Deur nicks a point for the Stallions in Belmore

Ante Deur claimed a last minute equaliser for the visitors after a pin-point cross from Tolgay Ozbey left him with a simple tap-in that, during the context of the match, seemed well beyond them after going 2-nil down in the first-half.
Chris Nunes and Stallions captain Luke Casserly looked to have the better of the early exchanges but it was Olympic who had the opening chance when Michael Cindric saw his looping header cannon back into play off the cross-bar before being fortuitously cleared from the danger area.
Olympic were the first to master the conditions and began to impose themselves throughout the half and after Nathan Moulds? own goal gifted the home side a 2-nil lead in the 42? minute, after Iain Ramsay slotted home the first 10-minutes earlier, there seemed no way back for the Fairfield side.
Ramsay should have done better 8-minutes before his opening goal when his effort was straight at Stallions ?keeper, Cem Akilli, who managed to palm it away for a corner and it proved to be one of many squandered chances for Olympic that would eventually prove costly.
Olympic were very unlucky to concede a penalty in the 64? minute when an expertly applied slide tackle from Emmanuel Zunino inside the area left Ozbey with no complaints but the referee saw a handball from the still moving defender and awarded a spot-kick.
Casserly stepped up and sent Michael Herbert to the right and put the ball into his top left hand corner to bring the match back to life.
For all their battling capabilities the game still looked beyond Marconi as they cleared twice off their line and at times seemed under siege by the home team but lucky was on their side this day when Deur, on as a substitute for youngster Tim McGowan, found the back of the net with seconds left on the clock when down to 10-men after Vuko Tomasevic received a second caution moments earlier.
?We rode our luck tonight and obviously we are very happy to be leaving with a point,? was how Stallions coach Dave Barrett put it afterwards.
?We were very fortunate no doubt about it but I feel we have turned the corner and although some of the play isn?t pretty we are getting something from games we were losing before.
?Had Olympic taken their chances today it would have been a very different story but credit to my guys, they battled it out for the full 90-minutes.?
Disconsolate Olympic Assistant Coach, Pat Marando, said: ?We had enough chances to win a dozen games today but we didn?t capitalize on our chances.
?That is what hurts the most and it feels like we have lost the match instead of dropping two points.
?The guys are very, very disappointed.?
MATCH STATS
Sydney Olympic 2 (Iain Ramsay 32?, Nathan Moulds 45? own goal)
Marconi Stallions 2 (Luke Casserly 65? pen, Ante Deur 90?)
Venue: Belmore Sports Ground
Referee: Nathan Rice
Assistant Referees: Gareth Askham, Nick Backo
Fourth Official: Cameron Bruce
Crowd: 1003
Sydney Olympic: 1. Michael Herbert; 3. Emmanuel Zunino, 16. Nathan Sherlock, 4. Mirko Jurilj, 5. Michael Zunino, 7. Milorad Simonovic, 22. Peter Zorbas, 15. Matthew Mayora (10. Anthony Doumanis 50?), 9. Anthony Hartshorn, 17. Iain Ramsay (37. Siraj All-Tal 75?), 8. Paul Wither (12. James Kovas 88?).
Substitutes Not Used: 25. Emmanuel Giannaros, 41. Tommy Murtavovski
Yellow Cards: Nathan Sherlock 16?, Matthew Mayora 38?, Anthony Hartshorn 44?, Emmanuel Zunino 64?
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 20. Cem Akilli; 6. Luke Casserly, 5. Nathan Moulds, 2. Wade Oostendorp (10. Tolgay Ozbey 46?), 9. Kain Rastall, 3. Vuko Tomasevic, 26. Nahuel Arrarte, 15. Tim McGowan (13. Ante Deur 57?), 8. Tallan Martin (16. Jason Trifiro 90?), 23. Chris Nunes, 38. Umut Tokdogan.
Substitutes Not Used: 24. Zachary Cairncross, 1. James Chronopoulos
Yellow Cards: Tallan Martin 80?, Vuko Tomasevic 83?
Red Cards: Vuko Tomasevic 88?
Player Ratings:
3 – Paul Wither (SO)
2 ? Emmanuel Zunino (SO)
1 ? Luke Casserly (MS)
-By Micky Brock