Olympic end winless streak with victory over old foes United 58
Sydney Olympic have gotten its National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season back on track after securing its first win in five games, taking down bitter rivals Sydney United 58 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Sydney United Sports Centre.
After a tightly contested first half, it was the visitors who struck first after a late penalty in the first half which was converted by Roy O’Donovan.
The second half saw a back-and-forth battle between the sides with Olympic in pursuit of a second as United 58 aimed to salvage a point.
United 58 were denied of a famous late comeback after Mathew Bilic’s powerful effort struck the crossbar in what would be the final chance of the game.
The hosts came firing out of the gates looking to stun their opponents with a fast-paced aggressive attack in the opening stages.
As the game progressed the attacking chances began to balance out as both sides engaged in an arm wrestle for possession in the middle of the park
Olympic came close to opening the scoring on two occasions, with Darcy Burgess’ free kick and Oliver Puflett’s half-volley going wide at either side of the posts in quick succession.
The game quickly picked up in intensity at the 20th-minute mark and it was Roy O’Donovan who came closest to opening the scoring as his low-driven shot narrowly skimmed past the back stick.
After surviving a massive scare, United 58 flipped the script on their opponents and found themselves in a promising position as Patrick Antelmi intercepted a back-pass aimed for Chris Parsons.
The United 58 target man powered toward the goal but was denied of an opener courtesy of a world-class save from Parsons.
Antelmi thought he had found the opener just minutes later after Bilic picked out his man and sent him through on goal, however, he was narrowly ruled offside and had his goal taken away.
As half-time drew closer, Olympic continued to press for the first goal and were left stunned as Danijel Nizic pulled off a heroic save to deny Oliver Puflett from close range.
United 58’s hard work in defence was undone from the following corner as Devante Clut was called for a handball inside the box, giving Olympic a golden chance to strike first.
The experienced O’Donovan stepped up for the visitors and neatly buried the spot kick, sending Nizic the wrong way and his side into the break with a one-goal buffer.
It was the hosts who once again started off looking the better of the two sides after holding the majority of possession in the opening stages of the second half.
After an inspiring tackle in the middle of the park, Anthony Tomelic sparked a promising attack for United 58 that climaxed with an Antelmi strike that never troubled Parsons in goals.
Parsons was forced to work just moments later as a dangerous cross from Bailey Rule picked out the head of Bilic who got his effort on target and managed a corner for the hosts.
Olympic were quick to fire back in attack when Jakob Cresnar found Fabio Ferreira at the back stick and with his effort looking likely to end up in the back of the net, Nizic once again came to his side’s rescue.
The visitors eagerly pushed to seal the victory in the final stages of the game but squandered two golden chances with Puflett sending his effort just wide and Nick Fitzgerald needing a heroic save from Nizic to keep the game in touching distance.
With just seconds remaining in the contest, United 58 were gifted the chance to level the scores when Chris Payne linked up with Bilic.
The substitute played Bilic through on goal and will just the keeper to beat his shot agonisingly bounced back off the crossbar.
With the entire team and stadium stunned the referee blew for full-time leaving United 58 with their heads in their hands in disbelief.
Olympic coach Labinot Haliti stated that he wasn’t focused on his side’s winless streak and has his eyes on continuing the momentum from this win.
“I don’t look at it like that, it’s not about winless streaks, at the beginning we went on a good run then we had a fall, it’s a process again, winning helps to build that belief, it’s just a matter of every week continuing to build,” he said.
“I thought for 55-60 minutes we were very good and of course, they have quality players at the top and it’s always going to be challenging but I thought we showed character, we’ve already shown this year that we have character, we will keep believing and keep going in the process we’re on.”
After coming close to stealing a point at the death, United 58 skipper Adrian Vlastelica admitted he was disappointed with the result but is confident with his side’s ability to bounce back.
“It was a game of chances, we had a couple early on to put ourselves in front, didn’t take them unfortunately and we copped a penalty at half-time which was unfortunate, but I think we controlled the game from there,” he said.
“Some weeks they fall for you, other weeks they don’t but I’m sure the boys will bounce back from it.”
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 FC 0
Sydney Olympic FC 1 (O’Donovan 45’)
Sunday 13th May, 2023
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Brodie Merchant and Anatasia Filacouridis
Fourth Official: Hadi Al-Nakeeb
Sydney United 58 FC: 1. Danijel Nizic, 3. Bailey Rule, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 5. Anthony Tomelic, 7. Taisei Kaneko (6. Christopher Payne 65’) 8. Jason Madonis (17. Matthew Bilic 9’), 10. Devante Clut (14. Andreas Agamemnonos 65’) 9. Patrick Antelmi, 11. Yianni Perkatis (18. Glen Trifiro 55’), 12. Hiyori Kawaguchi, 21. Yianni Fragogiannis
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Ryan Warner, 16. Ante Bakmaz
Yellow Cards: Perkatis 12’, Clut 45’, Tomelic 89’, Rule 90+2’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic FC: 20. Christopher Parsons, 2. Peter Politis, 3. Michael Neill, 5. Zygmunt Gordon, 8. Sam McIllhatton, 9. Oliver Puflett, 10. Darcy Burgess, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 22. Fabio Ferreira (6. Jack Simmons 77’), 23. Jakob Cresnar, 99. Roy O’Donovan (29. Nick Fitzgerald 59’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Nicholas Sorras, 4. Benjamin Van Meurs, 12. Matthew Buettner, 24. Hagi Gligor,
Yellow Cards: Cresnar 90+2’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Darcy Burgess (SOFC)
2 – Zygmunt Gordon (SOFC)
1 – Bailey Rule (SU58)
Written By NPL NSW Men’s reporter Dominic Criniti, @DominicCriniti
