95th minute penalty. Unlucky Sydney United

Sutherland will be second if results will stay the same

Update from Jensen Park. Bankstown 1(Ristevski) Marconi 1(Nunes)

Edited by sydneycroatia58: 27/3/2011 07:00:20 PM

New boys Parramatta FC denied famous victory at the death
27.03.11 18:27



Parramatta FC very nearly pulled off the scalp of the season in the club’s first match back in the NSW Premier League against Bonnyrigg White Eagles on Sunday.

Leading 2-1 with less than 60’’ seconds of injury time remaining, the defending Premiers scored a last ditch equaliser via the feet of Nathan Elasi to ensure Bonnyrigg would return home with at least one-point.

Played for large spells inside the Parramatta FC defensive half, Bonnyrigg White Eagles were constantly frustrated by the well-organised rearguard set out by Parramatta FC coach, Brian Dene.

Fabien Iacovelli was the hero with a brace for the home-side, meanwhile Brad Boardman opened his account for the season with a well taken goal, before Elasi’s last ditch effort denied the passionate Parramatta FC supporters what would have been a very memorable afternoon at Melita Stadium.

The visitors carved out the first real opening as Elasi centred for Wely Al-Rikaby in the centre of the penalty-area, though the new White Eagles’ signing failed to get a shot on target.

Despite Bonnyrigg’s powerful start in their opponent’s half, Parramatta FC secured some decent possession via the feet of captain Ben Delicata in the middle of the park. Delicata’s composure and quick feet allowed his team mates to get forward, though the White Eagles defensive line, marshaled expertly by Wade Oostendorp, left very little for the likes of Almir Dizdaric and Kutaiba Elrich.

On 17’ minutes, a fine overlapping run by Daniel Severino down the left opened up space for a delivery to Nikola Zonjic at the back post. Zonjic’s first-time header back across goal was destined for Brad Boardman, though some scrambling defence by the home-side thwarted the opportunity.

1’ minute later, Elasi picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty-area and shot first-time only inches over Tom Romic’s goal.

Against the run of play, Parramatta FC found the opening goal in the 18’ minute. A poor back pass by Chris Tadrosse was intercepted by Dizdaric who in-turn laid the ball off to Bryan Soane. The midfielder’s first time cross, from the right, towards the back post picked out Fabien Iacovelli who finished past Phil Zabaks with aplomb for the opener.

Bonnyrigg regained the monopoly on possession immediately following the goal as Ben Spruce nearly caught Romic off his goal-line with a shot-turn-cross from the left-flank only just clearing the crossbar.

Romic was quick off his line moments later to thwart Brad Boardman’s attempted chipped’ effort inside the penalty-area, the shot-stopper showed composure to deny the burly striker.

Boardman did get one over Romic in the 32’ minute though, as the home-side failed to deal with Nathan Elasi’s cut-back effort from the right-flank. Boardman was on-hand to pick up the scraps and drill the ball into the back of the net from the penalty-spot mark with a powerful left-foot drive.

The goal was certainly deserved by Bonnyrigg who called most of the shots with a mountain of possession, though the home-side regained the lead with their next forward foray. Iacovelli latched onto a fine searching ball out of midfield to go one-on-one with Phil Zabaks. Despite the close attention of David Vrankovic, Iacovelli maintained his composure to nicely place his effort into the back of the net.

Bonnyrigg kept their foot on the accelerator as Boardman laid the ball off to Severino first, then Elasi, only for the scrambling Parramatta FC defence to clear their lines with some desperate defending.

Tom Romic ensured Parramatta FC would go in at the break with their one-goal lead intact as he was lightning quick off his line to claim the ball at Elasi’s feet with a brave dive to deny the White Eagles striker.

The last play of the half almost saw Parramatta FC add a third goal as Dizdaric’s lunging attempt at Zabak’s feet saw the goalkeeper’s clearance ricochet off the striker and over the crossbar.

After the break, Parramatta FC opened up a little and pushed men forward in search of a third goal. Bryan Soane tried his luck with a low driven effort inside the penalty-area, though his effort finished on the wrong side of Phil Zabak’s left up-right.

Nathan Elasi tried to get some momentum going for his side as he cleverly cut in from the right-flank onto his left foot. Despite creating the space, the striker blasted his effort well wide of the target.

