Sydney Olympic triumph over Parramatta FC
Robbie Mileski scored one of the quickest goals in NSW Premier League history ? inside the opening 23?? seconds – before setting up David Gullo who scored in the 78? minute to secure the three points.
After their shock defeat against Manly United FC two weeks ago, Sydney Olympic started on fire. Ibrahim Haydar played a through ball from the back confusing the Parramatta defence. Takayama Omi got behind Parramatta left back Ben Jurman and flicked the ball back to Robbie Mileski. The striker then beat two defenders down the byline and curled the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
It would be only 3? minutes later that Olympic had their second chance of the match. A lovely free-kick from Chris Triantis out wide went over the head of George Strogylos with Haydar sneaking in from behind, tapping the ball over the goalkeeper only to see it hit the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
The League leaders dominance continued in the early stages as Richard Luksic latched onto a header only to be cleared off the line by the scrambling Parramatta defence.
Parramatta finally got into the game in the 17? minute as Matthew Osman played a lovely through ball to Kutaiba Elrich only for Paul Henderson to come off his line quickly to thwart the chance.
10? minutes later, Parramatta thought they had equalised as Luke Grima cut the ball back to the oncoming Shayne Ardle only for the latter to see his shot hit the post.
Omi was in the thick of things again in the 33? minute as he won the ball from Jurman only to be tackled before Triantis took the ball into the 18-yard box and struck it just wide of the left hand upright.
In the 38? minute, Elrich beat the offside trap and made his way towards goal only to chip the ball across the face missing a golden opportunity just before the break.
Parramatta started the second-half as slow as they did in the first as Omi snuck behind Strogylos and Jurman to take the ball goalwards only to see his shot well saved by Costa.
The visitors were not going to die wondering as they continued to search for an equaliser as Elrich sent his shot well wide of goal in the 56? minute.
A minute later, the Blues had another chance on goal. As Parramatta failed to clear a corner, Chris Triantis struck the ball to the left of the goal from 6-yards out.
The Eagles chances of equalising were severely dented in the 59? minute as captain Kutaiba Elrich was sent from the field for receiving his second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
The red card seemed to spur the visitors on as they had the best chance to equalise in the 66? minute.
Shayne Ardle crossed the ball to a free Grima in the middle of the box only to see his header expertly saved by Henderson keeping the score at 1-0.
As the half wore on Parramatta strengthened, maintaining possession for long periods of time troubling the Olympic defence.
Despite the visitors best efforts, it would be Sydney Olympic who would score next. Against the run of play on the 78? minutes, Hussein Akil played a lovely through ball to Mileski who cut the ball across the goal to David Gullo who netted with a strong finish for the 2-0 win.
Following the match Sydney Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis said he was pleased to return to winning ways:
?We came here knowing Parramatta were full of confidence after two wins on the trot with a new coach,?? he said.
?We gave firm instructions to start strong and we got a goal from it and really should have scored another two.
?We let them into the game where they hit the post and then Hendo made a great save which is probably the telling factor to why we got the three points.??
In the opposition dressing room Parramatta coach Manny Spanoudakis said his team were unlucky against the league leaders:
?It?s always difficult if you?re going to give away a goal in the first minute of the game,?? he said.
?But we did show good character working our way back into the game. Even after Elrich got sent off we had an opportunity and unfortunately another lapse in defence gave them their second.
?We have the capability to compete even with the team coming first. With a little bit of fortune and a bit hard work we could possibly turn it around.??
In the Grade-20 fixture, Parramatta Eagles defeated a nine man Sydney Olympic team 1-0.
Match Details
Sydney Olympic 2 (Mileski 1?, Gullo 78?)
Parramatta FC 0
Sunday, 17th July, 2011
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: Bachar Allam and Alex Long
Fourth Official: Leigh Pigram
Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson (gk); 3.Brett Studman, 4.Ibrahim Haydar, 5.Richard Luksic (C) (15.Todd Bamber 87?), 8.Chris Triantis, 11.Robbie Mileski, 12.Bill Tsanidis (18.Jerry Kalouris 54?), 14.William Angel (9.Hussein Akil 46?), 16.Peter Triantis, 19.Daniel Gullo, 23.Takayami Omi
Substitutions Not Used: 10.Anthony Doumanis, 21.Nenad Vekic (gk)
Yellow Cards: Richard Luksic 45?, Peter Triantis 67?
Red Cards: Nil
Parramatta FC: 21.Anthony Costa (gk); 2.Nick McInerny, 4.Daniel Fogarty (18.Almir Dizdaric 73?), 5.George Strogylos (10.Chris Camilleri 82?), 6.Tom Wilson, 7.Shayne Ardle (8.Bryan Soane 69?), 9.Kutaiba Elrich (C), 17.Matthew Osman, 20.Evangelos Petratos, 28.Ben Jurman, 33.Luke Grima
Substitutions Not Used: 1.Lachlan Tibbles (gk), 3.Daniel Borg
Yellow Cards: Luke Grima 5?, Nick McInerny 22?, George Strogylos 33?, Kutaiba Elrich 47?, 59?
Red Cards: Kutaiba Elrich 59?
-By Chris Georges
