidence for the upcoming round.

Last time the two teams met was at Hume Reserve when the visiting Waves defeated by Corio 3-2.

Over at Banyul Warri Reserve in Torquay, 3^rd placed Surf Coast will host 9^th placed Barwon Heads.

In the last five weeks, Surf Coast has had a good run of form. The Coasters have won three and drawn one of their last five matches, while Barwon Heads has lost all five matches.

Last time the two teams met, it was a heavy defeat for Barwon Heads as Surf Coast came out 9-0 winners.

At the Waurn Ponds campus of Deakin University, Deakin Ducks will host Drysdale.

The Ducks go into the clash supremely confident after defeating Barwon Heads 6-0, Having said that, they haven’t had the greatest run of form lately and have lost three and drawn one of their past five matches.

Similarly, Drysdale also has struggled having won just one of its last five rounds while drawing two.

As the league stands, Drysdale is in 8^th spot on the table with 15 points while the Ducks are 6^th with 19 points. As such, there it is a fantastic opportunity for Drysdale to narrow the gap between themselves and the Ducks.

Last time the sides met, Deakin prevailed with a narrow 3-2 victory, so it is set to be once again a hard fought and interesting contest between the two southern rivals.

Current league leaders Geelong Rangers will host Lara United at Myers Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

Rangers were undefeated up until they faced Surfside Waves two rounds ago when they lost 2-3 and then dropped more points last week after they drew 2-2 with Surf Coast.

They will be hoping to get back to winning ways this week and come away with a strong result and maintain their top of the table status.

Last time the two teams met, it was Rangers who took all three points home as they defeated Lara 2-0.

To wrap up Round 14, Barwon will host the bottom of the table Breakwater Eagles at Grovedale Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

As the league stands, Barwon is just outside the top four in 5^th spot on the table, while Breakwater remains entrenched to the bottom with just one point for the season.

Lachlan Shirley is a young SEDA student, currently doing work experience with FFV Geelong. He will be compiling regular weekly reports on the Geelong Region Men’s and Women’s Division 1 competitions.