Olympic outgunned by fired-up Stallions
Marconi Stallions FC have secured an important victory over Sydney Olympic, prevailing 2-1 in a fiery match in round 4 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition at Belmore Sports Ground.
Olympic were the side that threatened first; after finding an entry into the box on numerous occasions, a shot from George Antonis from just in the box stung the palms of James Hilton, but the goalkeeper calmly held what was in the end a disappointingly central effort.
The home side intruded again in the 12th minute, with a clever, silky nutmeg from Abraham Majok opening up space for a counter attack – he then found Jaden Casella on the left-wing, who forced Hilton into a save with a menacing effort across the face of goal.
Off the resulting corner, Hilton was forced into yet another save, with Antonis turning sharply and hitting a strong strike towards goal, which was palmed away sharply by the Marconi goalkeeper.
Olympic continued to build momentum with yet another chance, as Zac Zoricich cleverly read a pressing opportunity to steal the ball, before advancing on goal and forcing a great save from Hilton, who had rushed out with good pace and anticipation to prevent the shot from finding the back of the net.
However, against the run of play, it was Marconi who opened the scoring with their first shot of the match, silencing a stunned Belmore Sports Ground.
A searching pass over the top from Jonathan Soares found the inside run of Franco Maya.
It looked to be Noah James’ ball – the goalkeeper had rushed out to collect – but the winger quickly clipped the ball over his outstretched, diving hands, and was rewarded with a pass into an empty net to crucially open the scoring for his side.
However, in the 34th minute, the home side responded with a beautiful, curling strike from Michael Vakis, who had come on as an early substitute for the injured Adam Parkhouse.
A low pass from the advanced William Mutch found Roy O’Donovan on the edge of the area, and the veteran striker cleverly laid the ball off to Vakis.
Marconi couldn’t get a tackle in on the youthful winger’s touch, and Vakis slotted the ball home with an aesthetic, finessed finish to the far post.
The away side had a chance to respond in the 38th minute after a loose ball dropped nicely for George Daniel to strike, but the left-back dragged his shot well wide of the goal.
Marconi were starting to build momentum of their own, with a counter attack seeing an athletic run and clever backheel from James Temelkovski set up Milislav Popovic with a golden chance to slot the ball home, but the forward took one too many touches and Olympic’s desperate recovery was enough to prevent the away side from finding the lead once more.
After an even start to the second stanza, Vakis forced Hilton into a sharp save after a powerful shot which came from brilliant athleticism from Zoricich to win the ball on the halfway line after a long touch and drive at Marconi’s backtracking defence.
In the 68th minute, Maya went close to grabbing a brace with a swift, threatening strike.
Receiving the ball on the right from Dominic Costanzo, a quiet night up to this point compared to his usual standards, Maya cut inside clinically onto his left foot and struck a clever shot towards the near post, which just grazed the wrong side of the net.
However, two minutes later Marconi did find the lead courtesy of a stunning, beautiful freekick from Marko Jesic.
The club captain took control of the set piece – a few metres outside the area – and curled a stunning strike, with the perfect balance of power and placement, into the top right corner; a truly mesmerising goal.
Olympic looked to respond in the 76th minute with Vakis stealing in behind and striking another powerful, low effort at goal, but the home side couldn’t find the net off that strike or the multitude of efforts that followed from resulting corner kicks.
Marconi remained strong after taking the lead, looking dangerous consistently in both set possession and attacking transitions as they sought to confirm a vital mid-week victory.
In the 86th minute, the away side went close to doing just that, with an excellent run and cross from Hiroaki Aoyama narrowly missing the free Jakov Malbasa, although the flag went up to signal him as offside.
The end to the match was a fiery fight, with Marconi reduced to ten men following a poor challenge by Costanzo who was given his marching orders which sparked a mini-melee.
The match continued into eight minutes of added time but the away side held on to secure a vital three points at Belmore Sports Ground.
Marconi Stallions coach Peter Tsekenis, a former Olympic skipper, was happy with his side securing three precious points away from the ‘Palace.
“They were important three points, that’s what it’s about, especially at this time of year,” he said.
“I thought Olympic came out of the blocks really quickly and caused a lot of problems.
“We were probably lucky to be 1-1 (at halftime), but I was proud of the boys, they stuck in there.
“In the second half we made a couple of changes, and I believe in the second half we were way on top and probably could have finished the game a little bit earlier, but that’s what you get when two good sides go at each other.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 1 (Vakis 34’)
Marconi Stallions FC 2 (Maya 19’, Jesic 70’)
Wednesday 6 March, 2024
Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields, Aaron Bloch
Fourth Official: Jerry Bitas
Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Noah James, 2. Peter Politis, 7. Jaden Casella 10. Darcy Burgess 66’), 8. Sam Mcillhatton (19. Gianni Di Pizio 77’), 11. Adam Parkhouse (14. Michael Vakis 16’), 12. Zac Zoricich, 15. William Mutch, 17. Abraham Majok (9. Oliver Puflett 66’), 18. Teng Kuol, 29. George Antonis, 99. Roy O’Donovan (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 5. Ziggy Gordon, 20. Christopher Parsons
Yellow Cards: Vakis 39’, Kuol 72’
Red Cards:
Marconi Stallions FC: 1. James Hilton, 3. Cameron Windust (2. Nathan Millgate 77’), 4. Anton Mlinaric, 6. Domenic Costanzo, 7. Franco Maya (21. Jakov Malbasa 73’), 9. James Temelkovski, 11. Hiroaki Aoyama, 17. Milislav Popovic (10. Marko Jesic 45’), 18. George Daniel, 23. Brandon Vella (C), 25. Jonathan Soares (8. Daniel Bouman 45’)
Substitutes Not Used: 14. Dylan Susovic, 24. Mackenzie Syron
Yellow Cards: Soares 12’, Malbasa 90+4
Red Cards: Costanzo 90+6’
Player ratings:
3 – Hiroaki Aoyama (MS)
2 – Michael Vakis (SO)
1 – James Hilton (MS)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
