Tense draw as Olympic and St George battle it out at Belmore
Sydney Olympic and St George City drew 0-0 in a tense National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s encounter at Belmore Sports Ground.
The first fifteen minutes was a tight affair, as both sides looked to test opposition defences with a range of direct passes, while also looking to maintain possession and move the ball around the field.
In the 20th minute, a swift counterattack saw Maki Petratos put in a dangerous outswinging ball from the right flank into Presley Ortiz in the middle, however Peter Politis read the situation well to clear in a threatening position inside the box.
Two minutes later, a turnover from St George in their defensive third presented Fabio Ferreira with a good opportunity to open the scoring; he touched the ball forward and unleashed an effort from a central position outside of the box, but just struck over.
A dangerous ball in from Nick Fitzgerald in the 25th minute almost saw the home side open the scoring, as the inswinging cross was just over the head of Ferreira, who had made a good run inside to find himself centrally a few metres from goal.
In the 33rd minute, Ferreira continued to threaten, as a driving run and outswinging cross from the right-hand side found the head of Oliver Puflett in the centre, who couldn’t direct his header on the inside of the near post.
A one two between the Petratos brothers in a central, advanced area saw Kosta strike a volley from just outside the box, which didn’t threaten Nicholas Sorras as the forward couldn’t catch it cleanly.
Off a clipped cross to the back post, the free Nathan Roberts was presented with a good chance to find an opener, but the forward took too long to settle, and Olympic’s defence reacted quickly to block the eventual effort.
On the stroke of the halftime whistle, Ortiz was presented with the chance of the first 45 minutes.
A fantastic chipped pass from Matthew Keremelevski found the striker in behind and in on goal, but he couldn’t find a way past Sorras with his first touch.
Sydney Olympic started the second half strongly, and a stinging, volleyed effort from Jack Simmons forced Jack Kenny into action, as the goalkeeper stretched to tip the ball over the bar.
In the 65th minute, St George threatened off a corner on the right-hand side, but Dominic Cox couldn’t find the target as a shot on the turn from close range hit the side netting.
Off an attacking transition nearly ten minutes later, substitute Michael Vakis got round his market with energetic skill on the right, but his cutback was well anticipated and blocked.
In the 79th minute, a clearance from Ziggy Gordan bounced into the path of the onrushing Puflett – the striker advanced onto the ball, however his shot from an acute angle was wide of the near post.
Two minutes later, St George were presented with a high-quality opportunity; an incisive pass from Kosta Petratos on the edge of the box found Paolo Mitry inside the area, who played a further intricute pass through to Marley Peterson.
The striker took a touch and looked to guide the ball into the bottom right corner, but the ball bobbled wide of the far post.
The last 20 minutes of the match became highly transitional, as both sides looked to create opportunities through direct long passes to find a crucial winner.
St George were presented with a freekick just outside the box in stoppage time, but Maki Petratos struck the ball over the top of the crossbar in what was the last chance of the match.
The result continues to see Olympic in the lower half of the ladder as they hope to distance themselves from the relegation battle while for St George, a point has kept in the top half of the league ladder.
Sydney Olympic coach Labinot Haliti was proud of his team’s effort, and outlined his pleasure at keeping a clean sheet.
“Two weeks ago here against Sydney FC we dominated the game but lost, so today we needed to prioritise a clean sheet,” he said.
“We had almost six players out but that’s been a part of the season for us.
“I’m proud of the boys who came in, did a job and dug deep.
“We’ll keep working and building; there’s eight games to go and we’ll give it a good crack – the boys are giving everything they have and I can’t fault them today.”
Meanwhile, St George coach Mirko Jurilj was happy with his side’s performance, believing they did enough to earn the three points.
“It was tough conditions; the ground wasn’t ideal to produce good football but it’s the same for both teams.
“All in all, probably a case of us dropping two points, because I thought we created the two best moments in the game, so we’re going to have to take it on the chin and move on.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 0
St George City FA 0
Sunday 18 June, 2023
Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Stephan Lucas
Assistant Referees: Matt Staples and Anastasia Filacouridis
Fourth Official: Matthew Harris
Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Nicholas Sorras, 2. Peter Politis, 4. Benjamin van Meurs, 5. Zygmunt Gordan (C), 6. Jack Simmons (8. Sam Mcillhatton 69’), 7. William Angel (24. Hagi Gligor 83’), 9. Oliver Puflett, 10. Darcy Burgess, 22. Fabio Ferreira (14. Michael Vakis 69’), 23. Jakob Cresnar, 29. Nick Fitzgerald
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Christopher Parsons, 40. Kual Mien, 45. Marcus Grbevski
Yellow Cards: Cresnar 38’, Fitzgerald 75’, Angel 79’
Red Cards:
St George City FA: 2. Pedro Ferrari, 3. Daniel Alessi (C), 7. Nathan Roberts (10. Paolo Mitry 62’), 8. Dominic Cox, 11. Kosta Petratos, 12. Jack Kenny, 14. Dean Pelekanos (6. Tarik Ercan 62’), 23. Franco Maya, 30. Presley Ortiz (9. Marley Peterson 62’), 70. Maki Petratos, 99. Matthew Keremelevski
Substitutes Not Used: 4. Brendan Hooper, 25. Andrew Vlahadamis, 51. Salvatore Glinatsis
Yellow Cards: Keremelevski 59’, K. Petratos 87’
Red Cards
Player ratings
3 – Ziggy Gordan (SO)
2 – Matthew Keremelevski (SG)
1 – Dominic Cox (SG)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
