2 from 2 – Sydney Olympic 3-1 Wollongong Wolves

Sydney Olympic have carried the good pre-season form over into the season proper, notching up our second win in a row to start the 2017 NPL season. We defeated the Wollongong Wolves 3-1 at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday Afternoon, in what was another clinical performance, where we controlled the match from start to finish.

From the first whistle we dominated proceedings, having all the ball and creating almost all of the chances. With this being the case, it did not take long for us to open the scoring. A nice run down the left from William Angel saw him glide passed a couple of defenders before making his way into the box, cutting onto his right and finishing expertly passed the Wollongong goalkeeper to give us a well-deserved 1-0 lead. It was total domination by Sydney Olympic, as Wollongong looked like a shadow of the side that had looked so good in Round 1. Our general play, passing and movement were top notch and we continued to create goal-scoring opportunities throughout that first-half, but the final shot always seemed to be lacking the power to really trouble the Wollongong goal. Nevertheless we continued to create openings during the first-half, all with little reward as we could not double our lead and had to settle for a 1-0 lead going into the half-time break.

The second-half continued from where the first left off, as we continued to dominate the game, having the lions-share of possession and had the vast majority of the chances. But it was not until midway through the second half that we were finally able to put away that second goal. A lovely ball found a free William Angel down the left flank, he delivered a delightful low cross into the box, inviting someone to smash it home, Niko Tsattalios accepted that invitation finishing from close range to make it 2-0. We continued to boss the game and 10 minutes from time we grabbed our third, effectively killing the game off as a contest. William Angel once again found himself free down the left, he delivered another pin-point cross into the box, this time it was met by Jason Madonis, who tapped in from close range to give us an unassailable 3-0 lead. A lapse in concentration right at the death allowed Wollongong to sneak in and grab a consolation goal, making the score 3-1. Which put a slight dampener on the victory and the day as a whole.

Once again it was another solid display with everyone working extremely hard on the park and everybody played really well. But a specific mention must go to both William Angel who terrorised Wollongong all game down that left flank and Max Burgess who dominated, controlling and orchestrating play from midfield, they were the 2 stand-outs.

In terms of the Club Championship, the U20’s had a 4-0 win and the U18’s finished 1-1, giving us a nice haul of points for the weekend.

On a sour note it was disappointing to see so many unhappy faces rocking up to the canteen only to find out that they had already run out of souvlaki before first grade had even started (lol). Hopefully (and seriously) this can be all sorted out by the time of the next home game.

We now have a stretch of 4 away matches in a row, so hopefully, we can get as many Sydney Olympic Supporters to come out and support the boys as we are playing some good football this year.

Our next match is this Saturday Night, March 25, against the Sydney FC NPL team, at Lambert Park, Kick-Off is at 7.45pm.