Clinical Olympic down Rangers
Sydney Olympic maximised their opportunities to score a much-needed 4-0 victory over Mt Druitt Town Rangers at Popondetta Park on Saturday evening.
The Blues made the most of the attacks as they downed the Rangers, who performed strongly for large portions of the game without converting their pressure and chances into goals.
The Rangers created the first major chance of the contest in the eighth minute after Pedrinho delivered an excellent pass that released Caleb Jackson-Brown, with his left-footed strike forcing a diving save out of Olympic keeper Jack Gibson down low towards his left.
The hosts came close again in the 24th minute when winger John Azar unleashed a terrific strike from range on the left side, with it curling towards the top right only to be kept out by Gilbson.
Azar then had an even better chance in the 27th minute after the ball fell to him in the middle of the box, though he hit it over the crossbar.
Olympic would punish them for the miss as they scored in the 28th minute, courtesy of a beautiful long-range flicked effort by Dylan Ruiz-Diaz that settled into the top left.
The Rangers had a golden opportunity to equalise quickly after winning a penalty in the 31st minute, with Pedrinho stepping up and hitting it towards the bottom left only for Gibson to intervene once more and protect his club’s advantage.
Olympic nearly doubled their lead inside the first minute of the second half when Teng Kuol played through Cyrus Dehmie, with the striker pulling off a grounded shot that went just wide of the left post.
The visitors came even closer to grabbing their second in the 54th minute after right winger Michael Vakis released a shot that smacked the inside of the left post and deflected away from the net.
Vakis eventually found his goal in the 68th minute with the winger latching onto a ball across goal by captain Adam Parkhouse and tapping it in from point-blank range.
Olympic made it three in the 80th minute following a ball by Seth Clark that led to a driving run by Jack Armson into the box, who then capped it off with a finish into the top left.
The travellers then put the game to bed with a fourth and final goal in the 90+5th minute via a deflected goal from Zac Zoricich.
Olympic coach Labinot Haliti acknowledged the game was much tighter than the scoreline suggested, but praised his players for keeping strong and working well together to get the win.
“It was even because they are a good side. You have got to respect them, but once we got going you could see only one team was going to win the game,” Labinot Haliti told Football NSW.
“We are trying to share the goals between all our attacking players. The way we play, we don’t want to depend on any one player. It is a team game and today is the reward…Scoring in injury time also shows we are strong, are fit and the training is paying off.”
Rangers manager Andrew Montgomery was equally pleased with the performance from his side, admitting to Football NSW he thought they were outstanding despite the final result.
“We’re a build-in-progress and I think people can see where we are heading. I thought that we played really well today, just didn’t take our moments,” he told Football NSW.
The coach stated that, with a very young squad, they are only going to get better, concluding by saying:
“We just need to stay positive, keep doing what we are doing and on another day we could have been up 4-0.”
Match Stats
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 0
Sydney Olympic 4 (Dylan Ruiz-Diaz 28’, Michael Vakis 68’, Jack Armson 80’, Zac Zoricich 90+5’)
Saturday 5 April
Popondetta Park
Referee: Hayden Langholz
Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki and Hayden Kaye
Fourth Official: Charlotte Flynn
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 1. Dylan Niski, 2. Alexander Trajanoski, 4. Zac Sfiligoi (27. Shayden Sampow 46’), 5. Theph Theph, 6. Jared Macerola (99. Rocco Fragale 75’), 9. Joseph Gibbs (24. Bailey Comino 81’), 10. Pedrinho, 11. John Azar, 15. Caleb Jackson-Brown, 21. William Rankin (18. Lachlan Vasiliou 75’), 22. Jude Rankin (7. Garang Awac 46’)
Substitutes Not Used: 16. Stefan Giglio
Yellow Cards: Zac Sfiligoi 36’, Jared Macerola 37’, Shayden Sampow 87’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 1. Jack Gibson, 3. Connor O’Toole (17. Joshua Hong 82’), 5. Ziggy Gordon, 7. Michael Vakis (16. Bailey Callaghan), 9. Cyrus Dehmie, 10. Jack Armson, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 12. Zac Zoricich, 18. Teng Kuol (19. Gianni Di Pizio 82’), 22. Dylan Ruiz-Diaz (14. Seth Clark 62’), 28. Doni Grdic
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Monty Partington
Yellow Cards: Seth Clark 90+2’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Jack Gibson (SO)
2: Caleb Jackson-Brown (MDTR)
1: Jack Armson (SO)
-By Dimitri Kallos