In the 55’ minute, Elasi again got forward with displaying some silky touches to get into a promising position. From an acute angle, with only the goalkeeper to beat, Elasi failed to hit the target with his powerful effort finishing over the crossbar.

The home-side continued to frustrate the White Eagles with some very compact defending. The likes of George Strogylos kept the defensive line in order, with Delicata and Chris Camilleri scrambling in midfield to keep Zonjic and Severino from playing for the visitors.

In the 62’ minute, Severino cleverly danced off the challenge of a defender to play a one-two with Al-Rikaby, though a return pass inside the Parramatta FC penalty-area was not forthcoming and the chance amounted to nothing.

The home-side responded immediately with a searching ball from Delicata thrusted forward towards Dizdaric. The lanky striker used his pace to chase the ball down, though Zabaks was first on the scene, clearing his lines neatly to send the White Eagles on the attack.

Bonnyrigg thought they had found their second equaliser of the afternoon in the 67’ minute when Elasi’s low-driven effort was parried by Romic into the path of Boardman. The striker’s first-time blast on goal was blocked by no less than two defenders, putting their bodies on the line to keep their lead intact.

Kutaiba Elrich was denied at point-blank with a fine save by Zabaks following a Parramattta counterattack, though the home-side’s clearest chance to put the result beyond Bonnyrigg’s reach arrived in the 76’ minute via the feet of Iacovelli. On a hat-trick, Iacovelli received an inviting square ball across the face of goal. With only Zabaks to beat, Iacovelli tentatively hit his effort over the crossbar, much to the disbelief of the vocal Parramatta FC supporters.

In a last ditch attempt, Bonnyrigg White Eagles found their equaliser. A short corner from the left was poorly dealt with, as the resulting ball left fell into the path of Elasi who stabbed the ball into the back of the net for a share of the spoils.

Following the match, Parramatta FC coach Brian Dene expressed his disappointment at conceding a late goal:

“The boys are heartbroken in the dressing rooms,” Dene stated.

“We knew our job at hand was going to be a tough one, so we set out to work as hard for each other as possible. We kept things tight at the back, and really frustrated them as we didn’t let them play their free-flowing game.

“I am very happy with the attitude and performance of the team, even though we did panic a little in the final minutes, which led to the equalising goal,” ended Dene.

Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown was relieved at securing the point, though is quietly confident his side will be back in the winner’s circle very soon.

“A very tough match today, we knew it was going to be.

“The surface was very difficult for our boys, and we also needed to reshuffle our lines with a number of our key guys missing through suspensions that were carried over from last year.

“Leaving that aside, I was happy with the attitude and commitment of my players as the boys kept pushing throughout the match searching for the goal, and this is a very important sign for me.

“We did concede a slack goal, defensively speaking, though we did move the ball around and did create the chances to win the game.

“I am looking forward to next weekend’s match with A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt back on our home surface,” ended Brown.

In the Grade 20 division, Parramatta FC recorded an impressive 2-0 win with a dominant second-half display against the White Eagles.

Match Stats

Parramatta FC 2 (Fabien Iacovelli 18’, 35’)

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2 (Brad Boardman 32’, Nathan Elasi 90’+3’)

Sunday 27th March, 2011

Melita Stadium, South Granville

Referee: James Lewis

Assistant Referees: Christian Mehl and Bachar Allam

Fourth Official: Tom Klein

Crowd: 850 Approx.

Parramatta FC: 23.Tomislav Romic; 2.Nicholas McInerney, 5.George Strogylos, 6.Tom Wilson, 8.Bryan Soane, 9.Kutaiba Elrich, 10.Chris Camilleri, 11.Peter Crevani, 14.Fabien Iacovelli (7.Shayne Ardle 77’), 15.Ben Delicata (C), 18.Almir Dizdaric (20.Angelo Petratos 87’)

Substitutes Not Used: 16.Jonathan Castano-Acero, 17.A. Attaee, 21.Anthony Costa

Yellow Cards: Tomislav Romic 71’

