Olympic ‘schooled’ by Blacktown set-piece mastery

Sydney Olympic’s return to the National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW for 2026 began in harsh fashion, as a slick and street-wise Blacktown City punished defensive lapses at set pieces to claim a 3–1 Round 1 victory at Belmore Sports Ground.

With a squad barely six weeks into its rebuild, Olympic competed strongly for long periods but were ultimately undone by three poorly defended corners — a weakness ruthlessly exploited by a well-drilled City outfit.

The contest was evenly poised until the 37th minute, when a corner delivered to the back post from the right was met superbly by the on-rushing Nathan Grimaldi, who powered a header past Josip Orlovic to break the deadlock.

Worse followed on the stroke of half-time. Another corner, this time swung in from the left, was nodded back across goal by Travis Major for Nikola Skataric to glance home from close range, sending the visitors into the sheds with a commanding 2–0 advantage.

Olympic failed to heed the warning signs after the break and were punished again in the 70th minute. Once more, Major found space at the back post, his header striking the crossbar before ricocheting off a defender and into the net — later credited as a Joshua Hong own goal — sealing City’s third and leaving the goals committee with a decision to adjudicate.

Substitute Daniel Wong did pull a late consolation for the home side in the 87th minute, but it proved little more than a footnote on an afternoon where set-piece frailty proved decisive.

The result was harsh on Olympic, who had started brightly and matched their experienced visitors through much of the opening half. Chances were scarce early, with both goalkeepers largely spectators as the sides felt each other out.

Blacktown began with greater control, but Olympic grew into the contest and nearly caught City off guard just after the quarter-hour mark with a clever free-kick routine. Two Blues players knelt in front of the wall as Yuto Fujita’s strike flashed narrowly wide, drawing interest from City custodian Cayden Henderson.

Fujita, lively and elusive throughout, was a constant outlet for Olympic, while Mitch Mallia had the best chance of the half on the half-hour mark, skewing his shot wide when well placed — an opportunity he would normally convert.

That miss proved costly, as Blacktown struck twice from corners before the interval to take control.

City were forced into an early second-half change when Caleb Jackson-Brown suffered a heavy head knock and was replaced by Adam Berry. Olympic pushed for a response, with Grimaldi producing a key block to deny Max Luburic before Bailey Callaghan fired the resulting corner over.

Marco Arambasic followed with a stinging low effort that Henderson gathered well, but any lingering hope was extinguished by City’s third goal shortly after the hour.

To their credit, Olympic showed resilience, rallying late and earning reward through Wong’s well-taken strike, which gave the home crowd something to cheer. They were nearly caught again in the dying minutes when Julian Rodriguez finished clinically, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.

Ultimately, Olympic were beaten by an experienced and highly organised Blacktown City side who controlled key moments and punished errors with precision. While the visitors’ goals all arrived via set pieces, their discipline and structure underlined why they remain one of the NPL Men’s NSW benchmarks.

Match Stats

Sydney Olympic 1 (Daniel Wong 87′)
Blacktown City 3 (Nathan Grimaldi 37’, Nikola Skataric 45+1’, Joshua Hong 70’ o.g.)

Venue: Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Date: Sunday 8 February 2026

Referee: Mujtaba Ebrahimi
Assistant Referees: Benjamin Eisikovich & Amirhossein Hosnani
Fourth Official: Harriet Gee

Sydney Olympic: 1. Josip Orlovic, 4. Joshua Hong, 5. Ian (Ziggy) Gordon, 9. Marco Arambasic (35. Daniel Wong 66’), 14. Jacob Tresoglavic, 16. Bailey Callaghan, 18. Kim Jun-Yong, 21. Yuta Komura (23. Brooklyn Malia 77’), 24. Ben Giason, 31. Yujo Fujita (11. George Louca 77’), 34. Marcus Fernandez (33. Maxamillion Luburic 83’)

Subs not used: 20. Dean Plessas, 22. Harry Peek, 30. Joshua Da Silva Yellow Cards: 5. Ian Gordan 53’, Joshua Hong 60’

Red Cards: Nil

Blacktown City: 1. Cayden Henderson, 3. Lachlan Tilt, 4. Nick O’Brien, 7. Travis Major, 9. Nikola Skataric (16. Riley Nolan 65’), 11. Kodai Tanaka, 14. Mitch Mallia (10. Maksim Jez 65’), 15. Caleb Jackson-Brown (6. Adam Berry 50’), 19. Sebastian Hayward (17. Julian Rodriguez 77’), 22. Jacob Maniti, 27. Nathan Grimaldi

Subs Not Used: 18. Jake Briggs, 20. Cooper Rogers, 21. Aiden Renshaw Yellow Cards: 3. Lachlan Tilt 10’, 22. Jacob Maniti 53’, Travis Major 71’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3: Nathan Grimaldi (Blacktown City)
2: Travis Major (Blacktown City)
1: Yuto Fujita (Sydney Olympic)

By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock