Sydney Olympic have secured three points in the penultimate round of the NPL Men’s NSW competition, prevailing 4-1 over Western Sydney Wanderers who continued on their winless run which has now stretched to twelve successive matches at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
It was Olympic who had the first chance of the match inside a minute as a quick, short freekick found Michael Vakis in behind down the right.
The exciting winger whipped in a cross to the near post which was met by Roy O’Donovan, who saw his sharp shot go just over the crossbar.
In the 4th minute, Olympic found their go-ahead goal, opening the scoring early with a clinical transition at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
After winning the ball on the right, a pass from Sam Mcillhatton allowed Roy O’Donovan to accelerate into space and play a low cross into the penalty spot.
A slip from Luke Nieuwenhof in the box allowed Teng Kuol to take a touch to set himself, before he calmly passed the ball past Taiga Harper to put Olympic in the lead.
The half-hour minutes that followed was a quiet affair, with both sides aiming to build-up in a calculated, methodical manner.
Apart from a freekick from an acute angle that stung the palms of Taiga Harper, there were minimal chances for either side, with both looking to build into the match.
In the 31st minute, a good drive down the right from Kuol allowed him to cut the ball back to Adam Parkhouse on the penalty spot, but the winger skewed his shot.
A minute later, Olympic had another opportunity, as mistake in the Wanderers’ backline allowed Kuol to run in behind, however the forward couldn’t find an adequate finish from the edge of the box.
And in added time, the match changed significantly, as Luke Nieuwenhof was sent off for dissent following an adjudged foul on the halfway line, leaving the Wanderers to head into the sheds both a goal and a man down for the second half.
But the Wanderers began the second half strongly considering their numerical disadvantage, threatening in the 49th minute with a curling effort from Meliwethu Nkomo.
Olympic continued to create chances though, and remained ever menacing on attacking transitions, as shown in the 61st minute, where a strong turn and pass from Kuol found the onrushing Adam Parkhouse in behind.
Receiving the ball under pressure, Parkhouse cleverly cut back onto his right foot to find space for a strike, before seeing his effort blocked by Ricky Fransen close to the goalline.
However, it was the ten-men Wanderers who equalised in the 63rd minute, after Olympic conceded a penalty following a nice Western Sydney move.
From 12 yards, Ryley Holloingdale made no mistake in finding the back of the net, placing the ball calmly past Christopher Parsons to equalise at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
In the 71st minute, Olympic found the lead once more off another penalty, with O’Donovan converting his 19th goal of the campaign.
After Olympic won back the ball deep, a direct, strong dribble across half the field beat multiple players and allowed him to play a threatening cut-back into the feet of O’Donovan.
Just as the winger looked to take a touch to set up a strike, he was fouled, and from the penalty spot, calmly converted to reinstate Olympic’s advantage.
Olympic created with a chance to increase their lead in the 80th minute, after an incisive dribble and pass from Darcy Burgess found the feet of Oliver Puflett in the box.
Puflett shot first time from a good position, but couldn’t find the target, leaving the match wide open with ten minutes to play.
But in the 84th minute, Olympic did find their third, with a Puflett stunner putting the home side in prime position to emerge victorious in the penultimate round of the NPL Men’s NSW competition.
Receiving the ball in a central pocket of space a few metres outside the box, Puflett released a sensational, swerving outside of the boot strike, which found the top right corner in beautiful fashion.
Just a minute later, Puflett earnt his second of the match, blocking an attempted clearance from goalkeeper Harper to confirm the three points for Olympic.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 4 (Kuol 4’, O’Donovan 71’, Puflett 84’, 85’)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC 1 (Hollingdale 63’)
Saturday 17 August, 2024
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Referee: Ayad Naji
Assistant Referees: Andrej Giev and Arinath Gobinath
Fourth Official: Mujtaba Ebrahimi
Sydney Olympic FC: 20. Christopher Parsons, 2. Peter Politis, 4. Michael Glassock, 5. Zygmunt Gordon, 8. Sam Mcillhatton (6. Jack Simmons 61’), 11. Adam Parkhouse (9. Oliver Puflett 61’), 12. Zac Zoricich, 14. Michael Vakis (10. Darcy Burgess 76’), 18. Teng Kuol (13. Liam Rippon 68’), 29. George Antonis (19. Gianni Di Pizio 76’), 99. Roy O’Donovan (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Montgomery Partington
Yellow Cards: Vakis 37’, O’Donovan 54’
Red Cards: None
Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1. Taiga Harper, 11. Meliwethu Nkomo (12. Lachlan Tilt 55’), 18. Awan Lual, 23. Marcus Fernandez, 25. Ryley Hollingdale (C), 27. Julian Cop (8. Nicholas Badolato 78’), 28. Luke Nieuwenhof, 37. Ricky Fransen, 47. Edmun Haddad (36. Dallo Sandy 66’), 77. Phillip Gigliotti (35. Kaan Nizam 78’), 99. Ryan Devine (3. Matthew O’Donoghue 66’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Lucas Sinnott
Yellow Cards: Devine 11’, Hollingdale 36’, Nieuwenhof 45’, 45’
Red Cards: Nieuwenhof 45’
Player ratings:
3 – Roy O’Donovan (SO)
2 – Michael Glassock (SO)
1 – Oliver Puflett (SO)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