Red Cards: Nil

Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 99.Phil Zabaks; 3.Nikola Zonjic, 4.Wade Oostendorp, 5.Chris Tadrosse, 6.Ben Spruce (11.J.Chine 77’), 7.Nathan Elasi, 9.Brad Boardman, 10.Daniel Severino, 15.Wely Al-Rikaby, 16.David Vrankovic (23.J. Cho 83’), 17.Michael Robinson

Substitutes Not Used: 12.A. Draca, 14.D. Jevtic, 20.T. Hamilton

Yellow Cards: David Vrankovic 23’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 – Fabien Iacovelli (PFC)

2 – Ben Delicata (PFC)

1 – Phil Zabaks (BWE)

-By Joseph Carlucci

Rockdale and APIA share spoils in opening round
27.03.11 20:43



Franco Parisi opened his goalscoring account with the APIA Leichhardt Tigers in their 1-1 draw against the Rockdale City Suns on Sunday
Season 2011 kicked off for the Rockdale City Suns and A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt at Bicentennial Park in Rockdale with a draw that probably was the best reflection of a game that tried, but never rose to any great heights.

The game struggled especially early on to keep spectators entertained.

The best opportunities were with Anthony Hartshorn trying his luck with a shot that ended up wide before Rockdale City almost replied instantly when Kosta Lagoudakis broke free from midfield before firing his shot over the crossbar.

Set pieces proved to be each side’s best friend midway through the first stanza of play: A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt were first to try their luck when a lovely David D’Apuzzo corner made its way to Nicola Rizzo who forced the goalkeeper Dion Shaw into a convincing save just under the crossbar.

Rockdale’s reply was equally dangerous when an Adem Kir corner was beautifully floated into Joshua Lawson who fired his header just wide of the intended target.

Another set piece almost rewarded the Tigers when Robbie Younis’ free-kick forced Shaw into another good save low down.

In the 36’ minute A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt could really have taken the lead when a long ball, that should have been easy prey, was terribly dribbled in an attempted clearance by Shaw.

The resulting error gifted Hartshorn the ball but, by the time he rounded the goalkeeper, his weak shot which still seemed certain to go over the line was wonderfully intercepted by Giorgio Speranza off his own line to save Rockdale’s bacon and Shaw’s blushes.

A late free-kick from Younis was once again unable to penetrate Shaw’s resilience and poise between the posts and, as such, the first-half finished goalless.

It didn’t take too long in the second-half for Rockdale City to break the goal drought when Kir fired in a rocket from approximately 30-metres that was never going to miss the back of the net, leaving Jose Bello-Amigo stupefied between the posts.

It may not be goal of the season given that it is only Round 1, but it will surely go close.

The home side should really have extended the lead shortly afterwards when Steven Veleski was gifted a great ball that allowed him to charge freely, but unfortunately at the crucial moment with only Jose Bello-Amigo to beat, he pulled his shot across the face of the goal and just wide of the posts.

It was the lucky break A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt needed, and perhaps deserved, because only minutes later the ball bobbled its way into the box.

Franco Parisi, ever the opportunist, made no mistake in slotting the ball home.

Another Younis free-kick shaved the posts shortly afterwards before the home side missed two clear cut chances later on.

Firstly, Sash Trajcevski headed just wide before replacement Jeffrey Issa was thwarted by an out-coming Bello Amigo.

After the game Lee Sterrey, coach of the Rockdale City Suns, was reasonably pleased with his side’s efforts:

“I thought we went alright given that APIA were a top five team from last year,” he said.

“I thought we handled their attack well and we had to get men behind the ball, that’s why we played with five in the backline to break out in the counter [attack].

“Adem Kir scored a great goal and 5’ minutes later we had a clear break away with Veleski and we didn’t score with a one-on-one. If we had have gone 2-0 up, the game was over.

“We set the game up great but our execution wasn’t there at times. However, for a team that’s only about fifty percent of last year’s squad, and I have only been here five weeks, there is more positives out it than negatives.”

When quizzed about what he expected for season 2011, Sterrey was definitely upbeat:

“Look, at the end of the day, we want to make the play-offs, like all teams, so once a team is in the five there is every opportunity to go on and win a Grand Final.

“There’s a good character in this club and the Board [of Directors] and the committee is very progressive, so it’s all good.”

