Sydney Olympic defeated NWS Spirit FC 2-0 at Belmore Sports Ground to pick up their first win in five National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s matches.
NWS Spirit started the game brightly, and in the 5th minute were presented with a half chance as a fantastic ball from Richard Darko released Louis Bozanic in behind.
However, Bozanic’s first touch went away from goal, and he couldn’t convert from an acute angle.
Sydney Olympic’s first good chance of the match came in the 10th minute.
A good driving run down the left from Adam Parkhouse resulted in a good cross to the far post, which was attacked well by Roy O’Donovan, who pressured the goalkeeper to keep the ball alive.
Fabio Ferreira was presented with a chance to strike, but his effort was defended well by a scrambling Spirit defence.
Olympic had another huge chance in the 24th minute.
Ferreira did well to hold off multiple defenders and dummy his way to the by-line, before releasing a dangerous cross.
The resulting ball into the box found the head of Oliver Puflett, whose effort was just off target.
Sydney Olympic opened the scoring in the 28th of the minute, with Ferreira again the architect off a good cross.
The veteran Portuguese winger received a ball down the line from Ziggy Gordon and cut inside onto his left foot.
He swung in a dangerous cross and found the head of Darcy Burgess, who made no mistake in directing the ball on target to find the back of the net.
NWS Spirit looked to respond instantly as Matthew Cahill drove incisively into the box, but his shot was saved well at the crucial moment to keep Olympic in the lead.
In the 40th minute, the away side pressed well to win back the ball and Jordan Gomez found himself in behind the Olympic defence.
Gomez looked to convert against a lonesome Nicholas Sorras, but curled his shot wide of the post.
On the cusp of halftime, NWS Spirit had a golden chance to find an equaliser, after a cutback found Bozanic with time and space to shoot in the box, his effort sailed over the bar.
Sydney Olympic were the side that began the second half in the ascendancy, and some good play in the 53rd minute from Ferreira down the right after a sharp pass from Matthew Buettner saw Puflett’s shot blocked and then saved from inside the box.
A minute later, some extraordinary goalmouth action ensued.
A low, bouncing ball to the far post found Parkhouse at the far post.
He chipped an effort over Christopher Marques and it looked to be rolling across the line, but some miraculous recovery defending kept the ball out.
Sydney Olympic followed up with multiple efforts on goal, but they were blocked passionately by the away side’s backline, and somehow the ball crossed the line for a corner rather than a goal.
NWS Spirit FC continued to progress the ball forwards well into the final third, but struggled with their execution in goalscoring areas, as at different times it was an inaccurate or mistimed pass, shot, or run.
In the 74th minute, Michael Konestabo exchanged a good one two with Kota Odakura in between the lines and unleashed a shot which was saved well by Sorras.
Sydney Olympic doubled their advantage in the 77th minute with a well-worked goal.
Burgess held the ball well before releasing a nicely weighted pass to Parkhouse, who took a positive touch towards the box from the left flank.
Driving into open space, the former Wellington Phoenix player then found Puflett with a clever cutback, and the big marksman made no mistake in converting from close range into the bottom right-hand corner.
The game opened up in the final fifteen minutes as NWS Spirit pushed on to claw back a goal, which left space to exploit for Sydney Olympic on transition, but the game remained 2-0 as the final whistle sounded.
Sydney Olympic coach Labinot Haliti was happy to see his side back to winning ways, but labelled the result as part of a process that would persevere over the course of the season.
“It feels good (to take home three points), it feels good for the boys, it feels good for the club, but it’s part of a process that we’ve got to believe in.
“Things have changed in the off-season, and it’ll take time to settle, but in saying that, you still have to play and that’s not an excuse.
“The effort in the last four weeks has been the same as what it was tonight but we got our chances and took them.
“There’s a process in place and win lose or draw, we’re sticking to the process.”
Meanwhile, NWS Spirit coach David Perkovic was proud of his sides’ display in the first half, and was disappointed that they didn’t take the chances they created as they suffered their fourth loss of the 2023 campaign.
“I think in the first half we played very well – we created three clear cut chances that we didn’t take.
“In the second half it didn’t open up as much as we’d hope for.
“Credit to Olympic, they kept a tight block at the back and we found it hard to create chances and they got their second goal and that was the game.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 2 (Burgess 29’, Puflett 77’)
NWS Spirit FC 0
Saturday 25 March, 2023
Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Karl Davies
Assistant Referees: Maddy Allum and Blake Sanchez-Cruz
Fourth Official: Jackson Mackie
Sydney Olympic: 1. Nicholas Sorras, 3. Michael Neill, 5. Zygmunt Gordan (C), 7. William Angel (12. Matthew Buettner 37’), 8. Sam Mcillhatton, 9. Oliver Puflett, 10. Darcy Burgess, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 22. Fabio Ferreira (29. Nick Fitzgerald 68’), 23. Jakob Cresnar, 99. Roy O’Donovan (24. Hagi Gligor 82’)
Substitutes Not Used: 4. Benjamin van Meurs, 20. Christopher Parsons
Yellow Cards: Mcillhatton 33’, Gordon 66’, Gligor 86’, Neill 87’
Red Cards: N/A
NWS Spirit FC: 1. Christopher Marques, 2. Black Ilitch (9. Mitchell Davidson 77’), 3. Musahi Kokubo, 4. Kota Odakura, 5. Jordan Gomez, 6. Corey Kavanagh, 7. Richard Darko, 10. Louis Bozanic (C) (18. Federico Gagliano 85’), 13. Simon Nicholas, 17. Matthew Cahill, 21. Luiz Lobo (19. Dominic Johns 58’
Substitutes Not Used: 6. Corey Kavanagh, 12. Jacob Madden, 23. Michael Konestabo
Yellow Cards: Davidson 90’
Red Cards: N/A
Player Ratings:
3 – Fabio Ferreira (SO)
2 – Nicholas Sorras (SO)
1 – Kota Odakura (NWS)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
