Olympic fail to fire as United 58 steal points
Sydney Olympic FC and Sydney United 58 shared the points in a tight 0-0 draw in their Round 18 rescheduled match played at Belmore Sportsground on Wednesday night.
It will be an opportunity missed for Sydney Olympic FC as they were dominant in the first half with so many chances at goal but were wasteful.
The point keeps the Blues in the hunt for a finals series finish as well as a chance at the Premiership albeit being four points behind current league leaders Marconi.
Sydney United 58 showed some impressive defensive resolve after being pegged back for much of the first half.
The visitors did have some chances themselves but took home a point on a wet evening at Belmore.
Looking to rebound from their loss to Sydney FC on Sunday, Sydney Olympic had a chance within the first 60 seconds when Nikola Ujdur looped a header over from a corner.
Olympic were right on top early in the contest with Roy O’Donovan a key factor in their attack and the former A-League striker thudded a free kick against the wall and away.
It felt like the field was tilted for much of the first half.
Darcy Burgess had an effort deflected for a corner which saw Oliver Pufflett nod over.
The hosts had a pair of chances again from the head when O’Donovan and captain Michael Glassock both had efforts cleared off the line in a dominant first half.
Sydney United 58’s best chance in the first half came in the 26th minute when Taisei Kaneko cut inside his man well and fired an effort over the bar.
On the half hour mark, O’Donovan was the provider when he teased in a delightful cross for Adam Parkhouse, whose effort was blocked away by a defiant United 58 custodian Danijel Nizic.
It felt like a shooting gallery in the first half for Olympic.
They piled up the chances through their front three with the latest from Burgess flashing wide as the teams went to the break at 0-0.
United 58 made a triple substitution at half time to get some energy into the game and dominated the opening exchanges without challenging Sydney Olympic FC keeper Christopher Parsons.
The first chance of the second half fell to Parkhouse who was played through one-on-one against Nizic but unable to plant the ball into the back of the net.
The visitors started to find their groove in the contest and pushed for a goal themselves.
Patrick Antelmi went close for them with a flicked header that couldn’t nestle into the net.
The visitors thought they had the opener when the ball fell to the boot of Kaneko who whipped it towards the top corner but Sam McIllhatton was there to clear.
Both sides were pushing for the winner in a tightly contested game.
Olympic went close again through a deflection which whistled wide as the game remained 0-0.
The hosts almost snatched all three points when the game ticked into three minutes of stoppage time as the ball fell to the boot of substitute Fabio Ferreira who thrashed the ball wide.
Post-match Sydney Olympic coach Ante Juric was disappointed his side were unable to take the three precious points at home.
“It was disappointing as we dominated the game.
“Our performance was good with more positives than negatives for us.
“We had three or four good chances to put away in the first half.
“We are in the top five now after that result. We obviously are aiming for the Premiership which we are four points away from now. We just want to win every game and see where it gets us.”
For the returning Jacob Poscolieio and his Sydney United 58 side, they were delighted with their defensive effort in what were slippery conditions.
“It was a tough grind. The pitch conditions for us as a side that wants to keep possession and let our football do the talking weren’t the best.
“It was a fair result but we had a few late chances to snatch the game ourselves.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 0
Sydney United 58 FC 0
Wednesday 13th July 2022
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Jake Rose & Joon Park
Fourth Official: Logan Jones
Sydney Olympic FC: 3. Nikola Ujdur, 4. Benjamin Van Meurs, 5. Michael Glassock, 6. Mathieu Cordier, 8. Sam McIllhatton, 9. Oliver Pufflett (22. Fabio Ferreira ‘85), 11. Adam Parkhouse, 19. Darcy Burgess (10. Brendan Cholakian ‘76), 20. Christopher Parsons, 23. Daniel Dias, 99. Roy O’Donovan
Substitutes Not Used: 14. Marley Peterson, 24. Haji Gligor, 36. Peter Politis, 90. Evan Hamele
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58: 1. Danijel Nizic, 3. Jordan Roberts, 7. Taisei Kaneko (10. Bailey Callaghan ‘85), 8. Kyle Cimenti (6. Christopher Payne ‘45), 9. Patrick Antelmi, 11. Yianni Perkatis, 14. Andreas Agamemnonos (4. Adrian Vlastelica ‘45), 15. Tariq Maia (21. Mihael Marcic ‘85), 16. Jacob Poscoliero (5. Anthony Tomelic ‘45) 17. Matthew Bilic, 22. Yianni Fragogiannis
Substitutes Not Used: 94. Joel Bartley
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)
