Sydney Olympic thump Blacktown Spartans
In the first match of the NSW Premier League double header at Edensor Park, the Blues were dominant with a double to captain Phil Makrys and goals to Chris Triantis and young prodigy Amaury Gauthier leading them to victory.
The fans hardly had the chance to take their seats when Sydney Olympic created their first chance in the opening minute of play. Kutaiba Elrich was fouled on the edge of the box before blasting his curling free-kick onto the crossbar as the Spartans struggled to clear their lines.
Sydney Olympic maintained majority of possession in the opening minutes and were rewarded in the 10? minute when Zak Elrich was pulled down inside the box, giving referee Khodr Yaghi no option but to point to the spot. Captain Phil Makrys stepped up to bury the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the goal to give his side the 1-0 lead.
The Blues were eager to extend their lead and in the 15? minute as Zak Elrich had a fantastic chance on goal. Troy Danaskos sent a great diagonal through ball to Elrich who controlled it before stepping inside his defender and unleashing a shot which was just tipped out for a corner by Spartans goalkeeper Carlos Saliadarre.
Elrich was at it again 5? minutes later, this time combining with cousin Kutaiba Elrich with a one-two before forcing another a save from Saliadarre.
Blacktown tried to get their normal passing game into place in the 21? minute with Chris Gaitatzis playing a leading role, putting a great through ball to Jacob Ott who could not get to the ball before rolling out for a goal kick.
However, it was Sydney Olympic who continued to force Saliadarre into action with Chris Triantis seeing his half-volley attempt tapped away from goal in the 24? minute.
The Spartans had an opportunity to get back into the game in the 32? minute when Luke Boyd found the unmarked Peter Hubbard on the back post, though the latter could not direct his header goalwards with the ball finishing wide of the mark.
7? minutes later, Blacktown had another sight on goal but Ott?s shot could only find the safe hands of Sydney Olympic goalkeeper Paul Henderson.
As the half-time break loomed, Sydney Olympic got back to their best with clever touches around the box troubling the Spartans defence.
Blacktown came out from the break eager to turn their performance around and had a great chance to equalise within 30?? seconds. Marton Vass failed to clear the ball on the edge of the Sydney Olympic box as Jacob Ott took a touch before sending his shot wide of the left hand upright.
A minute later and Ott caught the Olympic defence napping, putting a great through ball to the in form Greg Kondek who also saw his shot go wide of the mark.
Despite Blacktown?s chances it was the Blues who doubled their lead in the 58? minute. Phil Makrys found the Spartans defence asleep, sending a 35-yard free-kick past everyone and into the back of the net.
2? minutes later, Sydney Olympic made it 3-0 via the right boot of Chris Triantis. After the Spartans cleared a corner, the ball fell to the midfielder who drove his shot into the bottom left hand corner.
Sydney Olympic?s dominant display continued on 78? minutes when an Emmanuel Giannaros cross was met by Amaury Gauthier who headed the ball into the net for the 4-0 lead.
Following the match, Sydney Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis was happy that the results are now going his team?s way:
?Today we knew we had to play to the best of our ability to beat the Spartans and the boys did well,?? he said.
?I thought the first-half was probably better than the second-half but in the second we managed to score most of the goals which made the game much more comfortable for us.
?We?ve got players missing every week, we had Studman out this weekend and we rushed in Ibby Haydar who did a tremendous job for us.
?It looks like things are coming together at the right time of the year.??
In the opposition dressing room, Spartans coach Ben De Haan said it was difficult to play against a red hot Olympic:
?We are not up for the scrap and again today they were just knocking long balls and having little touches off that and scoring,?? he said.
?We have got to learn that that?s what it is about, we need to get into the scrap at times.??
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 4 (Phil Makrys 10?, 58?, Chris Triantis 60?, Amaury Gauthier 78?)
Blacktown Spartans 0
Sunday 1st July, 2012
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Lee Corey and Grant South
Fourth Official: Gareth Williams
Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 2.Emmanuel Giannaros, 4.Ibrahim Haydar, 7.Phil Makrys (C) (6.Marco Sama 72?), 8.Peter Triantis, 10.Chris Triantis, 12.Troy Danaskos, 15.Zak Elrich, 17.Kutaiba Elrich (24.Matthew Mayora 79?), 19.David Gullo (23.Amaury Gauthier 65?), 21.Marton Vass
Substitutes Not Used: 18.David Dascal,
Yellow Cards: Marton Vass 69?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre (c); 3.Nathan Millgate, 5.Luke Boyd, 6.Greg Kondek, 7.Chris Gaitatzis (22.Andre Carle 48?), 8.Djordje Degenek, 9.Chris Bedzo (Jonathan Castano-Acero 74?), 13.Hiroaki Kawasaki, 17.Peter Hubbard, 27.Jacob Ott, 29.Chris Bush (4.Daniel Wells 82?)
Substitutes Not Used: 11.Steven Veleski, 40.Jesse Shewan
Yellow Cards: Hiroaki Kawasaki 56?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Chris Georges
