Raiders rescue a point at Belmore after own goal stunner
SD Raiders FC fought from behind after conceding an unbelievable own goal from near halfway to earn a 1-1 draw against Sydney Olympic in their rescheduled Round 17 clash at Belmore Sports Ground on Wednesday night.
Luka Knezevic’s remarkable own goal threatened to spoil the visitors’ evening, but a second half equaliser from Mihael Marcic helped make up for it as they salvaged a point.
For Olympic, the result can still be seen as positive with the bottom-placed side recording their third straight league game without loss.
The hosts came remarkably close to opening the scoring in the 17th minute after Peter Grozos’ shot was parried by keeper Michael Figueira towards Samuel Bosnjak.
The defender unleashed a strike destined for the back of the net, though he was denied by his own teammate in Bailey Callaghan who was unable to move out of the way of the effort.
The Raiders responded with a strong opportunity of their own in the 22nd minute when Luka Knezevic released a grounded long shot towards the bottom right, but Olympic shot stopper Anthony Carreras committed himself well to keep it out.
Knezevic popped up again quickly after in the 23rd minute though for all the wrong reasons as he scored an unbelievable own goal, delivering a back pass from near the halfway line that curled around the keeper into his own team’s net.
Olympic winger Sebastian Kukucka popped up with an excellent dribble into the box in the 45+2nd minute to try and double his team’s lead, though Ethan Beaven intervened to make a crucial block off his effort.
The Raiders nearly suffered another costly error in the 48th minute when Figueira slipped at the back and then mishit the ball from his subsequent attempted clearance, allowing Marcus Fernandez to seize the ball.
Olympic failed to capitalise as Callaghan just overran to miss Fernandez’ pass across goal, allowing the visitors to clear it to safety.
The Raiders eventually levelled the contest in the 72nd minute after some excellent team play led to Jett McCue-Shore delivering a perfect cross for Mihael Marcic in the middle, who then headed it in with composure.
Olympic was handed a late disadvantage when Maxamillion Luburic committed his second yellow card offence in the 81st minute, bringing the hosts down to ten men for the final minutes of the match.
The travellers thought they had found a late winner in the 89th minute when Jakov Malbasa knocked the ball into the net, though the offside flag was raised to keep the game 1-1.
Olympic coach Michael Mileto stressed there are positives to take with the outcome and their recent run of form overall.
“The result is good because we are building. Unfortunate that we didn’t get the result we wanted but credit to SD Raiders FC because I thought they were the better team on the night,” Mileto told Football NSW.
When asked about Peter Politis’ substitution, he noted.
“(Politis) felt something in his hamstring, and we just thought we’ll get him off, play it safe and prepare for the next game.”
SD Raiders coach Goran Ljuboja admitted it was a game of two halves for his team, believing their display in the opening 45 minutes paled in comparison to their effort in the second half.
“In the second half, I just told them to try and calm down a bit, try and move them around a bit,” Ljuboja told Football NSW, giving credit to Olympic for not allowing them to settle during the first half.
When asked about the goal coming through the combination of two subs, the coach stressed.
“We have a squad of 25 players. I tell them every week their moments will come to make a difference and they need to be ready to make that difference. That’s exactly what happened today.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 1 (Luka Knezevic 23’ o.g.)
SD Raiders 1 (Mihael Marcic 72’)
Wednesday 10 June
Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Damien Delovski
Assistant Referees: Hayden Kaye and Lance Greenshields
Fourth Official: Rowan Fisher
Sydney Olympic: 40. Anthony Carreras, 2. Peter Politis (13. Liam Saba 32’), 3. Samuel Bosnjak, 4. Joshua Hong, 5. Ziggy Gordon, 16. Bailey Callaghan, 21. Sebastian Kukucka (10. Lucas Williams 87’), 24. Ben Giason, 33. Maxamillion Luburic, 34. Marcus Fernandez, 35. Peter Grozos (11. Giorgos Louca 71’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Josip Orlovic, 18. Junyong Kim, 19. Anton Isaako
Yellow Cards: Maxamillion Luburic 37’, 81’, Ben Giason 78’, Samuel Bosnjak 86’
Red Cards: Maxamillion Luburic 81’
SD Raiders: 1, Michael Figueira, 4. Cooper Hanagan, 6. Lachlan Everett (21. Sebastian Malfara 57’), 10. Luka Knezevic (17. Martin Fernandez 57’), 12. Lachlan McGrath, 18. Charlie Ragg, 19. Riley Cox-Barlow (7. Mihael Marcic 61’), 22. Yonatan Sebhatu (5. Jett McCue-Shore 57’), 23. Thomas Makko (9. Jakov Malbasa 69’), 37. Robert Eremugo, 47. Ethan Beaven
Substitutes Not Used: 8. James Letta, 40. William Loucas
Yellow Cards: Ethan Beaven 84’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Ziggy Gordon (SO)
2: Mihael Marcic (SDR)
1: Samuel Bosnjak (SO)
-By Dimitri Kallos
