Blues score marginal win against Mariners
Sydney Olympic persevered through tough conditions to overcome a well-structured Central Coast Mariners Academy 1-0 at Pluim Park, a solo effort by Zak Elrich was the difference – this continued new coach Grant Lee’s 100% record since taking over the club.
It was a quiet first-half to an important match for both sides. Central Coast needed to advance from the bottom of the ladder, meanwhile the Sydney Olympic win broke a three-way deadlock for third place between them, Rockdale City Suns and Blacktown City FC.
It was the left flank for the away side that did most of the work in the opening stages, especially the partnership between Olympics’ William Angel and Troy Danaskos who linked up effectively causing havoc for the backline.
Despite an energetic offence, Central Coast’s Ridge Mapu did a great job holding the wide attackers, with a hand from Christopher Payne who dropped back to lend a hand in defence and covered a lot of ground throughout the match.
Ridge also progressed on several occasions to lodge attacks of his own but his agile approach was not enough to break into the final third.
The Mariners Academy had a chance to take off to an early lead with consecutive corners but their set pieces were not as clinical as last week against South Coast Wolves.
At the other end of the park Zak Elrich was the creator for Olympic who had plenty of time on the ball and his fancy footwork was enough to beat defenders with class.
Although, it was Sydney Olympics’ William Angel who thought he had given his side a lead in the 31’ minute with a long distance strike that just grazed the top right apex.
Adam Woodbine offered some flare down the Mariners’ left; his first contribution was an accurate cross onto the free head of Daniel McFarlane who pushed his effort over the crossbar.
Indeed, the first-half was evenly contested but it was the infamous final stages of the first stanza that again let the young Mariners down as they conceded on the back of some Elrich brilliance in the 35’ minute.
Elrich embarked on a solo run about five metres out from the box to beat a couple of defenders and tucked the ball away neatly by David Bradasevic’s left glove to put Olympic up 1-0 at half-time.
The final 10’ minutes saw Payne with an opportunity to volley home from close-range but his chance was blasted high and sent the home side one nil down at half-time.
The Mariners Academy side came out firing in the second-half and had a couple of chances early to level the wager. Dillon Vorster was the first to get play underway with a dangerous boost forward, his strike was on target but Paul Henderson went down to his right to stop the chance.
Woodbine was the next player to try his luck who leaped above the pack on a corner that was much more effective than there previous efforts of the match and hit it clean but struck the middle of the near post 51’ minutes in.
The Mariners Academy side picked up momentum and held plenty of possession forward but it was Olympic who came close to doubling their lead after Danaskos crossed in from the right for Amaury Gauthier to strike his shot first time outside the 18-yard box that thumped against the crossbar in the 62’ minute.
5’ minutes later the crossbar again denied Gauthier who had two point blank attempts to score, his first was blocked on the line by Central Coast’s Liam O’Dell, his second, the crossbar, but the consecutive chances would not deter the Mariners.
Immediately after, the Mariners Academy proved how dangerous they were from set pieces as Daniel Bragg moved up the pitch to deliver a perfect cross onto the head of Smith whose chance was batted away by Henderson.
Bragg’s attacking prowess came to life in the closing stages and provided a delightful ball through to Woodbine in the 79’ minute who almost connected with a one-on-one chance that was cleared away by the late lunging toe of Brayden Sorge.
The play for both sides opened up in the closing 5’ minutes and there were chances sprayed at either end as well as a controversial yellow card to Olympics’ substitution, James Demetriou for simulation after a one-on-one chance with Bradasevic on 90’ minutes.
The final chance for the Mariners was again off a Bragg free kick that saw everyone forward however O’Dell’s header sailed over the crossbar in the 93’ minute.
A devastated Liam O’Dell did not have much to say after a hard fought loss:
“I’m shattered mate, we just couldn’t finish.
“We lacked a bit of discipline, lost the ball in the back third and obviously our finishing opportunities, the same every week really.
“We need to just keep pushing forward and we should have a few new players coming in from the transfer market.”
Sydney Olympic’s Troy Danaskos was satisfied with the win and looking forward to a double header this week:
“It’s a great win, look it’s always going to be a tough competition this year there are a lot of good players that have gone to different clubs, which makes for a competitive environment.
“I think we’ve really stepped up considering the number of players we’ve actually lost, it’s actually been good for us the last three weeks and won three on the trot so hopefully we can keep it going.
“It’s always a tough travel, it’s an hour and a half drive. Look I’m used to it because I used to play for Blacktown so it’s not too bad.”
“We actually have a Cup game against Sutho and a competition game against Sutho on the weekend so look, they’re a top team so we are going to have to step it up.’”
The match leads into a busy week for both sides who have Waratah Cup duties, Central Coast Mariners Academy will face APIA-Leichardt twice in the week with Sydney Olympic facing the same challenge against Sutherland Sharks.
Match Stats
Central Coast Mariners Academy 0
Sydney Olympic 1 (Zak Elrich 35’)
Saturday 1st June, 2013
Pluim Park
Referee: Andrew Higgins
Assistant Referees: Leigh Pigram and Alec Mouawad
Fourth Official: Daniel Stack
Central Coast Mariners Academy: 20.David Bradasevic; 8.Daniel Bragg, 2.Matthew Crowell, 39.Dylan Holz (25.Steve Whyte 72’), 3.Jamie Lobb, 26.Mapu Ridge, 29.Daniel McFarlane (5.Brady Smith 45’), 22.Liam O’Dell, 6.Christopher Payne, 21.Dillon Vorster (7.James Monie 82’), 30.Adam Woodbine
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Jordan Nikolovski, 17.Joshua Forbes,
Yellow Cards: Dylan Holz 52’, Christopher Payne 61’,
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 11.William Angel, 12.Troy Danaskos, 15.Zak Elrich, 22.Amaury Gauthier, 19.Christopher Godoy Bascur (10.Renato Franco Ramirez 72’), 9.Luke Grima (21.James Demetriou 75’), 14.Petar Markovic, 5.Bradley Treloar, 8.Kingsley Williams, 29.Brayden Sorge
Substitutes Not Used: 23.Luke Kairies, 31.Alexander Kelly, 28.James Morrison
Yellow Cards: Christopher Godoy Bascur 44’, William Angel 58’, James Demetriou
Red Cards: Nil
(Player Ratings for second round will not be listed with Team of the Year announced at the awards dinner later this year)
-By Tyson Scott
