Last gasp winner as Olympic silence Wolves
Sydney Olympic stopped Wollongong Wolves’ excellent run in the NPL Men’s NSW with a late 2-1 win at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Roy O’Donovan gave the visitors the lead in the 73rd minute from the spot before Christopher McStay converted a penalty of his own to equalise for Wollongong in the 89th minute.
Right at the death, Oliver Puflett won the points for Olympic to keep their late finals charge going.
Olympic gave the hosts an early scare just a couple of minutes in. O’Donovan sent a looping header goalwards that needed to be palmed away by Wollongong goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic.
Despite both teams’ scrappy first 15 minutes, Olympic’s pressing intensity kept Wollongong under pressure at the back. However, the final ball for the visitors was missing.
After this, the Wolves managed to get a foothold in the game, with Dylan Ryan getting his head on a couple of set pieces to push Olympic back over the next five minutes.
Wollongong continued to find their feet. In the 23rd minute, a well-worked move through McStay found Jake Trew, who forced Christopher Parsons into a low save to his right.
The Wolves’ tendency for giveaways in this match reared its head again in the 26th minute as Olympic broke down the left. A left-sided cross fell to Jack Simmons on the edge of the area, whose shot was deflected wide.
The home side took the ball down the other end 28 minutes in, with Yagoub Mustafa driving through the middle of the pitch. He laid the ball to the left for Takumi Ofuka, the winger giving it back to Mustafa, who took on a strike from the edge of the box expertly held onto by Parsons.
Two minutes later, Wollongong had another big chance when Lachlan Scott made room for a shot from just outside the box, cannoning a low strike narrowly past the left post.
Right on the stroke of halftime, Parsons’ came to Olympic’s rescue once more. Palming away Sebastian Hernandez’s left-footed shot from the right corner of the box.
The teams went into halftime unable to be separated. After a slow start, the game had burst into life, with Wollongong finishing the half strongly.
Olympic started the second period fast, with O’Donovan finding space for an effort from the right edge of the box that Janjetovic caught.
Wollongong clicked back into gear for the second half around 10 minutes in as their attacking set pieces proved a threat again. McStay’s right-sided corner dropped to Banri Kanaizumi at the back post, but the defender skied a glorious opportunity for the home team.
In the 63rd minute, the side put together a slick move on the right. Scott backheeled the ball to Masciovecchio in the box, who sliced the ball just wide of the right post.
Three minutes later, another McStay cross – this time from a free-kick – curled onto Darcy Madden’s head; however, the centre-back’s shot went straight to Parsons.
Despite the plethora of chances for Wollongong, they were dealt a sucker punch in the 73rd minute. Kanaizumi was deemed to have pulled down Teng Kuol in the box, much to the bemusement of the Wolves team.
Veteran O’Donovan stepped up and blasted the ball into the roof of the net, leaving Janjetovic no chance.
The Wolves threw more numbers forward, chasing a deficit. With that, though, Olympic were afforded space on the break and sought a second goal to secure the points.
In the 88th minute, Olympic had that game-securing chance. Oliver Puflett starred down Janjetovic one-on-one, but Janjetovic pulled off a superb save. The ball rebounded back to Puflett, whose second effort was saved by Janjetovic again.
Janjetovic’s saves were not in vain in spite of the advancing minutes of the match. Straight away, a ball was lofted into the left channel for Ofuka. The Japanese clipped the ball around an onrushing Parsons, who took out Ofuka, seeing a penalty awarded.
After an extended delay following Ofuka’s treatment, McStay took the responsibility and snuck his shot inside the left post past Parsons.
The momentum was with the Wolves, however, Olympic were not out of the game yet.
In the fifth minute of injury time, Olympic were inches away from a winner. Puflett’s right-sided cross curled onto the top of the crossbar, with Janjetovic beaten.
But, moments later, Puflett had his moment. Kuol’s mazing run in the left of the box allowed him to pull the ball back for Puflett in the middle; the substitute steered it low under Janjetovic and stole the points for Olympic.
Kuol had had a decisive impact off the bench, winning the penalty and then picking up the assist for the winner.
Match Stats
Wollongong Wolves FC 1 (Christopher McStay penalty 90’)
Sydney Olympic FC 2 (Roy O’Donovan penalty 73’, Oliver Puflett 90+6’)
Sunday 7 July 2024
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistant Referees: Anastasia Filacouridis and Amirhossein Hosnani
Fourth Official: Jeh Coutinho
Wollongong Wolves FC: 20. Vedran Janjetovic, 3. Darcy Madden (8. Andre Takami 77’), 4. Dylan Ryan, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Samuel Riak (27. Damon Gray 87’), 7. Takumi Ofuka, 9. Jake Trew (25. Alex Masciovecchio 61’), 10. Yagoub Mustafa, 11. Sebastian Hernandez, 24. Lachlan Scott, 88. Christopher McStay
Substitutes Not Used: 2. Harrison Buesnel, 13. Oliver Yates, 17. Mirza Muratovic
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic FC: 20, Christopher Parsons, 2. Peter Politis, 4. Michael Glassock, 5. Zygmunt Gordon, 6. Jack Simmons (18. Teng Kuol 69’), 8. Sam McIllhatton (9. Oliver Puflett 81’), 11. Adam Parkhouse (10. Darcy Burgess 90+2’), 12. Zac Zoricich, 14. Michael Vakis (29. George Antonis 81’), 15. William Mutch, 99. Roy O’Donovan
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Montgomery Partington, 19. Gianni Di Pizio
Yellow Cards: Zygmunt Gordon 15’, Roy O’Donovan 75’, Christopher Parsons 89’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Teng Kuol (SO)
2 – Christopher Parsons (SO)
1 – Vedran Janjetovic (WW)
Report by Tim Gibson
