Tigers and Olympic all square at rainy Leichhardt Oval
The modern day Sydney Olympic, coached by former NSL Championship winning coach Nick Theodorakopoulos, took home a point after playing very well in the first-half against the Tigers, but the home-side certainly had the better of the chances in the second stanza of play.
After the game Theodorakopoulos expressed his satisfaction with his team, but did concede that he would like his side to play consistently well for the entire 90? minutes:
?Actually, in the first-half, we played magnificent,? he said.
?The movement off the ball and the passing was very, very good.
?We do a lot of that and it?s great to see it happen in a game, but we actually need to do that over 90 minutes.?
?[Sydney Tigers] tried to play counter-attacking football in the second-half and, to their credit, they defended very well and defended very deep.
?They were getting out of trouble by playing the long ball to Younis who was holding it up well.
?From our point of view, there was a little bit of decision making that was out especially in the last third, but other than that, the first-half was exceptional.?
Prior to the match the big news surrounded the signing of former Socceroos star keeper Mark Bosnich who is set to play his first match for the Blues against the Bonnyrigg White Eagles this Sunday. The Blues are also set to play the West Sydney Berries at Lidcombe Oval this Tuesday as part of a catch-up match.
In the 4? minute Matthew Mayora had the opening chance of the game when he shot just over the crossbar from fairly close-range.
5? minutes later Mayora was back in the thick of the action when Tolgay Ozbey, with a pinpoint accurate cross from the right, found him unmarked in the middle, but his delightful touch ended up just wide of the post.
It then appeared that both teams had taken a break until the 32? minute when the Tigers should really have scored.
Franco Parisi beautifully set up Robbie Younis in an excellent position, but for the Tigers unfortunately the tall striker was too weak with his finish and Sam Emmanouil saved well to his right.
The action then moved down to the other end of the field in a sweeping move which ended with Sydney Olympic scoring.
Jordon Simpson delivered the final pass to an unmarked Mayora and all he had to do was place the ball into the back of the net with a nice touch.
The lesson in this goal for the Tigers was that you need to take your chances because in a flash things can all change.
However, the Leichhardt-based side did even the ledger in the 38? minute when Parisi wonderfully took on, and beat, two opponents and then found Younis who fired the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
The first-half ended shortly afterwards and the second period provided some early chances; Peter McPherson very nicely set up Simpson just after the break, but his powerful finish ended up just wide of the mark.
The Tigers lost Parisi a minute later to a leg injury in what was a crucial blow given that he was one of their best players up until that point.
On 57? minutes Bishara Stephan entered the opposition box very dangerously but he couldn?t manage to steer the ball in as his effort finished just wide.
Sydney Olympic replied almost immediately from a poorly cleared corner by Phillip Zabaks when Emmanuel Zunino tried a flashy overhead kick which hit the underside of the crossbar; however, it fell nicely for Stephen Kayes on the goal-line to boot the ball away and out of danger for the home-side.
Adam Biddle should really have done a lot better a minute later when he found himself one-on-one with Zabaks but he fired straight at the Tigers custodian.
From that point onwards the Tigers took control of the game and had five more clear-cut chances that went begging.
In the 63? minute David D?Apuzzo, in magnificent form for the Tigers since his return from the Central Coast Mariners, fired in a rocket that brought about a stupendous save from Emmanouil.
Perhaps the Olympic goalkeeper was out to impress given that former Socceroo and Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich will be joining the club on Tuesday.
5? minutes later a Michael West cross from the left found Younis lurking dangerously, but once again Emmanouil denied him.
In the 69? minute Kayes, after a nice ball from Michael Hawrysiuk, fired in a low and powerful drive, but standing tall between the sticks was once again Emmanouil.
In the 85? minute D?Apuzzo thought that he would try his luck from just outside the box, only to be denied by the Olympic goalkeeper.
The last real chance of the game fell to Hawrysiuk who blasted a free kick goal-bound only to find Emmanouil able to spectacularly turn the ball over the crossbar. It wasn?t to be for the Tigers and on this form it will be hard for Bosnich to dislodge Emmanouil from the starting line-up.
After the game Tigers coach Luke McGuire couldn?t help but rue his luck once more:
?Last week we dominated the game [against Bonnyrigg] and didn?t come away with the points and this week I thought, especially in the second-half, that we dominated possession and chances; however, in the end we couldn?t find the winner,? he said.
?Defensively we looked very sound and the back three played very well; also I thought that Robert Younis worked very hard today and with a bit of luck could have got two or three.?
Meanwhile, in the under-20s the Tigers and Sydney Olympic played out a 1-1 draw.
Match Stats
Sydney Tigers 1 (Robert Younis 38?)
Sydney Olympic 1 (Matthew Mayora 33?)
Sunday, 31st of May, 2009
Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt
Referee: Matthew Gillett
Assistant Referees: Wayne Lenardson and Chris Wells
Fourth Official: Lance Greenshield
Sydney Tigers: 99.Phillip Zabaks; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.John Kelso, 13.David D?Apuzzo, 24.Jason Trifiro, 12.Michael West, 15.Danial Cummins, 16.Michael Hawrysiuk, 18.Bishara Stephan, 9.Robert Younis, 10.Franco Parisi (7.Stephen Kayes 48?)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Giancarlo Papaianni, 8.Marino Musumeci, 11.Carlo Musumeci, 6.Shane Lyons
Yellow Cards: Cummins 25?, D?Apuzzo 39?
Sydney Olympic: 20.Sam Emmanouil; 3.Emmanuel Zunino, 4.Mirko Jurilj, 6.Emmanuel Giannaros, 7.Peter McPherson (9.Anthony Hartshorn 65?), 14.Chris Triantis, 15.Matthew Mayora, 16.Jordon Simpson (19.Ken Chun, 72?), 17.Iain Ramsay, 18.Adam Biddle, 11.Tolgay Ozbey (8.Paul Wither 86?)
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Bobby Dragas, 21.Nestor Tsioustas.
Yellow Cards: Jurilj 87?, Triantis 90?
-By Joe Russo
