Olympic howl over Wolves
Sydney Olympic has maintained their winning start to the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition with a comfortable 3-1 win over Wollongong Wolves on Sunday.
It was a fantastic birthday present for Sydney Olympic’s Portuguese coach Jamie Monroy who celebrated his special day with the three precious points.
A first half strike from William Angel and second half finishes from Nikolas Tsattalios and Jason Madonis clinched the three points for Olympic at Belmore Sports Ground.
Wolves were rarely an attacking threat throughout the match but found a late consolation goal through former Japan international Yuzo Tashiro.
It was one way traffic for the majority of the game with Olympic in control of the match from the opening whistle. Olympic could have scored even more goals such was their dominance.
From the first kick of the game Wollongong was on the defensive and it didn’t take long for Olympic to turn their early possession into a scoring chance.
Angel received a pass on the left in the ninth minute and skipped past two defenders, before blasting a low shot past the outstretched arms of Wolves goalkeeper Justin Pasfield to give the home side the lead.
Olympic’s front thee of Jinya An, Radovan Pavicevic and Yu Kuboki combined well with the midfield, particularly Max Burgess on the left, to get in behind the Wollongong defence and cause problems for Pasfield.
Madonis was next to threaten the Wollongong backline.
The midfielder picked the ball up on the right and cut outside his marker to drive a strong shot across goal towards the far post. However, Pasfield was up to the task for the Wolves with a diving save to deny the shot.
Olympic were unlucky no to double their lead mid-way through the first stanza when Max Burgess found space on the edge of the box and unleashed a dipping shot at goal which was saved by Pasfied.
However, despite Pasfield’s athletic save, the rebound fell to Radovan Pavicevic alone on the right, but the forward snatched at the chance and sliced his volley high and wide.
Wollongong found attacking opportunities hard to come by in front of a resolute Olympic defence but had a great chance to level the score in the closing minutes of the half when Tashiro headed over the bar from a corner.
The home side picked up in the second half where they had left off in the first and continued to control possession while fashioning out well-worked opportunities for their forward line.
Olympic were finally rewarded for their perseverance in the 70th minute.
Angel curled a low ball across the face of the Wollongong goal for Nikolas Tsattalios to stab past Pasfield at the near post for a 2-0 lead.
Olympic effectively sealed the win eight minutes later when Jason Madonis tapped home from the near post after another pin point cross from Will Angel.
Wollongong claimed a late consolation goal in the final minute thanks to a point blank header from Tashiro, but it was too little too late from the visitors.
Olympic coach Jamie Monroy was pleased with the manner of his side’s win, emphasising the importance of achieving results through attractive football.
"Our goal for this year is to perform well, and to show everyone who comes to watch that our football is worth watching,” Monroy said.
"The first half wasn’t the best, because we were trying to figure them out. In the second half, we created more and scored our second and third goals.
"It’s a real team effort. Everyone needs to be connected, everyone needs to defend, and we did that well today so I’m very happy with the team."
Jacob Timpano was left disappointed by his team’s effort, who struggled after only a week of torrid weather limited his side to only 45 minutes of training leading into the match.
"We were very flat. We weren’t very well prepared this week, and we struggled to get the boys onto a pitch to train. At this level, 45 minutes of training during the week shows on the weekend. That’s not an excuse, it’s just a fact,” Timpano said.
"It is what it is. We’re looking towards the third round with a win and a loss after two weeks on the road. We’re looking forward to going again next weekend with a full week of training under our belts."
Sydney Olympic travel to Lambert Park next weekend where they will take on Sydney FC, while Wollongong Wolves will play their first home game of the 2017 season when they host Manly United at WIN Stadium.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 3 (Angel 9′, Tsattalios 70′, Madonis 78′)
Wollongong Wolves 1 (Tashiro 90’)
Belmore Sports Ground
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Referee: Ben Abraham
Assistant Referees: S. Edeling & J Bell
Fourth Official: Brandon Lovric
Sydney Olympic: 1. Paul Henderson, 5. Yianni Spyrakis, 6. Mitchell Stamatellis, 7. Will Angel, 8. Jason Madonis, 9. Radovan Pavicevic (33. Nikolas Tsattalios 57’), 11. Jinya An, 12. Yu Koboki, 14. Max Burgess, 24. Christopher Gligor, 99. Paul Katsetis (19. Darcy Burgess 45’)
Substitutes not used: 4. Tom Whiteside, 20. Ezequiel Consoni, 25. Mark Rodic
Yellow Cards: Jinya An 13′, Christopher Gligor 49′
Red Cards: N/A
Wollongong Wolves: 1. Justin Pasfield, 4. Hayden Morton, 5. James Baldacchino, 8. Brendan Griffin (22. Jake Trew 85’), 9. Michael Robinson, 11. Hristijan Tanoski, 16. Patrick Antelmi, 18. Nicolas Bernal, 20. Ben Tosi (10. David Stojic 68’), 23. Steven Hayes, 30. Yuzo Tashiro
Substitutes not used: 6. Steven Hristovski, 12. Luke Kairies, Brett Wilson.
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A
Player Ratings
3 – Willam Angel (SOFC)
2 – Max Burgess (SOFC)
1 – Jason Madonis (SOFC)
-By Football NSW reporter Max Grieve
