Olympic embarrassed by hungry Rangers
Relegation threatened Mt Druitt Town Rangers withstood a late surge to hold on for a most important 2-1 victory over Sydney Olympic at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday evening as the club looked to move itself from the foot of the ladder.
It was an action-packed clash with numerous scoring opportunities falling to both sides, though it was Mt Druitt that stood tall in the crucial moments to earn a much-needed three points that give their survival chances a boost.
The Rangers stunned the hosts with an early goal in the sixth minute through a lovely bit of play from Caleb Jackson-Brown, who received the ball from Alexander Trajanoski and spun with it into the box before depositing it into the bottom left.
The Blues nearly equalised almost straight away in the eighth minute after Dylan Ruiz-Diaz took the ball around goalkeeper Dylan Niski, though the winger’s shot from a very awkward angle was blocked on the line by Rocco Pelle.
The visitors soon made it two in the 27th minute with Jackson-Brown proving pivotal again, this time providing the assist with a pass across goal for Yuta Komura to drive into the net.
Olympic came close to halving the deficit in the 31st and 32nd minute, with the first seeing Ryan Freutz dribble the ball into the box and release a shot that was blocked by Danilo Doce Monteiro.
The second chance came through Seth Clark as the Kiwi unleashed a solid shot from the left that went out off the right post.
Freutz proved a handful again in the 35th minute with a similar dribble to the one for his first chance, with the winger cutting in well from the left only to have his shot blocked again by the Mt Druitt defence.
Abraham Majok nearly put the game beyond doubt in the 49th minute, though his left-footed effort was saved well by goalkeeper Jack Gibson.
Komura looked to grab his second of the game with an effort from distance into the bottom left, but Gibson committed himself well to keep it out.
The Blues pushed to get back into the contest with substitutes Michael Vakis and Bailey Callaghan combining for a good chance in the 82nd minute, wherein the former provided a grounded cross to the latter only for Pelle to intervene with a crucial block.
The hosts eventually broke through in the 86th minute via a Jack Armson corner that was headed into the net by Vakis, but it proved too little too late as the Rangers held on to seal the points.
Mt Druitt coach Ben Rollison heaped praise on his players for earning the win while acknowledging the great challenge posed by Olympic.
“It was good to get a little bit of luck going our way this week and getting the goals. We were under a fair bit of pressure for most of the game, but when we arrived in the final third we were able to put our chances away and that was the difference,” Rollison told Football NSW.
It was Mt Druitt’ first win under Rollison (his second game since becoming head coach), though the manager stressed the victory was more important for the players than himself as they continue their spirited fight to avoid relegation.
“It is more about the players believing they are good enough to win games and to do it the way we want to play football. I think that is slowly but surely going to come,” he said.
“From my perspective it is important, but I think the players have bought in from last week as well. It is just about building, and we have got plenty of games ahead of us so I’m not getting too carried away. We are only thinking about week from week from now until we’re safe.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 1 (Michael Vakis 86’)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 2 (Caleb Jackson-Brown 6’, Yuta Komura 27’)
Sunday 20 July
Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Thomas Dale
Assistant Referees: Amber Morris and Daniel Cornofsky
Fourth Official: Brady Fisher
Sydney Olympic: 1. Jack Gibson, 5. Ziggy Gordon, 9. Cyrus Dehmie (16. Bailey Callaghan 75’), 10. Jack Armson, 11. Adam Parkhouse (7. Michael Vakis 80’), 12. Zac Zoricich (3. Connor O’Toole 46’), 14. Seth Clark, 18. Teng Kuol, 19. Ryan Freutz, 22. Dylan Ruiz-Diaz (15. Luca Pecora 46’), 28. Samuel Bosnjak
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Monty Partington, 17. Joshua Hong
Yellow Cards: Cyrus Dehmie 44’, Luca Pecora 61’
Red Cards: Nil
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 1. Dylan Niski, 2. Alexander Trajanoski (21. William Rankin 46’), 3. Danilo Doce Monteiro, 6. Jared Macerola, 10. Yuto Morita (20. Thomas Lopez 65’), 12. Rocco Pelle, 14. Abraham Majok, 15. Caleb Jackson-Brown, 17. Stevan Stanic-Floody (27. Shayden Sampow 76’), 29. Yuta Komura (11. John Azar 89’), 99. Bilal Belkadi (7. Garang Awac 65’)
Substitutes Not Used: 16. Stefan Giglio
Yellow Cards: Rocco Pelle 24’, Danilo Doce Monteiro 55’, Garang Awac 81’, Shayden Sampow 87’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Caleb Jackson-Brown (MDTR)
2: Rocco Pelle (MDTR)
1: Michael Vakis (SO)
-By Dimitri Kallos
