Olympic woes continue as Rangers battle out score draw
Mount Druitt Town Rangers has salvaged a point in a 2-2 draw with Sydney Olympic on Sunday evening at Belmore Sports Ground.
The home side managed to quintuple the amount of shots had by Mount Druitt, but Carlos Saliadarre’s stellar efforts kept them at bay.
Spaniard Alejandro Sanchez’s double was muffled out by goals to Alex Boyadjian and John Roberts.
The draw comes in stark contrast to the last time the two teams met, where Olympic enjoyed a remarkable 6-2 victory over the Rangers.
It was a vivacious first half as both sides hunted for the opening goal, with their defensive efforts on show.
Sanchez had the first real chance of the game, coming close for the home side in the 20th minute as he managed to send his shot on target, only to be blocked by a slick Saliadarre save.
He didn’t wait long to shoot again, making his way onto the scoreboard in the 21st minute.
In a great display of his impressive skills, Sanchez timed his shot perfectly, sending the ball through the legs of Nicholas Trimble and over the line.
Nikola Kuleski blasted a free kick outside the 18-yard box towards goal, but Saliadarre leapt to tap the ball over the crossbar and out of play.
The Mount Druitt custodian continued to shine, blocking several shots as the home side continued to hammer them towards him.
The equaliser came in the 31st minute for the visitors with a brilliant strike from Boyadjian.
An overhead ball landed at his feet and he thumped home a goal from outside the 18-yard box.
Both sides continued to battle until the half-time whistle, hitting the sheds even at 1-1.
Sanchez was straight back at it after the break, scoring almost immediately to take back the lead.
Olympic skipper Jason Madonis sent an overhead ball to Sanchez who was making an attacking run down the left flank. The Spaniard maneuvered his way to a dangerous central position at the edge of the area before firing home his second of the evening.
The visitors equalised again in the 76th minute through substitute John Roberts.
A misdirected header from Will Angel saw Mount Druitt collect the ball just outside the box and flick a header on to Roberts.
A lack of communication between Mitchell Stamatellis, who was maintaining a tight defensive run with Roberts, and Olympic custodian Paul Henderson saw the attacker head the ball over them both and into the back of the net.
Both teams searched for the winner in the closing stages of the game, but neither was able to come out on top, with the game closing at a 1-1 draw.
Mount Druitt coach Aidan Desmond said he was pleased with his team’s effort to come back twice in the game.
“They did well, both John and Alex took their opportunities well,” he said.
“We showed some good character to come from behind twice and get a draw.”
Olympic coach Abbas Saad was disappointed his team wasn’t able to convert their chances.
“It was 15 shots to three and they convert two and we convert two” he explained.
“We’re killing ourselves at the moment with the chances that we’re wasting.
“We played some smashing football and when you create that many chances, you’ve got to take them.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 2 (Alejandro Sanchez 21’, 46’)
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Alex Boyadjian 31’, John Roberts 76’)
Sunday, June 2 2019 Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant referees: Janwh Adabjou & Hugh Fenton-White
Fourth official: Brodie Merchant
Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Paul Henderson, 2. Thomas Whiteside, 4. Mitchell Stamatellis, 6. Nikola Kuleski, 7. Will Angel, 8. Jason Madonis, 10. Harris Gaitatzis (17. Jack Stewart 69’), 11. Jinya An, 12. Zachary Mackenzie, 14. Alejandro Sanchez (33. Niko Tsattalios 79’), 44. Peter Kekeris
Substitutes Not Used: 9. Radovan Pavicevic, 19. Darcy Burgess, 20. Eze Consoni
Yellow Cards: Zach Mackenzie 53’
Red Cards: Nil
Mount Druitt Town Rangers: 4. Solomon-Johnn Monahan-Vaiika, 6. Blake Thompson, 9. Alex Boyadjian (19. John Roberts), 10. Fabricio Fernandez, 11. Toufic Alameddine, 12. Nicholas Trimble, 13. Lord Darkoh, 15. Cooper Coskerie (7. Luke Clifford 66’), 16. Joshua Gould, 18. Jacob Esposito, 24. Carlos Saliadarre
Substitutes Not Used: 8. Matthew Clowes, 17. Jordan Gomez, 25. Matthew Nikolovski
Yellow Cards: Joshua Gould 42’, Lord Darkoh 56’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Alex Sanchez (SO)
2 – Carlos Saliadarre (MD)
1 – Nikola Kuleski (SO)
Written by National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Madeline Riley (@madelineriley23)
