Casella haunts former side with shrewd brace

St George FC came away 2-0 winners over Sydney Olympic courtesy of a resilient defensive performance and a Jaden Casella double at Barton Park on Saturday evening. 

The tone of the match was set early on with the two sides determined to push up field with speed through their wingers.

St George’s press got the better of Olympic in the 3^rd minute when errant play by the visitors’ backline allowed Jaden Casella to pounce on the loose ball and launch a foray at goal, which ended with the speedy No. 10 wheeling away in celebration as his low finish took a touch off of goalkeeper Jack Gibson on the way into the back of the net.

Olympic showed no signs of being overawed by conceding and had a chance of their own through Ziggy Gordon, who saw his volleyed effort deflect off of a teammate and fly out for a goal kick in the 6^th minute.

St George were continuing to create opportunities down either wing, which led to captain Troy Danaskos attempting a powerful finish from just outside the box in the 11^th minute that sailed above the crossbar.

Danaskos would again be involved in the 14^th minute after seizing on the outcome of his teammate’s contest for the ball and quickly unlocking Casella, who raced through on goal and cheekily dinked Teng Kuol, before the defender did well to recover and halt the St George flyer’s strike. Justin Poon then saw his follow-up to the blocked shot curve beyond the far post.

The Olympic defence were struggling to handle St George’s great play on the flanks, leading to a moment in the 16^th minute when Danaskos’ cross-field ball landed perfectly at the feet of Sunday Yona, who strode past his defender before seeing his squared pass to Bai Antoniou prevented by a last-ditch interception from Olympic’s Gianni Di Pizio.

Goalkeeper Mackenzie Syron showed his understanding of St George’s game plan when he moved rapidly after catching a corner kick to unleash Casella down the left wing, leading to Antoniou being played in before his inviting ball at the back post was unable to be met by a teammate in the 20^th minute.

Casella found himself within reach of a brace in the 23^rd minute, however he could not get to Poon’s precise pass across goal to tuck it into an empty net in time.

Olympic secured themselves a real opportunity to equalise in the 24^th minute when St George defender Mark Rodic downed Seth Clark and earned a yellow card for a rough challenge. The subsequent strike by Cyrus Dehmie well-hit but placed a fair distance outside of the top right corner of the net.

Joshua Hong was the next player to go into the book after his heavy touch on the ball allowed Evangelo Souris to steal possession, leading to the Olympic No. 17 pulling down the St George midfielder and receiving a yellow in the 28^th minute.

A decent chance was well-crafted by Yona in the 31^st minute when the pacey winger picked up a smart header from Antoniou and raced in behind the Olympic defence before seeing his strike hit the side netting.

St George’s wily No. 10 was proving a hassle for Olympic and almost had his second of the evening after having his run impeded on the edge of the box. Casella then stepped up to take the resulting free-kick which dipped onto the crossbar in the 38^th minute.

Casella then tested Gibson again from distance in the 43^rd minute with a splintering hit from range that the Olympic No. 1 was able to collect at his near post.

Thomas Whiffen let off a speculative strike from distance in the 44^th minute that ultimately rose above the St George goal, which would be the final attempt of the opening half.

The two sides returned from the halftime break eager to get control of the match, leading to a closely-fought period at the opening of the second half.

Whiffen, who was being troubled by the speed and unpredictability of Yona throughout the match, would receive a yellow card in the 49^th minute for holding the seemingly unstoppable winger.

Olympic Coach Labinot Haliti turned to his bench to change the tide for his side, with Zac Zoricich making an immediate impact after making a quality run from the inside to latch onto Adam Parkhouse’s through ball down the left wing. The pacey left-back then evaded his defender and darted into the box before forcing a huge save out of Syron with a thumping strike in the 56^th minute.

Fellow substitute Michael Vakis similarly proved a handful after arriving on the pitch and would attempt a volley from a St George clearance at a corner that ultimately bounced just wide in the 59^th minute.

A quick one-two between Poon and Antoniou gave the former the chance to setup substitute Aedan O’Shea with a superb aerial ball, leading to the No. 7 taking a chance from range that deflected for a corner in the 68^th minute.

Casella had to bide his time in the second half with opportunities limited when compared to the opening forty-five, however a miscalculation from Kuol led to Casella picking up the ball and racing toward Gibson before getting fortunate in seeing the ball past the No. 1 and finishing into an open net. 2-0 to St George in the 77^th minute.

Rodic, in his determination to win a one-on-one challenge for the ball, caught Kuol on the way through and duly received his second yellow card of the evening, leaving St George a player down from the 80^th minute onward.

Dehmie then had to react quickly to chase down returning St George No. 9 Chan Yelchan in the 81^st minute, with the substitute set to start a counterattack for his side before Olympic’s No. 9 dragged him to the ground and earned a yellow card in the process.

Pat O’Shea backed up a solid all-round performance with an instrumental block in the box in the 91^st minute to deny Olympic a potential late comeback.

Despite the late red, St George remained resilient in defence and prevented several Olympic chances in the remaining minutes of the match, and would secure a 2-0 win for their efforts.

It was a valuable three points for the hosts who leapfrogged Olympic on the ladder as the Blues’ indifferent year continued with Haliti’s squad that many tipped would challenge for the crown, slipped to its sixth loss of the season.

Match Stats

St George FC 2 (Casella ’3 ’77)

Sydney Olympic 0

Saturday 24^th May, 2025

Barton Park

Referee: Hayden Langholz

Assistant Referees: Amirhossein Hosnani & Lucy Hungerford

Fourth Official: Daniel Cornofsky

St George FC: 3. Troy Danaskos, 4. Mark Rodic, (Red Card ’80) 5. Nicholas Kalogerou, 6. Pat O’Shea, 8. Evangelo Souris, 10. Jaden Casella (16. Kaidyn Wright ‘83), 13. Sunday Yona (7. Aedan O’Shea ’67), 14. Justin Poon (9. Chan Yelchan ’73), 15. Bai Antoniou, 27. Jayden Seeto, 99. Mackenzie Syron

Substitutes Not Used: 20. Daniel Axford, 34. Kota Toyooka, 37. Jayden Dorevski

Yellow Cards: Rodic ’24 ‘80

Red Cards: Rodic ‘80

Sydney Olympic: 1. Jack Gibson, 5. Ziggy Gordon, 6. Thomas Whiffen (12. Zac Zoricich 55’), 9. Cyrus Dehmie, 10. Jack Armson, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 14. Seth Clark, 16. Bailey Callaghan (7. Michael Vakis 55’) 17. Joshua Hong, 18. Teng Kuol, 19. Gianni Di Pizio (22. Dylan Ruiz-Diaz ’69)

Substitutes Not Used: 13. Monty Partington, 28. Doni Grdic

Yellow Cards: Hong 28’, Whiffen 49’, Dehmie ‘81

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3: Jaden Casella (SG)

2: Troy Danaskos (SG)

1: Nicholas Kalogerou (SG)

Words by Matthew Badrov