The message from the opposition was remarkably similar with A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt’s Football Manager Tony Raciti impressed with his team’s first official outing:

“I thought that obviously we were the better team even though we didn’t play that well today, but we did create four to five clear-cut chances,” he stated.

“I think we started three weeks too late and the boys are still picking up their fitness, but today’s ground was heavy to play on.

“The positives are that the whole back four and goalkeeper were exceptional and didn’t put a foot wrong all game and also David D’Apuzzo had a great game.”

When quizzed about the prospects of APIA Leichhardt in 2011, Raciti was equally positive and full of expectation:

“I think every team should expect to finish first, otherwise they shouldn’t bother to go into the competition, so obviously we are aiming for that position.

“It’s either first or nothing for us,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, in the Grade 20s A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt started the season with a convincing 3-1 win over the home side, Rockdale City Suns.

Match Stats

Sunday, 27th March, 2011

Bicentennial Park, Rockdale

Referee: Kurt Ams

Assistant Referees: Thomas Lee and Alex Long

Fourth Official: Thomas Diakos

Rockdale City Suns 1 (Adem Kir 50’)

A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Franco Parisi 61’)

Rockdale City Suns FC: 22.Dion Shaw; 7.Peter Apolevski, 23.Askin Oygur, 10.Sash Trajcevski, 6.Joshua Lawson, 13.Giorgio Speranza, 4.Kosta Lagoudakis (11.Adem Kir 13’), 8.Dominic Hudap, 3.Shay Spitz (19.Marino Musumeci 88’), 9.Jason Naidovski (5.Jeffrey Issa 74’), 12.Steven Veleski.

Substitutes Not Used: 17.Sash Tirovski

Yellow Cards: Naidovski 60’

Red Cards: Nil

A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Jose Bello-Amigo; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.John Kelso, 13.David D’Apuzzo, 4.Cole Tinkler, 5.Michael West, 7.Stephen Kayes, 8.Anthony Hartshorn, 11.Nicola Rizzo (19.Sam Messam 74’), 9.Robbie Younis, 10.Franco Parisi (16.Chris James 88’)

Substitutes Not Used: 40.Terry Dalbroi, 17.Matthew Fsadni, 15.David Dascal

Yellow Cards: Hartshorn 81’, Parisi 83’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 - Adem Kir (RCS)

2 - John Kelso (ALT)

1 - David D’Apuzzo (ALT)

-By Joe Russo

Last- gasp Cattanach secures point for Manly at Sydney United
27.03.11 21:18



Manly United's Robbie Cattanach equalised in stoppage time against Sydney United on Sunday afternoon
A last-gasp penalty from veteran striker Robbie Cattanach sealed a dramatic 2-2 draw for Manly United FC in a fiery encounter at Sydney United Sports Centre to start the new NSW Premier League season.

The wily striker was pulled down inside the box by Sydney United man-mountain Michael Cindric in the 2’ minute of injury time before dusting himself off to slot coolly to goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic’s left to level the scores and end what was an epic duel between the two impressive teams.

It was four seasons in one day at Edensor Park with sun, wind and rain all showing their faces to 500 die-hard supporters, and it was Sydney United who started brightest, using their height advantage to test the Manly defence early on.

Ben Vidaic got on the end of a brilliant cross from Ante Tomic on 11’ minutes and had his effort cleared, before a 14’ minute corner kick bounced through the defence only for Elsid Barkhousir to sky over the crossbar from six yards out.

Yet, less than a minute later, Manly United hit the lead as Scot Balderson provided a magic ball through to Adam Foti, who cantered behind the last defender and got enough of a touch on the ball to see it dribble past an advancing Janjetovic and into goal just ahead of a scrambling defence.

Manly United were starting to find their feet when the home side barged their way back into the game. An unmarked Damon Collina just glancing a header wide on the half-hour mark and Luka Glavas making a usual nuisance of himself, before Manly keeper Kang ho Lee was inexplicably penalised for taking too long with the ball. Steve Hayes played the indirect free-kick square for Tomic, who had his shot charged down and Glavas belted the rebound over the crossbar.

Sydney United didn’t have to wait too much longer for the breakthrough, Glavas controlling a Tomic lob brilliantly and then slamming it into the back of the net for a 34’ minute equaliser.

