Olympic held in dramatic draw as St George City strike back
Sydney Olympic FC returned to Belmore and were forced to settle for an entertaining 2-2 draw against St George City FA on Sunday.
In a classic game of two halves — interrupted by a lightning storm — Olympic struck twice before the break through Giorgos Louca and Marco Arambasic. St George City responded in quick succession during the second half, with Brae Ovens and Solomon Monahan-Vaiika finding the net to earn a share of the spoils.
The visitors threatened inside the opening minute when Yohn Pedersen unleashed a shot from outside the box, drawing an excellent save from Olympic goalkeeper Josip Orlovic, who tipped the ball around the post.
Olympic responded swiftly. In the 7th minute, Louca latched onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Arambasic and finished neatly to open the scoring — just as a torrential summer downpour swept across the ground, sending spectators scrambling for cover.
Midway through the half, Junyong Kim tried his luck from distance, forcing Jack Kenny into a full-stretch save down to his right. Soon after, Yuto Fujita carved open space through the heart of the St George defence but fired narrowly off target when well placed.
Play was halted around the half-hour mark due to lightning, with referee Michael Weiner sending both sides indoors. Action resumed approximately an hour later.
In the 40th minute, Olympic doubled their advantage. A lofted ball to the back post found Jacob Tresoglavic, whose header was parried by Kenny. However, Arambasic reacted quickest, volleying home from close range to make it 2-0.
The first meaningful opportunity of the second half again fell to Olympic on the hour mark. Fujita slipped Arambasic through on goal, but Kenny stood firm with a sharp low save.
St George City began to build momentum. In the 72nd minute, Hiroto Dohmoto’s driven diagonal effort skimmed just past the post in a warning sign for the hosts.
The breakthrough arrived three minutes later. A Paolo Mitry free kick was directed toward the back post where Monahan-Vaiika squared the ball across goal, allowing Ovens to convert with a simple volley in the 75th minute.
The equaliser followed soon after. Dohmoto’s corner found Monahan-Vaiika inside the box, and the captain’s glancing header nestled into the back of the net to level proceedings at 2-2.
St George nearly completed a remarkable turnaround when Dohmoto struck from a tight angle, only to see his effort cannon off the outside of the post.
Post-match, St George City coach Mirko Jurilj acknowledged his side’s improved second-half showing.
“Our first half wasn’t good but in the second half there was a nice turnaround,” he said.
“We got caught in transition and conceded our first goal and Olympic’s second goal was a set-piece.
“We made it tough for ourselves but I thought the boys showed a lot of character in the second half and we were definitely on top. Normally if you score two goals you hope to win games, but at least we showed willingness to dig in.”
Match Stats
SYDNEY OLYMPIC: 2 (Louca 7’, Arambasic 40’)
St GEORGE CITY: 2 (Ovens 75’, Monahan-Vaiika 77’)
Sunday 22nd February
Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistant referees: Matthew Harris, Glen Stubbings
Fourth Official: Joel Crawford
SYDNEY OLYMPIC: 1. Josip Orlovic, 4. Joshua Hong, 5. Ian Gordon, 9. Marco Arambasic (23. Brooklyn Mallia 70’), 11. Giorgos Louca (16. Bailey Callaghan 46’), 14. Jacob Tresoglavic, 18. Junyong Kim, 21. Yuta Komura (35. Daniel Wong 70’), 24. Ben Giason, 31. Yuto Fujita, 34. Marcus Fernandez.
Substitutes not used: 22. Harry Peek, 30. Joshua Da Silva, 33. Max Luburic, 40. Anthony Carreras
Yellow Cards: Gordon 74’, Hong 92’
Red Cards: Nil
St GEORGE CITY: 1. Jack Kenny, 3. Benjamin Berry, 4. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika, 5. Lewis Miccio, 6. Tarik Ercan (2. Matthew Wahby 46’), 8. Stefano Rossello (9. Brae Ovens 46’, 7. Oscar Gultekin 85’), 11. Jesse Photi (10. Paolo Mitry 46’), 16. Yohn Pedersen, 17. Mason Tatafu, 23. Hiroto Dohmoto, 27. Matthew Jackson (30. Ahmad Taleb 65’)
Substitutes not used: 13. Franklin Jan, 44. Hugo McAteer.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3. Hiroto Dohmoto (St George)
2. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika (St George)
1. Marco Aramabasic (Olympic)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
