Sydney United 58 extinguish Sydney Olympic’s finals hopes
A Bailey Rule goal in the dying seconds of the match has put Sydney United 58 into the 2025 NPL Men’s NSW finals after a nail-biting 2-1 win over Sydney Olympic at Edensor Park.
Sydney United 58 were providing most of the close calls early on, despite Sydney Olympic seemingly controlling the ball.
Mason Wells had a solid run just five minutes in but his shot had no real power behind it.
Carlos De Oliveira was in the thick of it with a cracker of a shot but it went straight into the arms of Sydney Olympic keeper Jack Gibson.
Wells followed up quickly with a cracker of his own but Gibson managed to just get a hand to it and send it out of bounds.
Sydney United 58 heaped on the momentum on Sydney Olympic’s defensive line and it finally paid off in the 20th minute.
De Oliveira provided a great cross to Luke Zuvela who got a volley on it from close range to blitz past Gibson and into the back of the net. Zuvela has had a knack of scoring important goals as the young marksman has come of age this season since earning his debut for the Reds.
Sydney Olympic seemed to be spurred from going behind, taking control of the game after the goal.
Ryan Fuetz had a great chance in the 24th minute, but veteran keeper Vedran Janjetovic had it covered and easily collected the resulting shot.
Cyrus Dehmi picked up the first yellow card of the game for a dodgy tackle on Sydney United 58 Liam McGing.
Although Sydney United 58 went into the sheds with a 1-0, it was barely a minute before Sydney Olympic equalised.
Sydney Olympic skipper Adam Parkhouse had a great run deep into Sydney United’s and his cross went straight to the head of Ryan Feutz and into the back of the net.
Sydney Olympic held onto possession and their hopes of a finals berth for most of the second half, although once again the home side had the better of the chances.
Sydney United’s Michael Glassock will likely be unavailable for finals after dislocating his shoulder twice late in the match, with the second dislocation taking him into the sheds.
The match looked likely to end all square as the teams headed into stoppage time at one goal a piece.
That was until Bailey Rule capitalised on a frantic run of play in front of goal to seal the win 2-1 and a spot in the 2025 NPL Men’s NSW finals series.
Frustratingly for Olympic equipped with such a talented squad, it was a third successive season coach Labinot Haliti has failed to guide the side towards finals football.
Coach Ante Juric, a former Sydney Olympic player himself, said making the NPL Men’s NSW Championship Series is a culmination of all the hard work the team has put in this season.
“Its been a few new things,” Juric said.
“They’ve had to get used to me as well, and if anyone’s seen our games, especially the last six or seven, we’ve become a team and played the way I want us to play.
“We’re really looking good at the moment.”
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 2 (Luke Zuvela 20’, Bailey Rule 90+4)
Sydney Olympic FC 1 (Ryan Feutz 47’)
Sunday August 24th, 2025
Sydney United Football Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Jackson Mackie
Assistant Referees: Arinath Gobinath and Benjamin Eisikovich
Fourth Official: Mia Velarde
Sydney United 58 FC: 3. Bailey Rule, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 5. Anthony Tomelic, 10. Carlos De Oliveira, 14. Liam McGing (24. Benjamin Seeto 85’), 17. Michael Glassock (22. Gabriel Tilo 69’), 19. Aidan Milicevic, 21. Vedran Janjetovic, 23. Mason Wells, 37. Luke Zuvela (9. Patrick Antelmi 61’), 43. Michael Pratezina (12. Richard Darko 61’)
Substitutes Not Used: 30. Marco Arambasic, 31. Josip Orlovic
Yellow Cards: Cyrus Dehmi 32’,
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Jack Gibson, 2. James Donachie, 9. Cyrus Dehmie, 10. Jack Armson, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 12. Zac Zoricich, 14. Seth Clark, 15. Luke Pecora, 17. Joshua Hong, 19. Ryan Feutz, 28. Samuel Bosnjak
Substitutes Not Used: 6. Whiffen, 7. Michael Vakis, 13. Monty Partington, 16. Bailey Callaghan, 24. Harry Peek, 31. Peter Bebonis
Yellow Cards:
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Mason Wells (SU58)
2 – Adam Parkhouse (SOFC)
1 – Jack Gibson (SOFC)