2’ minutes later, it was Hayes who got his foot on a long ball and played the ball back beautifully for Barkhousir to boot into goal for a 2-1 lead.

The Sydney United boys were pumped, the sports centre rocking and they almost added a third goal just before half-time when Glavas broke clear only for Lee to smother his shot superbly, while Manly United also could have scored after Seung Soo Lee danced past 3-4 defenders and played it to Joey Gibbs who placed his shot over the bar.

Down a goal at the break, Manly United emerged from the dressing sheds with vigour and created five genuine chances, Lee squandering the best of them when Janjetovic played a terrible ball forward while he was outside of the penalty area, and could only watch as Lee struck it straight back past him but just wide of the post, while Balderson was left cursing when he firstly rifled a great ball back from Cattanach over the crossbar from 10 yards out and then had two attempts charged down after Foti had set him up.

Chances were slim at the other end, however, Glavas was unlucky when he lobbed a great ball from Barkhousir over the Manly keeper midway through the term only to see it ricochet off the crossbar and then scrambled out for a corner kick. But it was Manly that mostly looked like scoring as Lee cracked one just past the post and Foti was causing mayhem with his runs and deft touches, finally getting the better of a titanic duel with heroic Sydney United defender Michael Cindric.

With players getting frustrated Manly’s David Dodd copped a yellow for running into the back of Ivo Bosnar, and Barkhousir got one for interfering with a throw-in just minutes before full-time, but it was Cindric’s clumsy foul on Cattanach in the box in the 2’ minute of injury time that had the most impact as Cattanach slammed the resulting penalty into the back of the net for a last-gasp equaliser.

Sydney United coach Jean-Paul de Marigny was pleased with the way his players stood up to a real test from a top side like Manly United:

“It was disappointing that we worked so hard all game just to have the points taken away from us with the last kick of the game,” he said.

“I expected Manly to be physical and I was very concerned in the last 15’ minutes, but all-in-all I’m happy with the draw for where we are at this stage in our preparation. “The good thing about our side is that they respond to setbacks really well. The boys dug in really hard to maintain the draw and I’m content with that result.”

Manly coach Craig Midgley had mixed emotions after nearly walking away from Edensor Park with nothing after creating so many opportunities:

“If you think you can come to Sydney United and get the three-points then you’re probably crazy, but I thought we thoroughly deserved the point… losing 2-1 would have been a travesty,” he said.

“I told the boys they needed to be ruthless in front of goal so it was disappointing to see so many wasted chances, but there are definitely some good signs there.”

Match Stats

Sydney United 2 (Luke Glavas 34’, Elsid Barkhousir 36’)

Manly United FC 2 (Adam Foti 15’, Robbie Cattanach 90’+2’ (pen))

Sunday 27th March, 2011

Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park

Referee: Khodr Yaghi

Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho and Jamie Gavin

Fourth Official: Matthew Samosa

Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 3.Mitchell Speers (2.Ricky Perinich 56’) (14.Petar Markovic 87’), 4.Michael Cindric, 5.Damon Collina (38.Tomislav Mijic 76’), 9.Elsid Barkhousir, 10.Steve Hayes, 11.Luka Glavas, 13.Ben Vidaic, 19.Mitchell Thompson, 23.Ivo Bosnar, 29.Ante Tomic

Substitutes Not Used: 20.Ryan Norval, 41.Jani Bajramovic

Yellow Cards: Mitchell Thompson 24’, Ivo Bosnar 42’, Michael Cindric 75’

Red Cards: Nil

Manly United FC: 1.Kang Ho Lee; 2.Jimmy Oates, 5.Marc Richards, 6.Marc Richards, 7.Scot Balderson, 8.David Dodd, 9.Robbie Cattanach, 10.Adam Foti, 14.Seung Soo Lee (16.Thibault Marchal 83’), 21.Joey Gibbs (11.Justin Haywood 50’), 22.Tonu Liibano, 26.Grant

Substitutes Not Used: 23.Craig Midgley, 25.Jordan Edwards

Yellow Cards: Marc Richards 19’, Grant 34’, Adam Foti 75’, David Dodd 87’

Red Cards: Graham Forbes 77’

-By Dan De Nardi

Did not realise Joey Gibbs was playing at Manly, I thought he was playing in like Belgian 3rd division or something?

