Depleted Sydney Olympic ease to win over Parramatta
The defending champions backed up their hard fought victory over Marconi last week as Phil Makrys and Chris Triantis left Parramatta still searching for their first win of the 2012 season.
A host of injuries and suspensions forced Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis to rearrange his side for the match and the only negative for the home side was conceding a last minute goal.
?In the second-half, we probably should?ve finished them off earlier,? Tsekenis said.
?We kept them in the game for a long period and credit to them they kept plugging away.
?I?m a little bit disappointed that we conceded a goal but it happens.?
While the three points were earned in far from spectacular fashion, Tsekenis says Olympic will look even more threatening when they play at full strength.
?At this stage of the year you want to be picking up points regardless of how you are playing,? he added.
?It?s nice to be playing some good football but we want to be peaking at the right time.
?As long as we are picking up points when we aren?t playing our best, it?s a good sign.?
The atmosphere in the Parramatta dressing room was a huge contrast to their hosts, with the result condemning the visitors to their fourth loss of the year. Parramatta coach Lee Sterrey explained that although there is much to be desired from his side?s performance, it is too early to inflict change.
?It?s a young side so the problem is we just need three points,? Sterrey said.
?Before today, we deserved to be on more points than 1 but that?s what it says in the column.
?Six or seven of our first grade players can play in under 20?s.
?Parramatta is about building this club for the future.?
After conceding the first goal of the game, Sterrey insisted Parramatta didn?t drop their heads but costly errors meant the game was beyond reach.
?I thought at half time getting in the sheds we had a real good chance, we were always going to push on them and chance our arm in the second half,? Sterrey added.
?We had plenty of possession in the front third and our quality wasn?t good enough.
?Our turnover rate is far too high at the moment, we can?t keep the ball.
?They probably took their foot off the pedal thinking we wouldn?t come back into it but our goal came too late.?
After a slow opening 5? minutes, with much of possession in the centre of the field, it was fitting that the opening chance of the match came from long-range. A 30-metre pile driver from Olympic midfielder Peter Triantis ricocheted off the crossbar, leaving Parramatta goalkeeper Matthew Nash rooted to his spot.
That was the catalyst for Olympic to discover their trademark running game and they were quick to put pressure on the visitors. A series of build up plays all made their way out to the flanks as Peter Tsekenis? men looked to trouble Parramatta with early crosses.
There was little in the way of resistance from Parramatta with the heavy wind diffusing any chances they had with a through ball.
Akiyoshi Saito had Parramatta?s first goal opportunity in the 19? minute but his shot blasted over the crossbar.
Sydney Olympic looked elusive with the ball and they looked threatening on the counter attack. In the 24? minute, a series of passes on the edge of Parramatta?s box was eventually pushed out wide to Olympic winger David Gullo who had his low shot blocked for a corner.
Olympic looked to set up camp in the Parramatta area and it only took 2? minutes before the home side tried to force the ball into the back of the net. Joel Woods showed persistence to chase a ball that looked like going out for a Parramatta goal kick before cutting back to Chris Triantis who was denied the opening goal of the match thanks to a finger tip save by ?keeper Nash.
It was only a matter of time before Olympic found a breakthrough and it was somewhat opportunistic as captain Phil Makrys drifted a corner into the top right corner to give his side a 1-0 lead.
An injury to Emmanuel Giannaros forced an early change for Peter Tsekenis as last week?s match winner Sam Awad made an entrance into the game before half-time.
Kwabena Appiah-Kubi looked frustrated up front, but Parramatta had a glimmer of hope with just a one-goal deficit at half-time.
And it was the away side that emerged with most of the momentum after the break, playing a more assured game and finally gaining possession.
But the combination of Woods and Chris Triantis continued to look potent with a neat one-two almost finished by a goal to the latter in the 51? minute.
It wasn?t until the 60? minute that Parramatta settled in Olympic?s half, although consecutive shots failed to trouble Paul Henderson.
Olympic grabbed a second goal in the 65? minute when Zakeriya Elrich released David Gullo down the left flank. Gullo shrugged off a Parramatta defender and sent in a perfectly weighted cross to Chris Triantis who controlled the ball and smashed a volley beyond Matthew Nash.
When Hassan Daramy scrambled through the Olympic defence in the 72? minute, it looked like Parramatta might have been able to navigate their way back into the match but, as so often was the case, the final execution left much to be desired.
With 10? minutes on the clock, there was hope for Parramatta as Olympic sat on their vulnerable two-goal lead. When Saito was brought down on the edge of the box, the resulting free-kick was tipped away by Henderson, and before the lines were clear, Parramatta sent a cross in which was met on the head by defender Mark O?Reilly to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
There would be no fairytale for Parramatta FC however, as Sydney Olympic grabbed maximum points for the second consecutive round.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 2 (Makrys 28?, C. Triantis 65?)
Parramatta FC 1 (O?Reilly 90?)
Sunday April 29th, 2012
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 2.Emmanuel Giannaros (14.Sam Awad 43?), 3.Brett Studman, 5.Blaz Dejanovic, 18.David Dascal, 19.David Gullo (12.Troy Danaskos 81?), 11.Will Angel, 8.Peter Triantis, 10.Chris Triantis, 16.Joel Woods (15.Zakeriya Elrich 60?), 7.Phil Makrys
Substitutes Not Used: 32. Luke Kairies (GK)
Yellow Cards: W. Angel, P. Makrys, P. Triantis
Red Cards: Nil
Parramatta FC: 1.Matthew Nash; 2.Nicolas McInerney (17.Hassan Daramy 56?), 3.Andy Matloub, 4.Domenic Trimboli, 5.Mark O?Reilly, 18.Nicholas Napoli (16.Daniel Gullo 75?), 8.Bryan Soane (11.Bruno Pivato 75?), 9.Aaron Pederson, 10.Akiyoshi Saito, 13.Daniel Rezo, 14.Kwabena Appiah-Kubi
Substitutes Not Used: 12.Ehsan Popal, 40.M. Sakowicz
Yellow Cards: K. Appiah-Kubi, A. Matloub, N. McInerney,
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Chris Triantis (SO)
2 ? David Gullo (SO)
1 ? Akiyoshi Saito (PFC)
-By Mitchell Grima
