Penrith-Nepean United topple fancied Sydney Olympic
It was Evangelos Petratos who had the first opportunity on goal, diving forward from a corner to send his header narrowly past the right post.
From a free-kick, Tayfun Buyukkopru found some space on the right edge of the box for United, drilling a powerful shot that was denied by the glove of Michael Turnbull.
But Sydney Olympic?s Matthew Mayora was quick to steal the limelight, and like he did against Bonnyrigg just three days earlier, he stepped up to etch his name on the scoresheet in the 11? minute.
Mayora showed off his attacking prowess, punishing Penrith-Nepean with a powerful shot into the top left hand corner, much to the delight of the talented striker.
The visitors had the chance to double their lead mid-way through the first period, but David Gardiner saved the home side with a sliding tackle that denied Mayora another shot on goal.
Penrith-Nepean United made the visitors rue their missed opportunity moments later.
An attacking raid presented Sean Mitchell with a shot from outside the penalty-area, and with his attempt found the waiting feet of Evangelos Petratos who side-footed the equaliser in the 24? minute.
10? minutes out from half-time, Mitchell almost turned from hero to villain, coming up with a simple defensive error allowing Mayora a clear run to goal, however his shot at the near post was deflected by Schwarzer for a corner.
But disaster soon struck for the Blues, losing Peter McPherson for the night after a reckless challenge on Mitchell Long in the 38? minute.
Ante Juric put his hand up to take his side to half-time with a one goal advantage, but unfortunately his curling free-kick wasn?t good enough to beat Olympic shot-stopper Michael Turnbull.
It didn?t take long for Penrith-Nepean United to capitalise with the extra player in the second-half, as the home fans were treated to two goals in the space of two minutes.
The first came in the 48? minute when a long ball over the Olympic defence found Mitchell Long unmarked with a clear passage on goal, making no mistake as he guided the ball past Turnbull for a 2-1 lead.
If one goal wasn?t enough to upset the travelling Olympic fans, then a second goal just two minutes later certainly had the desired effect.
Ben Gough was the goal scorer on this occasion, hitting the woodwork with his low shot, eventually trickling over the line to give the home side a two goal buffer.
Sydney Olympic were almost quick to pounce on the slightest of opportunities as Daniel Schwarzer rushed out of goal to punch the ball away, but Tolgay Ozbey couldn?t direct his shot through a crowded penalty-area.
Greg Kondek was hoping to add to the three goal tally and almost scored the unlikeliest of goals as his cross sailed in the direction of goal, eventually ricocheting off the crossbar and away from danger.
Against the run of play, the visitors made the most of their limited opportunities as a ball from Jurilj found the chest of Ozbey, controlling well to beat Schwarzer to his right and give the visitors a hope of snatching a draw.
And it looked as though the spoils would be shared as Ozbey was brought down in the penalty-area, though a yellow card was given to the striker for diving, upsetting the Sydney Olympic players.
That fury was too much for Michael Cindric to control, mouthing off at the referee to receive his second yellow card and force his side to play with just nine men.
In desperation, Olympic tried everything to grasp on to the point, but unfortunately it was a case of too little too late for the Blues, walking away from CUA Stadium with nothing in the bag.
One of Penrith Nepean United’s goal scorers Mitchell Long was delighted with his side?s efforts against such quality opposition:
?I reckon Olympic is the best team in the competition and to beat them was really good,? Long said
?We aren?t as competitive as some of the teams in the competition but we?re going to fight and beat a lot of teams like we did tonight.?
In the other dressing room, Olympic coach Aytek Genc wasn?t so happy:
?I wasn?t happy with the way we played in the first-half but we are certainly not making excuses,? he said.
?We are playing at the moment with some wonderful footballers but we are probably a bit out of balance in the way we shape out on the field.?
Sydney Olympic won the Grade 20 encounter between the two clubs 3-0, meanwhile they settled for a 2-2 draw in the Under-18s encounter.
Match Stats
Penrith Nepean United 3 (Evangelos Petratos 24?, Mitchell Long 48?, Ben Gough 50?)
Sydney Olympic 2 (Matthew Mayora 11?, Tolgay Ozbey 83?)
Saturday 28th March, 2009
CUA Stadium, Penrith
Referee: Matthew Gillett
Assistant Referees: Gareth Ashlam and Christian Mehl.
Fourth Official: Mark Mitchell.
Crowd: 350 Approx.
Penrith Nepean United: 1.Daniel Schwarzer; 2.Mark Bariamis, 4.Evangelos Petratos, 5.David Gardiner, 6.Steven Baveas, 9.Mitchell Long, 10.Ben Gough (11.Dimitrios Petratos 59?), 12.Nic McInerney, 15.Sean Mitchell (8.Paul Crisp 66?), 17.Ante Juric, 26.Tayfun Buyukkopru (14.Greg Kondek 55?)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Andrew Lazarou, 21.Nik Jelic
Yellow Cards: Paul Crisp 71?, Steven Baveas 81?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 1.Michael Turnbull; 4.Mirko Jurilj, 32.Xavier Fursberg, 5.Michael Cindric, 7.Peter McPherson, 14.Chris Triantis (8.Paul Wither 81?), 16.Jordan Simpson, 15.Matthew Mayora (6.Emmanuel Giannaros 63?), 10.Anthony Doumanis, 18.Adam Biddle (17.Iain Ramsay 83?), 11.Tolgay Ozbey.
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Sam Emmanoul, 19.Ken Chun
Yellow Cards: Michael Cindric 25?, 87?, Matthew Mayora 62?, Tolgay Ozbey 86?,
Red Cards: Peter McPherson 38?, Michael Cindric 87?.
Player Ratings:
3 ? Mitchell Long (PNU)
2 ? Evangelos Petratos (PNU)
1 ? Adam Biddle (SO)
-By Michael Chammas
