Early Sydney Olympic goal enough to see off Blacktown City
In a match of two halves, the Blues managed to survive a second-half onslaught from the visiting Blacktown City side as Chris Triantis? well taken 4? minute goal proved to be the difference.
The Blues opened the scoring with their first real forward foray on 4? minutes as the home side stretched their opponents? defensive line.
Will Angel?s pace down the left opened up some space as Robbie Mileski and Todd Bamber played two sublime first-time passes to release Triantis into space as he drove his low diagonal effort into the bottom left-hand corner of Symon Jaeger?s goal.
The visitors tried to react to the early set-back though a Blues midfield led expertly by Phil Makrys and Chris Triantis proved too strong in the opening exchanges.
Blacktown City carved out their first opening in the attacking third as Patrick Gatt rose highest to head a set-piece delivery on target in the 13? minute. Gatt?s headed attempt was precise though lacked any real power as Paul Henderson made a routine save.
Chris Triantis again showed his fine ability in the 17? minute with a long-range effort. The Blues midfielder left three markers in his wake following a slick slalom effort before rifling his effort inches wide of Jaeger?s post.
Sydney Olympic kept the pressure on their opponents 1? minute later as Angel showed some fine skill, and pace, down the left-flank before cutting the ball back across goal from the byline. Despite two Blues players closing into the penalty-area, Angel failed to pick out a teammate as the chance went begging.
On 26? minutes, Blacktown City created an opening when Mitchell Duke centred from the right byline, though his effort sailed too far over the penalty-area, out of the reach of Luke Roodenburg who made a timely run into a promising position.
Blacktown City scuffed a great chance to draw level in the 32? minute as Roodenburg, Mitch Long and Travis Major combined to send the latter through on goal. Major?s perfectly timed run beat the offside trap as the young winger centred for Roodenburg who, off his weaker boot, blasted the effort over the crossbar.
At the other Jaeger was called upon to deal with a towering Todd Bamber in the 38? minute as the shot-stopper showed strength and composure to claim a centred free-kick by the Blues into the penalty-area.
Blacktown City closed the half on the front foot, though clear cut chances were limited by a very compact Sydney Olympic defensive line. Travis Major?s short free-kick into the path of Matt Lewis amounted to nothing as Lewis? first-time effort on goal finished well over the crossbar.
The Blues created two late chances in the half, both involving Angel, though a second goal was not forthcoming. The first arrived in the 43? minute as Angel appeared to be brought down after Jaeger dropped a ball following a challenge from Bamber. Jaeger got down to thwart Angel?s attempt to round the shot-stopper, though as the Sydney Olympic midfielder went to ground, the referee produced a yellow card for simulation.
In the final minute of the half Mileski played an exceptional through ball into the path of Angel down the left, despite being taken out by Gatt on halfway. Angel used his pace to close in on the byline and cross into the centre, despite his effort failing to pick out Bamber, the Blues players appealed for a handball as the ball struck a retreating Blacktown City defender.
Blacktown City came out of the gates all guns blazing after the resumption of play as Duke, under the watchful eye of two Sydney Olympic defenders, shot wide from a promising position in the opening minute after being sent through on goal.
In the 48? minute, Kain Rastall?s pinpoint delivery into the penalty-area again picked out the head of Duke, though the striker failed to get any power behind his effort as Henderson made a routine save.
Duke turned provider 1? minute later as his centre from the left picked out Roodenburg. The Blacktown City captain positioned himself nicely to head on goal, though failed to keep his attempt down as the ball finished over the crossbar.
The visitors kept the foot on the accelerator for the early second-half exchanges as Zac Cairncross got onto the end of a delivery from the right-flank. The central defender hit his shot on the turn nicely, though only just sent the ball wide of Henderson?s up-right.
Sydney Olympic playmaker Robbie Mileski got more on the ball as he attempted to get his teammates forward following the dominant start to the half by Blacktown City, though no real venture into their opponents? penalty-area came about.
The Blues did finally make a visit into the Blacktown City penalty-area in the 63? minute as Bamber?s neat pass into the path of Mileski was cleared by some very astute defending from the visitors.
Blacktown City threatened the Blues rearguard again in the 66? minute as Major?s free-kick from the left picked out Cairncross, who saw his looping header hit the top part of the crossbar before finishing over the goal line.