Smith hat-trick buries South Coast Wolves
27.03.11 21:23



Photos by John Mavridis

Sydney Olympic opened their 2011 NSW Premier League campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over a lacklustre South Coast Wolves at John Crehan Park on Sunday afternoon.

A pre-match downpour created slippery conditions for the players, providing spectators with a scrappy encounter that produced a second-half hat-trick as both sides were reduced to ten men.

Olympic's new recruit and 2010 NSW Super League Player of the Year, Alex Smith, netted an impressive triple after the interval for Sydney Olympic, who had David Gullo sent off in the second-half after Wolves’ Samet Kaynak was dismissed midway through the first period.

Both sides opted to attack from the outset, with calls for a penalty correctly waved away by referee Alex Glasgow after Chris Triantis’ shot inadvertently struck the arm of a Wolves defender.

Lawrence Drake fired over for the Wolves shortly after when the visitors failed to clear an early Kaynak corner.

5’ minutes into his competitive debut, Sasho Petrovski provided an early display of his A-League experience, twice turning Jerry Kalouris inside-out on the right wing before floating a cross onto the crossbar, much to the relief of Paul Henderson who was left stranded at his front post in the Sydney Olympic goal.

Hussein Akil played a smart one-two with Smith to put himself one-on-one with Brody Crane, but the Wolves’ shot-stopper was quick off his line to close down the angle and block Akil’s shot.

Crane was again on hand on 10’ minutes to block Smith’s shot after a swift Sydney Olympic counterattack threatened to break the deadlock.

A David Gullo free-kick from the left wing caused great confusion in the Wolves’ box on 19’ minutes. The ensuing goalmouth scramble had Crane beaten, however Dave Abel was on hand to head the ball off the goal line and keep the visitors at bay once again.

The Wolves’ next attack saw Kaynak classily bring down a long ball, deceive his marker with a quick shimmy before firing a 20-yard strike straight at Henderson.

Kaynak’s moment of near magic was forgotten soon after when a scuffle with Gullo on 22’ minutes saw him dismissed for a second bookable offence, having been both warned and yellow carded on separate occasions shortly beforehand. Gullo was also yellow carded for his involvement.

With their man advantage, Sydney Olympic piled on the pressure but Akil, Smith, and Triantis were all unable to find a way past Crane.

Petrovski came close to scoring against the run of play, firstly with a deflected free-kick on the half hour, before stealing the ball from the Sydney Olympic defence seconds later and striking the base of the far post under intense pressure from the recovering defenders.

Crane was again the hero late in the first-half when he blocked Robert Mileski’s shot to ensure the sides went in to the interval all square.

Despite Cranes’s best efforts, Sydney Olympic did not take long to break the deadlock in the second-half when David Gullo’s cross picked out an unmarked Alex Smith who volleyed his side into the lead seconds after the resumption of play.

The skies then immediately let loose on John Crehan Park; a heavy downpour ensuring an unpleasant remainder to the afternoon for the Wolves’ faithful fan base.

Mileski went close to extending their advantage soon after, first striking the post from a tight angle before Crane twice denied him with impressive saves to keep the Wolves in the match.

Nick Littler forced a defensive error from Kalouris on the hour; winning the ball and driving a low cross into the 6-yard box only for Petrovski to fire over the crossbar.

The visiting Blues were forced to play the final 20’ minutes playing with ten men when Gullo’s dissent earned him a second yellow card, relinquishing his side’s numerical advantage.

With even numbers Wolves began to regather their rhythm until a backline error from Jacob Timpano on 79’ minutes allowed Smith to steal the ball and chip Crane to ensure Sydney Olympic would take all three-points.

Smith then secured his hat-trick in the closing stages of the match, curling a spectacular free-kick into the top corner, capping off a fine afternoon for himself and his team.

Substitute Todd Bamber should have grabbed a fourth for Sydney Olympic in added time as he beat Crane to a long ball, however he placed his header wide of goal to spare the Wolves further blushes.

Sydney Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis was understandably happy with the result, despite failing to use their man advantage in the first-half:

“I thought we probably should have wrapped the game up earlier but the boys kept ticking away,” said Tsekenis.

