Defensive frailty sinks Olympic as Berries win at Lidcombe Oval
As early as the 2? minute they could have gone ahead when Tolgay Ozbey spun inside the box but couldn?t connect sweetly, and a feeble effort was clutched by an impressive Hamish McLean in the Berries goal in what was a prelude to what was to come.
Matthew Mayora headed over in the 8? minute from a corner by Iain Ramsay, and Ozbey went one-on-one with McLean moments later but the goalkeeper stood tall and blocked both the ball and the bath as the home team soaked up the pressure in a sluggish start.
Chris Gaitazis had the first effort of note for the Berries when striking from distance. His effort finished just over before he picked up a caution, as the local side started to find space behind the Sydney Olympic back four.
The Berries could have taken the lead against the run of play when Liam Austin broke down the right and his cross/shot was held by Sam Emmanouil at the second attempt but it was to be a short lived reprieve.
Kosta Lagoudakis floated in a free-kick in the 25? minute – met by the head of Dimitri Zakilias inside the 6-yard box – and suddenly the Berries were in front, though questions needed to be asked about firstly the marking, and then the judgement of the man on the line not to have come and claimed or punched the ball clear.
Olympic, rocked by the goal, came straight back at the Berries and it was all they could do to stem the advances with sturdy defending and counter-attacking play, although they slowly dragged themselves back into reckoning as the half wore on as the visitors once more created chances without troubling the scoreboard until Chris Triantis put over an in-swinging corner that Emmanuel Zunino majestically rose to head home at the far post.
With half-time fast approaching it appeared 1-1 would be taken into the break but the Berries had other ideas when another floated free-kick into the area this time saw Jack Sobczyk rise in the 6-yard box and put the ball in the net to once more put the Berries ahead. The visitors were glaringly exposed as they trooped off to the break looking more than a little dejected.
The second period started with the rain tumbling down which dampened not only the spirits of the fans, but the fire which had been evident early on.
Sydney Olympic were soon on the attack and Ozbey was guilty of blasting over when a centre would have been the wiser option. Sixty-seconds later it was to become even worse for the visitors when the Berries broke and found Zakilias in space to run at goal. His eventual deflected shot looped up and over the hapless Emmanouil, leaving the shot-stopper with no chance as the Berries extended their lead to 3-1.
It got better still when the player completed his hat-trick with another close-range header in the 74? minute.
Nick Theodorakopoulos was then sent from the Olympic dug-out for dissent.
With no way back Olympic had only their pride to play for and Adam Biddle, who had a fine game, netted a consolation goal in the final minute to give the scoreline a little more respectability when the visitors were thoroughly disheartened and well beaten by the better side on the night.
A beaming Berries coach, John Calleja commented after:
?We got off to slow start tonight but we got back into it and started to hit them on the break.
?We created some decent chances and took a few but I am disappointed in the way we conceded the late goal in the first-half although we did come back and restore the lead before the break.
?Overall I am pleased with the performance and obviously the result because we had to work hard to close them down and deny them the freedom to play their football, which they did in the early exchanges but we stuck to it and got a good result.?
Nick Theodorakopoulos was less impressed:
?We dominated for the opening 20-minutes,? said a deflated Olympic coach.
?But we made some mistakes at the back and credit to West Sydney for seizing their chance tonight.
?The players were a bit deflated at half-time but came out strong again in the second period but we went further behind and had to chase the match from there and they hit us on the break.
?We had our own chances of course but didn?t take them and that?s the difference in any game at the end of the day.?
In the earlier match it was Sydney Olympic who triumphed by two goals to nil.
Match Stats
West Sydney Berries 4 (Dimitri Zakilias 25?,59?,74?, Jack Sobczyk 45?)
Sydney Olympic 2 (Emmanuel Zunino 43?, Adam Biddle 90?)
Tuesday, 2nd June 2009
Lidcombe Oval, Lidcombe
Referee: Matthew Gillett
Assistant Referees: Paul Faithful and Miles Allen-Scott
Fourth Official: Clarke Kent
Crowd: 250
West Sydney Berries: 1.Hamish McLean; 3.Omar Saadi, 6.Jack Sobczyk, 5.Daniel Clifford, 8.Johnny Fotiadis, 7.Peter Peralta (15.Ryan Jones 28?), 16.Kosta Lagoudakis, 11.Aheleas Kotsopoulos, 19.Dimitri Zakilias (9.Stefan Donevski 84?), 17.Chris Gaitazis (2.Marjan Novotni 88), 14.Liam Austin
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Trinity Allen
Yellow Cards: Gaitazis 18?, Austin 30?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 20.Sam Emmanouil; 23.Emmanuel Zunino, 7.Mirko Jurilj, 18.Emmanuel Giannaros, 12.Peter McPherson, 16.Jordan Simpson (32.Peter Zorbas 61?), 9.Adam Biddle, 14.Chris Triantis, 11.Tolgay Ozbey, 17.Iain Ramsay, 25.Matthew Mayora (8.Paul Wither 79)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Zain Zeneli, 2.Bobby Dragas, 40.Ken Chun
Yellow Cards: McPherson 27?, Mayora 39?, Biddle 67?
-By Micky Brock
