Late Drama at Penshurst as Olympic Snatch 1-1 Draw
St George City and Sydney Olympic FC shared the points in a dramatic 1-1 draw at Penshurst Park in Round 18 of the NPL Men’s NSW competition, with both sides scoring late in a gripping finish.
Yohn Pedersen looked to have secured all three points for the hosts with a brilliant late finish, before Sydney Olympic struck deep into stoppage time through Bailey Callaghan to rescue a dramatic draw.
A point ultimately does little to satisfy either side given their ladder positions, but Sydney Olympic will take more confidence from a late equaliser that denied St George City a valuable home win at the death.
For St George City, the result adds further frustration after their previous home outing saw Manly United snatch a late winner, with tonight’s draw meaning five points have been dropped across their last two matches in the final moments of home fixtures.
The opening stages were tightly contested, with the first real chance arriving in the 15th minute when a dangerous Peter Grozos corner nearly curled directly into the net, only for St George goalkeeper Jack Kenny to react sharply and tip the ball onto the crossbar.
On the half-hour mark, St George City had a golden opportunity when Pedersen found space inside the box, but his powerful effort was well saved by Sydney Olympic goalkeeper Anthony Carreras. Minutes later, Matthew Jackson tested Carreras again after creating space on the right, but the Olympic shot-stopper was equal to it.
At the other end, a late first-half Sydney Olympic free-kick caused panic before Paolo Mitry cleared the danger, with both sides heading into the break locked at 0-0.
The second half began with early intent from Olympic, as Marcus Fernandez sent a half-volley over the bar, before St George responded in the 50th minute when Jackson’s dangerous by-line cross forced Carreras into another important save.
Moments later, Hiroto Dohmoto went down under pressure from Peter Politis, but appeals for a penalty were waved away. St George continued to push, with Pedersen again denied from close range after a corner and Dohmoto also forcing Carreras into a strong low save on the hour mark.
St George City coach Mirko Jurilj made a triple substitution in the 70th minute to inject fresh energy, but it was Sydney Olympic who nearly struck first when Callaghan flashed a shot just wide minutes later.
The hosts thought they had broken through again in the 78th minute when Matthew Wahby’s effort from Lewis Miccio’s cross deflected narrowly into the side netting.
St George City finally found their breakthrough in the 85th minute. Jesse Photi delivered a well-weighted pass to Pedersen, who produced a superb chipped finish over Carreras to send the home crowd into celebration.
However, Sydney Olympic refused to go away. Deep into stoppage time, Samuel Bosnjak’s throw-in caused chaos in the box, and Callaghan reacted quickest, turning and finishing clinically to snatch a dramatic equaliser.
After the match, St George City coach Mirko Jurilj was left frustrated with the late concession:
“It’s the same old story with us,” he said.
“A small lapse in defence and they score but we need more accountability.
“It’s now three points dropped in our last two home games, with one against Manly United when we were heading for a draw and two here as we were heading towards a win, so it is two more points dropped in the last 90 seconds.
“We need to also score more than one goal to keep real pressure on the opposition but we can’t seem to score more than one at the moment.”
Sydney Olympic coach Michael Mileto praised his side’s resilience as the Blues continued to fight their way out of the dreaded relegation battle.
“St George City caught us out with a back four as we thought they were going to play with a back five and we struggled a bit to adapt,” he said.
“Once we adapted, it was fine and Bailey had a great chance earlier on in the second half, but once we got the goal at the end, I was so happy.
“I am very pleased with our team and our character building which we will need as we have a midweek rescheduled game coming up against SD Raiders on Wednesday, then three games in seven days and a big month ahead overall for us.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY: 1 (Pedersen 85’)
SYDNEY OLYMPIC: 1 (Callaghan 93’)
Saturday 6th June
Penshurst Park
Referee: Karl Davies
Assistant referees: Aaron Bloch, Marco Venturino
Fourth Official: Marco Saalmans
St GEORGE CITY: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Matthew Wahby, 3. Benjamin Berry, 4. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika (8. Stefano Rossello 70’), 10. Paolo Mitry (11. Jesse Photi 79’), 16. Yohn Pedersen, 19. Roman Culina, 23. Hiroto Dohmoto, 25. Brodie Clarkson, 27. Matthew Jackson (20. Theph Theph 70’), 33. Louis Khoury (5. Lewis Miccio 70’)
Substitutes not used: 7. Oscar Gultekin, 13. Franklin Jan, 30. Ahmad Taleb.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
SYDNEY OLYMPIC: 40. Anthony Carreras, 2. Peter Politis, 3. Samuel Bosnjak, 5. Ian Gordon, 16. Bailey Callaghan, 21. Sebastian Kukucka (11. Giorgos Louca 78’), 24. Ben Giason, 33. Maxamillion Luburic, 34. Marcus Fernandez, 35. Peter Grozos (19. Anton Isaako 85’), 58. Daniel Wong (18. Junyong Kim 85’).
Substitutes not used: 13. Liam Saba, 20. Dean Plesses, 23. Jack Markwell, 30. Joshua Da Silva
Yellow Cards: Luburic 59’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Yohn Pedersen (St George)
2 – Peter Politis (Olympic)
1 – Hiroto Dohmoto (St George)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
