Sydney Olympic returned to the winner’s circle with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Northbridge Bulls at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.
The first match of Olympic’s ANZAC Day doubleheader ended in positive fashion for the hosts as a Jason Madonis penalty and Mohammed Adam spot-kick cancelled out Jake Holman’s spectacular opener.
It was Olympic who started the brighter, with Brendan Cholakian and Marley Peterson coming close early doors.
However, they were soon stunned by the visitors’ first shot on target 15 minutes in.
Jake Holman registered his third goal of the National Premier Leagues NSW season with a stunning left-footed strike that sailed into the top left corner, well out of the reach of Christopher Parsons.
The former Sydney FC midfielder’s strike would split the sides at the interval, after a scrappy remaining half-hour which saw the home side pick up four yellow cards in quick succession.
One challenge saw Nikola Udjur pick up an injury which forced Northbridge into a defensive reshuffle – something Ante Juric’s men exposed early in the second half.
A quality switch from Brendan Cholakian fed Oliver Puflett in behind, and the former Western Sydney Wanderers attacker was brought down in the area.
That presented the opportunity for Jason Madonis to turn in his third goal of the season with a composed penalty, restoring parity to the delight of the home fans.
Sixty-four minutes they were even more pleased as Olympic turned the contest on its head, with substitute Adam Parkhouse playing a vital role.
The former A-League flyer unleashed a powerful volley goalward that Nicholas Suman could only parry into the path of his former Wanderers teammate Adam, who tapped home his first Olympic goal into an empty net.
The hosts then continued to up the ante, as a well-struck Madonis half-volley was tipped to safety by Suman with 15 minutes remaining.
The young Bulls pushed hard for a way back in but were kept quiet by a resolute Olympic defence, ensuring that the home side would back up their midweek FFA Cup triumph with a valuable three points.
Post-game, Northbridge’s scorer Jake Holman reflected on another promising showing that saw his side emerge empty-handed.
“We came close again, and it’s upsetting that we were in front but lost the lead,” he said.
“But that’s football, so you have to learn without to deal with that better.
“We have a lot of young players so it’s all about learning, but being able to see out games is what will keep getting us points so that’s the goal.”
Ante Juric on the other hand was pleased with his side’s ability to get the job done and set them the challenge of stringing together a consistent run of results moving forward.
“It was important we got the job done today,” he said.
“We weren’t at our best in the first half, but probably didn’t deserve to be a goal down and then we came back which was pleasing.
“Consistency is the key. We’re getting better as a team and a unit – week by week we can see that.
“We’re starting to jell a little bit more because there’s a lot of new faces in the squad.”
Both teams are back in action next Saturday, with Olympic taking on Sutherland Sharks and Northbridge hosting APIA Leichhardt in Round 10 action.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC: 2 (Madonis 48’, Adam 64’)
Northbridge Bulls FC: 1 (Holman 15’)
Sunday, 24 April 2021
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: Matt Reidy
Assistant Referees: Matthew McCorist, Hugh Fenton-White
Fourth Official: M. Limnios
Sydney Olympic FC: 70. Christopher Parsons, 2. Thomas Whiteside, 4. Benjamin van Meurs, 5. Michael Glassock, 8. Jason Madonis, 9. Oliver Puflett (22. Fabio Ferreira 71’), 10. Brendan Cholakian (23. Hagi Gligor 71’), 17. Marley Peterson (11. Adam Parkhouse 55’), 21. Fabian Monge (6. Nikola Kuleski 55’), 23. Daniel Dias, 35. Mohamed Adam (18. Yu Hasegawa 87’)
Substitutes not used: 20. Luke Kairies
Yellow cards: Adam 22’, Puflett 29’, Whiteside 32’, Cholakian 36’, Madonis 92’
Red cards: Nil
Northbridge Bulls FC: 22. Nick Suman, 2. Jack McLoughlin, 3. Theph Theph, 4. Nikola Ujdur (26. Michael Ruhs 42’), 6. Lachlan Sepping, 8. Sean Eve, 7. Jake Holman (34. Steven Sohn 62’), 13. Walter Scott, 15. Edward Caspers, 25. Lawrence Fredrick (30. Olli Jones 77’), 24. Moudi Najjar (16. Jake Jovanovski 45’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Ryan Wood, 32. Daniel Padouani
Yellow cards: McLoughlin 47’
Red cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Mohammed Adam (SO)
2 – Thomas Whiteside (SO)1 – Jake Holman (NB)
– By Football NSW reporter and commentator Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli)