Bankstown close in on top-spot with defeat of Sydney Olympic
With a number of players out for Sydney Olympic, coach Nick Theodorakopoulos was forced to roll the dice and gave a debut to youngster Jerry Kalouris at left back, and in a shock positional change played former Sydney FC player Adam Biddle at right back.
From the kick off Bankstown City began attacking the wide areas of the Sydney Olympic defence, and in the 4? minute created the first chance of the match as Daniel Severino won a free-kick 20-yards out. From the resulting set-piece, Severino sent the ball around wall though Blues shot-stopper Mark Bosnich saved well down low to his left.
Bankstown continued to have all the early ball in the opening exchanges of the match, taking advantage of an out of position Biddle on a number of occasions.
However, 10? minutes in and Biddle finally attacked from the right back position, beating two defenders before being brought down just outside the penalty-area giving Sydney Olympic their first chance to take the lead.
Chris Triantis calmly crossed the ball into the box which met the head of Michael Cindric, the defender should have done better from the position in which he was in.
The game then went into a back and forth tug of war with both teams attacking at each end with both defences holding their own.
In the 24? minute Sydney Olympic attacked on the counter as Chris Triantis gave a beautiful through ball down the left hand touchline for Tolgay Ozbey to gather and win another corner.
The corner again met the head of Cindric, who was not only defending well for Olympic but provided a dangerous aerial threat in attack. Unfortunately for the Blues his header went well above the bar and out for a goal kick.
With the game developing into a very physical affair it was only time before the first yellow card was to come out of referee Kris Griffith-Jones? pocket.
And, in the 26? minute, that just happened as Matthew Mayora quickly won the ball and turned to attack, he was quickly gunned down by Robbie Mileski who earned himself the first yellow card of the match.
The card however failed to bother Mileski who continued pestering the Blues defence.
On 36? minutes, Mileski?s good work almost brought the Lions the lead as a quick-fire shot from 25-yards out was well saved by Bosnich.
Bankstown continued to press the visitors, and in the 38? minute Daniel Severino crossed the ball from the halfway line, across to the left-flank aiming for a free Hussein Salameh, however Mirko Jurilj was quickly back to head the ball back to the waiting Bosnich.
Finally for Sydney Olympic, Chris Triantis pressured the Lions defence and won the ball, continuing a run as he beat three defenders, but failed to get past Zlatko Joseski in goal for Bankstown.
Leading into half-time, Bankstown almost took the lead in comical fashion.
After winning a free-kick on the halfway line on the left-hand side, Daniel Severino saw Bosnich off his line.
A quickly taken free-kick had the former Socceroo goalkeeper quickly scrambling back and luckily touching the ball at the last moment just over the crossbar.
The second-half began in great fashion with Bankstown attacking quickly and advantage of a flat-footed Sydney Olympic.
After some sloppy play by Biddle in the 47? minute, George Nohra won the ball and played through Robbie Mileski on the left-hand side.
Mileski stepped past Jurilj and gave a great pass to Hussein Salameh who on his first-time shot was unlucky to not hit the net after a great save by a well-spread Bosnich in goal.
Sydney Olympic were not far behind as only 2? minutes later a great through ball by Chris Triantis saw Ozbey beat the offside trap and go one-on-one with the goalkeeper. However, a poor touch allowed Joseski to come off his line and gather the ball easily.
Bankstown City took the lead in the 54? minute, winning the end-to-end battle to break the deadlock.
After Hussein Salameh appealed for a penalty, Bankstown won a corner. From the corner Sydney Olympic failed to clear the ball four times, allowing Brett Studman up from the back to volley home through a pack of players for the one-nil lead.
In typical Sydney Olympic fashion the goal conceded woke the team up, and many more attacking raids followed.
The best chance fell to TeleChoice Premier League top goal scorer Matthew Mayora in the 60? minute, as a poor clearance from Bankstown saw the ball pop up for Mayora who blasted a volley from outside the box inches over the bar.
6? minutes later and the home-side doubled their lead.
George Nohra released Robbie Mileski on the right hand side. In a two-on-one attack, Mileski attempted to find the oncoming Salameh however found the confused feet of Mirko Jurilj who put the ball into his own net and gave Bankstown a two goal lead.
Sydney Olympic again pushed forward and in the 72? minute pulled a goal back thanks to a cracking shot from Chris Triantis 25-yards out. The effort deflected off a Bankstown City player and finished in the back of the net, giving hope to Olympic.
With Nick Theodorakopoulos? men now confident on the ball, an equaliser seemed very possible. However, in the 78? minute things turned sour for the Blues as Matthew Mayora was sent from the field after a second bookable offence.
The game then turned down a gear as Bankstown tried to take advantage of the extra man on the field but lacked in the final third and not much happening for Olympic up front.
Following the game, Sydney Olympic debutant Jerry Kalouris said the team played well in patches:
?The game was a bit sloppy towards the end, towards the middle of the game we were doing really well, but I guess we got tired at the end of the game and I guess we just gave it away.?
Bankstown City Assistant Coach Peter Papoythis was ecstatic with the result:
?It was a very tough game, Sydney Olympic came here to play, not many teams come here to play and to their credit they had a go and their not out of the finals yet.
?I?m very happy with the way my team is going, the first half of the season we had a lot of injuries and suspensions, we came out of that ok and in good stead and then we started to turn it on.
?We still have our eye set on winning the minor premiership, that?s what we?ve targeted from the beginning of the season.?
In the Grade 20?s match up, Sydney Olympic defeated the Lions 2-0 thanks to a goal in each half.
Match Stats
Bankstown City Lions 2 (Brett Studman 54?, Mirko Jurilj (o.g) 66?)
Sydney Olympic 1 (Chris Triantis 72?)
Sunday, 12th July, 2009
Jensen Park, Sefton
Referee: Kris Griffith-Jones
Crowd: 750 Approx.
Bankstown City Lions: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 3.Shane Webb, 4.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic (C), 6.Peter Tsekenis, 7.Stefanos Liavas, 8.George Nohra, 10.Robbie Mileski (18.Greg Owens 90?), 11.Philip Makrys, 15.Hussein Salameh (29.Hussein Akil 88?), 82.Daniel Severino (14.Suad Ameti 86?)
Substitutions Not Used: 19.Sam Emmanouil, 23.Tallan Martin
Yellow Cards: Robbie Mileski 26?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 13.Mark Bosnich; 4.Mirko Jurilj (C), 5.Michael Cindric, 7.Peter McPherson (8.Paul Wither 89?), 10.Anthony Doumanis (9.Anthony Hartshorn 58?), 11.Tolgay Ozbey, 12.Jerry Kalouris, 14.Chris Triantis, 15.Matthew Mayora, 18.Adam Biddle, 19.Ken Chun (17.Iain Ramsey 82?)
Substitutions Not Used: 1.Zain Zanelli, 38.Steven Tibbetts
Yellow Cards: Matthew Mayora 28?, 78?
Red Cards: Matthew Mayora 78?
-By Chris Georgakopoulos