With both sets of midfielders working hard, goalscoring chances did slow down. A series of hard challenges from both sets of players illustrated just how important a victory
Sydney Olympic created their best chance of the half in the 84? minute as Robbie Mileski picked up a loose ball at the back post before crossing into the penalty-area. Amidst a sea of legs, Blacktown City somehow managed to clear the danger.
Paul Henderson then produced a tremendous one-handed save to deny Lewis? curling free-kick from the right in the 86? minute. The Blues defenders kept their nerve to then deal with the resulting corner as the chance went begging for the visitors.
Sydney Olympic closed the match on the front foot as Todd Bamber and Chris Triantis combined down the right in 90? minute as the Blues pressed for a second goal late-on, though the latter?s through ball to Mileski was well read by the Blacktown City defence.
Victorious Sydney Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis was pleased with the hard work put in by his players to secure the three points:
?Obviously they came home strong today in the second-half though we are very happy with the win. It wasn?t our best performance though it was a match where we needed to pull up our sleeves up and fight to the end, and I am happy the boys did that well.
?We played them (Blacktown City FC) a few weeks ago in the Cup and I was a little worried we would take them lightly after the win there. We?ve had a busy schedule and haven?t really needed to be desperate in our matches this season, so we needed the boys to be on their game today, and I thought we did that.
?They put a lot of pressure, and were unlucky not to equalise, though in saying that we had a couple of chances late on and a few penalty calls that didn?t fall for us so we are glad to get the points at home.
?They are a great side, they are a top-three side and we are now nine-points ahead of them, so that shows where we are, even though we can certainly lift our performances,? Tsekenis commented.
With a Waratah Cup match coming up on Wednesday, Tsekenis confirmed any side he puts out onto the park is expected to play for the win, notwithstanding which competition the side is playing in:
?At the moment there are a few injuries in the side and also a Saturday match coming up so we will need to assess over the coming days.
?Our priority is definitely the League, though with any player that I put out onto the park I expect to win, regardless of whether they are from our 18?s, 20?s or senior team.
?We will be definitely going out on Wednesday evening looking for the win,? Tsekenis concluded.
Blacktown City FC coach Mark Crittenden was pleased with the efforts of his players despite the loss:
?The boys really gave a great account of themselves today, and to be honest I thought a draw would have been a fairer result.
?We started sluggishly, and to concede the goal in the 3?-4? minute, that is disappointing.
?in saying that, we totally dominated the second-half. We spoke at the break and this group of players is so close, so united, and the boys really put in a massive effort in the second-half.
?In saying that, we need to put away our chances, and today we created a number of goal scoring opportunities in the second-half though we didn?t take them, and that ultimately cost us in the end,? ended Crittenden.
In the Grade-20 division, Blacktown City FC defeated Sydney Olympic in a convincing 4-0 romp.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 1 (Chris Triantis 4?)
Blacktown City FC 0
Sunday 19th June, 2011
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Thomas Lee and Nick Backo
Fourth Official: Jamie Gavin
Crowd: 815
Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 2.Emmanuel Giannaros, 5.Richard Luksic (C), 18.Jerry Kalouris, 16.Peter Triantis, 7.Phil Makrys, 3.Brett Studman, 14.Will Angel (23.Takayumi Omi 54?), 15.Todd Bamber, 8.Chris Triantis, 11.Robbie Mileski
Substitutes Not Used: 21.Nenad Vekic, 17.Mitchell Stamatelis, 4.Ibrahim Haydar, 26.Pat Disalvo
Yellow Cards: William Angel 44?, Chris Triantis 47?, Peter Triantis 57?, Brett Studman 61?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Symon Jaeger; 13.Matt Lewis, 4.Travis Major (15.Ray Miller 74?), 5.Patrick Gatt, 16.Luke Austin (17.Adam Jenner 46?), 19.Zac Cairncross, 9.Kain Rastall, 10.Mitch Long, 3.Mitchell Duke (36.David A Djassou 83?), 7.Luke Roodenburg (C), 11.Milorad Simonovic
Substitutes Not Used: 40.David Bradasevic, 14.Luka Dukic
Yellow Cards: Patrick Gatt 45?, Zac Cairncross 67?, Matt Lewis 87?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joseph Carlucci
