Any talk of a potential Grand Final hangover coming into this match was put to rest, at least early on in the contest, as we started off well enough and within the first 5 minutes of the game, we had been awarded a penalty. Some nice bit of play down the right-hand side saw William Angel make his way into the box, where he was then fouled by a Perth defender. Jason Madonis stepped up and made no mistake with the spot-kick, to put us 1-0 ahead. Perth SC were a willing opponent and did not drop their heads as they got themselves back into the game. Even still, we had the better of the first-half and created a host of opportunities and we most certainly should have been in front by more than 1, as we headed to the half-time break. But, some poor finishing by us, left the door ajar for the opposition instead of killing the game off by half-time.
At the start of the second-half, Perth were the more desperate of the two teams and it showed, flying in with some dreadful challenges, all going unchecked by the referee as usual. We looked threatening enough in the early stages of the second-half but could not find the 2nd goal. The longer it stayed at 1-0, the confidence of Perth grew more and more, aware that we could not put them away. As a result, they started to play some football and had a couple of really good chances to punish us, but luckily for us they could not take advantage. After weathering this storm midway through the second-half, we gained a foot-hold back into the game and with Perth pushing on, it left them exposed at the back for us to counter-attack and we did we thought successfully, as we thought we had scored through Alejandro Sanchez, only for it to be disallowed for some reason. After a frantic last 10 or so minutes, the relief was evident as the referee blew for full-time, seeing us come away 1-0 victors.
It was a game where we rode our luck at stages and it is always difficult playing against an opposition you know nearly nothing about, but we did well enough and got the desired result.
It was good to see Hagi Gligor back on the field of play on Sunday after several months out, after suffering a serious leg injury via a horrific challenge in the home match with Hakoah back in April. Welcome back.
With Paul Henderson on a well-deserved break, Ezequiel Consoni got his chance in goals once again on Sunday. He looked shaky I must say early on, but a couple of excellent saves to keep Perth at bay, would have done his confidence the world of good as he ended up having a good game in goals.
No doubt it has been a long season for the boys, but with only 2 weeks to go potentially, they should be putting everything into these next matches, stay focused and win this tournament and then enjoy the off-season.
Sydney Olympic is back in action this Saturday, September 22, in the National NPL Semi-Final, against South Australian Premiers, Campbelltown City, at Steve Woodcock Sports Centre, Newton, South Australia, Kick-Off is at 3.30pm Sydney time.
Back to last week’s Grand Final, it was great to see so many old Sydney Olympic shirts around Leichhardt Oval, and it got me thinking at least, that some of these should be re-made by the club for supporters to purchase. The Sydney Winter, doesn’t make it easy to wear short sleeves, but it would be great to see people wearing these retro jerseys out and about throughout the Summer. God knows I would have no problem wearing one.
(L – R):
1960, 1967, 1979, 1983
1984, 1986, 1990, 1994
1995, 1996, 2000, 2002
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