“We stuck to our task and got the three goals we deserved.”

Tsekenis was also notably happy with hat-trick hero Alex Smith, also conceding that he now faces the task of trying to hold onto his player:

“I think he’s a great player, he showed a lot of potential,” said Tsekenis.

“He had a patchy pre-season but the quality has always been there.”

Coach Trevor Morgan was disappointed with South Coast Wolves’ start to the 2011 campaign:

“We have very high ambitions this year,” said Morgan.

“Today we didn’t do a lot of the simple things we need to do.

“They had more chances than us in the first 15’ minutes comfortably, but apart from that there were three or four that could have dropped for Sash (Petrovski) that didn’t quite come.

“So the reality is you can win or lose any weekend no matter how good your squad is.”

Morgan refused to point the finger at Kaynak’s early dismissal, declaring that their loss was attributed to Olympic’s performance and avoidable mistakes:

“I don’t know if it cost us the game (Kaynak’s red card), but it certainly made it difficult,” said Morgan.

“Full credit to Olympic, their finishing was good.

“To be fair the second goal comes from an error and the third was a great finish from the set piece, but again, avoidable,” Morgan concluded.

In the afternoon’s early fixture South Coast Wolves defeated nine-man Sydney Olympic 2-0 in the Grade-20 division.

Match Stats

South Coast Wolves 0

Sydney Olympic 3 (Alex Smith 46’, 79’, 90’)

Sunday March 27th, 2011

John Crehan Park, Cringila

Referee: Alex Glasgow

Assistant Referees: Steven Nguyen and Nathan Wotton

Fourth Official: Adam Susz

Crowd: 200 Approx.

South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody Crane; 5.Nick Littler, 3.Dave Abel, 4.Jacob Timpano, 2.Alex Mansueto, 6.Lawrence Drake, 7.Samet Kaynak, 8.Andres Gomez, 9.Mark Picciolini (14.Cam Littler 81’), 10.Sasho Petrovski, 11.Chris Nathaniel (15.Peter Simonovski 75’)

Substitutes Not Used: 12.Jake Duczynski, 13.Stephen Paric, 20.Hayden Durose

Yellow Cards: Samet Kaynak 16’

Red Cards: Samet Kaynak 22’

Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 2.Emmanuel Giannaros, 4.Ibrahim Haydar, 6.Alex Smith, 8.Chris Triantis (15.Tod Bamber 84’), 9.Hussein Akil, 11.Robert Mileski (14.William Angel 75’), 12.Bill Tsandis, 16.Peter Triantis, 18.Jerry Kalouris (34.B Di Salvo 71’), 19.David Gullo

Substitutes Not Used: 21.Nenad Vekic, 27.T Danaskos

Yellow Cards: David Gullo 22’, Chris Triantis 56’, Jerry Kalouris 63’, Sasho Petrovski 80’

Red Cards: David Gullo 69’

Player Ratings:

3 - Alex Amith (SO)

2 - Brody Crane (SCW)

1 - Bill Tsandis (SO)

-By Michael Shoolman

This Alex Smith looks to be a good pick up for Olympic - according to that article he's come from the Super League? Anybody know what team?

Crowd for Sutherland game would have been about 300-400 for anyone interested.

According to the NSWPL website its 500 approx.

This Alex Smith looks to be a good pick up for Olympic - according to that article he's come from the Super League? Anybody know what team?

NEXT WEEK!!!!! ROUND TWO

Bonnyrigg v APIA @ Bonnyrigg Sports Club

Rockdale v Bankstown @ Bicentenial Park

Marconi v Sydney United @ Marconi

Manly United v Sutherland @ Cromer Park

South Coast v Parramatta @ John Crehan Park

Sydney Olympic v Blacktown @ Lambert Park

I can only assume Sydney Olympic are playing at Lambert Park because of the work they're doing on Belmore Oval - in saying that, i go past Belmore Oval on the train a few times a week for Uni, and it doesn't seem to be affecting it too much.

he came from Fraser Park but previously played in the MLS for FC Dallas, mostly on the bench.

He's English.



For OHS reasons no1 is allowed in the grand stand + the changerooms r being renovated.

Ahh, fair enough. All iv'e seen is a cherry picker fixing the roof and a bit of work out the back.