Olympic stun Wolves in cliffhanger at Belmore
A contender for the match of the 2024 National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW season, Sydney Olympic defeated the Wollongong Wolves 4-3 in a highly entertaining round 8 fixture on Easter Saturday at Belmore Sports Ground.
The Blues prevailed after going into the halftime break down 2-0 down thanks to a brace from Wolves ace Takumi Ofuka.
The second half was the type of half that Sydney Olympic will want to make a blueprint of for the season because of the quality of their play and the superb 4-2 outcome.
Wollongong Wolves had managed to crawl ahead 3-2 thanks to an Andre Takami strike before Teng Kuol and Roy O’Donovan scored beyond the 90th minute to send the home side into raptures.
The first chance of the game arrived in the 4th minute.
A corner by Chris McStay caused consternation in the goal area before the ball made its way out to Banri Kanaizumi who fired high and wide when an on-target shot was needed by the Wolves.
In the 7th minute Wollongong were at it again when a shot by Ofuka was turned beautifully over the crossbar by Noah James.
Sydney Olympic’s reply occurred when a corner reached Michael Vakis just outside the box, but he shot just over the crossbar without troubling Vedran Janjetovic.
Wollongong Wolves then took the lead in the 21st minute when Sydney Olympic lost the ball in midfield and Ofuka showed lightning speed on the left flank where he beat all and sundry before finding the back of the net with a solid diagonal strike.
In the 29th minute Peter Politis received the ball just outside the box but his shot on target lacked real power and Janjetovic got down low to make the save as Olympic tried even the ledger.
However, it was Wollongong that scored again through Ofuka on the left in the 39th minute and he made it look far too easy. He simply danced through some weak defending and, with a majestic shot from once again an acute angle, struck the far corner of the net out of the reach of ‘keeper James.
The halftime break couldn’t come quick enough for the home side as coach Labinot Haliti was first to leave his chair and head into the sheds.
And things started much better for Olympic in the second half as Vakis scored in the opening minute from close range at the far post by sliding the ball in after an accurate cross from the left by Adam Parkhouse, who had just come onto the field during the break.
In the 54th minute a very good looking free-kick from Jackson Bandiera sailed just wide of the mark as Olympic now looked invigorated.
In the 56th minute Wollongong Wolves finally gained some composure when a McStay cross was met by a header from Dylan Ryan which ended up just wide and into side netting.
Sydney Olympic then evened the stakes in the 60th minute when a George Antonis shot was blocked by Janjetovic but, unfortunately for him, it spun up and from close range Darcy Burgess headed in much to the delight of the home side’s bench.
Andre Takami’s volley in the 78th minute was not held by ‘keeper James after a cross by Dylan Ryan was not cleared properly and Takami made the most of it to give Wollongong the lead again and make the scoreline 3-2 in favour of the visitors.
Sydney Olympic however then bravely scored again the 91st minute with a delightful Parkhouse ball to Teng Kuol who created space in a crowded box to score with a nice finish and it was then 3-3 and game on.
And then came the moment for Sydney Olympic and the winner.
In the 94th minute a Parkhouse cross was met by a header from captain O’Donovan and the ball went straight into the back of the net to send the home side’s bench into pure delirium on the sidelines.
After the game Labinot Haliti, coach of Sydney Olympic, was very happy with his side’s display.
“I believe in all my team and sometimes things take a bit longer like today,” he said.
“We showed against a good team such as Wollongong that is well coached that we need to play the way we do and believe in ourselves.
“We are all ready to fight here at this club but credit to all the boys today. It’s football where we believe, we will turn up on Monday and we will continue to work”.
Wollongong Wolves goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic spoke on behalf of his team afterwards.
“Obviously it wasn’t good enough to concede four goals in one half because we are much better than that as a team” he stated.
“It was a breakdown of communication, and the little things didn’t go our way in the second half. We needed possession in key areas of the field, we let them get away with too much and they punished us.
“It was a crazy game; they scored one early in the second half and then it was back and forth. At 3-2 up I thought we would hold onto the game, but they had experience up front and we just couldn’t handle the pressure”.
Match Stats
SYDNEY OLYMPIC: 4 (Vakis 46’, Burgess 60’, Kuol 91’ O’Donovan 94’)
WOLLONGONG WOLVES: 3 (Ofuka 21’, 40’, Takami 79’)
Saturday 30th March 2024
Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Amirhossein Hosnani, Charbel Geha
Fourth Official: Mitchell Renton
SYDNEY OLYMPIC: 1. Noah James, 2. Peter Politis (5. Zygmunt Gordon 46’), 4. George Timotheou, 8. Sam McIllhatton, 10. Darcy Burgess (19. Gianni Di Pizio 64’), 14. Michael Vakis (9. Oliver Puflett 64’), 15. William Mutch, 17. Abraham Majok (11. Adam Parkhouse 46’), 23. Jackson Bandiera, 29. George Antonis (18. Teng Kuol 89’), 99. Roy O’Donovan.
Substitutes not used: 20. Chris Parsons
Yellow Cards: Antonis 45’+1, O’Donovan 68’
Red Cards: Nil
WOLLONGONG WOLVES: 20. Vedran Janjetovic, 2. Harrison Buesnel, 4. Dylan Ryan, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Samuel Riak, 7. Takumi Ofuka, 8. Andre Takami, 9. Jake Trew (3. Darcy Madden 77’), 10. Yagoub Mustafa, 24. Lachlan Scott (25. Alex Masciovecchio 60’, 27. Damon Gray 68’), 88. Chris McStay.
Substitutes not used: 13. Oliver Yates, 15. Dax Kelly, 29. Thomas Dunn
Yellow Cards: Ryan 54’, Buesnel 90’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – George Antonis (SO)
2 – Adam Parkhouse (SO)
1 – Takumi Ofuka (WW)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
