Rd 5 vs Parramatta

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by Matt Greenlaw

ANZAC Day was remembered at Melita Stadium on Monday with a visit by third placed Sydney Olympic taking on NSW Premier League cellar dwellers Parramatta FC. A man of the match performance from 'keeper Anthony Costa combined with some desperate defending was all that saved the home side from an embarrassing scoreline. Olympic claimed all three points with a 1-0 victory, leaving the Eagles searching for answers.



Olympic frontman Alex Smith was in the action early, latching onto a curling freekick in the 2nd minute yet managing only to glance the ball wide of the post.

Early signs pointed toward an Olympic win, with Parramatta keen to continue their defensive, counter-attacking football. This didn't however inspire confidence and the Eagles' defense were continually opened up throughout the match.

It was mostly one way traffic in the first half and in the 8th minute Smith capitalised on this dominance by scoring the opener for Olympic with a calmly slotted ball past Costa. Smith was released on the left flank by Robbie Mileski who played through a well timed pass to set up the goal.

After what seemed like an eternity in Parramatta's half the Eagles finally began to feel their way into the match after 30 minutes. New recruits Brodie Mooy and Matt Osman had vastly differing home debuts. Whilst Osman made an impact, particularly into the second half, Mooy had a night to forget. Wayward passes and crosses are signals that perhaps he need more time to gel with his Eagles' teammates.

Costa was called into action in the 33rd minute and pulled off a good save against a powerful Mileski shot from close range. Two minutes later Mileski could have again put Olympic two in front, unmarked on goal and again denied.

Alex Smith proved why he is leading goalscorer in the NSW Premier League, finding himself first to yet another curling ball into the box. Costa made a wonderful close range stop and firmed his position as first choice Parramatta 'keeper.

On the edge of half-time Almir Dizdaric, in the middle of the box, held off his defender and found Bryan Soane out wide. Soane powered in a shot across the face of goal which failed to test Olympic goalkeeper Paul Henderson, leaving the score 1-0 at the break.

Both teams had early chances in the second half with neither able to capitalise on their time in front of goal. It was to be indicative of the half as the game became a scrappy contest played out in the middle third. While Olympic continued to have the greater share of possession indecision and failure to keep the ball on the ground let them down.

Parramatta playmaker Kutaiba Elrich returned from injury in the 61st minute and had an immediate impact before getting booked for a heavy challenge. A minute later he could have seen his second yellow for what looked like a soft freekick. Cries from the traveling Olympic fans to send him off were acknowledged by the referee who gave Elrich a prolonged talking to.

The game finally came to life again in the 74th minute when a Matt Osman shot hit the post and trickled along the goalline only to never pass the posts. Up the other end a flurry of chances to Olympic again failed to be converted by the boys in blue. Smith needed only to pass a square ball to awaiting Takayami Omi but chose instead to take a touch, Costa saving the Eagles yet again.

With four minutes left on the clock Osman could have leveled the scores, finding himself on goal with time to shoot. His eventual shot however was too weak and failed to test Henderson. Fellow new recruit Mooy almost redeemed himself with a clinical cross into the box to find Elrich open in front of goal. Elrich took a touch and impossibly put his attempt over the bar.

Sydney Olympic remain third in the NSW Premier League equal on points with Sydney United, although United have a game in hand. Parramatta are yet to win a match although continue to be competitive against tough opposition. They face Manly next week and will hope to pick up three points having seen key players successfully return from injury tonight.

www.thefootballsack.com/2011/04/olympic-fire-past-parramatta-1-0.html

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Comfortable win for Olympic

posted by on April 25, 2011


Sydney Olympic won comfortably on and off the ground at Melita stadium on the Easter Monday clash against newly promoted Parramatta Eagles. It was another rainy day but the Sydney Olympic fans turned up at Melita in big numbers and once again this season outnumbered the home fans. Peter Tsekenis boys dominated the game on the ground and everyone would agree that the result was fair, but the score was unfair as Olympic should have scored easily a couple more goals.

The first half of the game belonged totally to Sydney Olympic and if the team had a bit more luck on their side, they could have easily scored another 2 goals. The first chance was a header by Alex Smith after a free kick by Phil Makrys but the ball went wide and a few minutes later David Gullo had an opportunity to score but Parramatta defence were able to clear the ball.

In the 8th minute of the game Alex Smith was able to score the winning goal for Sydney Olympic. Robert Mileski passed the ball to Alex Smith and he comfortably scored his 6th goal of the season.

For the remaining of the 1st half Sydney Olympic had numerous chances to score a second goal, with Chris Triantis, Robert Mileski and Alex Smith either being denied the goal by Anthony Costa or being extremely unlucky with the ball going just centimetres out of the goalpost.

In the second half, Olympic tried to control the game and were cautious at the back but gave the opportunity to Parramatta to demonstrate their attacking attributes.

Olympic outplayed Parramatta in the midfield and the first chance of the second half came when Chris Triantis had a shot from 25 yards but Anthony Costa was just able to save his team with an impressive dive.

Parramatta had their best chance to get a point out of this game, when Matthew Osman had a shot that hit the post and then bounced back from Henderson back but the ball slowly and agonizingly went out if play.

Olympic boys woke up after that chance and once Chris Triantis and twice Alex Smith were not able to score and seal the points for Sydney Olympic.

In the remaining of the second half, Parramatta had a couple of opportunities but they did not worry Henderson whilst the midfield of Sydney Olympic also picked their performance to finish off the game with another away win for Sydney Olympic.

After the game, Peter Tsekenis mentioned to the Football NSW media representative: “Obviously the field was not the best to play football so I gave the boys their instructions and I thought they followed them quite well, I thought we were probably unlucky not to be three or four up at half-time. You always think in the back of your head that if you don’t finish your chances you might concede one. To be honest they had a couple of chances there, but it would have been criminal had they got one back. I think we deserved that win and it was good to win away from home as we are every week,”


Parramatta FC: 21.Anthony Costa; 2.Nick McInerney, 3.Daniel Borg (15.Ben Delicata 85’), 6.Thomas Wilson, 7.Shane Ardle (9.Kataiba Elrich 61’), 8.Bryan Soane, 10.Chris Camilleri, 11.Peter Crevani, 17.Matthew Osman, 18.Almir Dizdaric (14.Fabien Iacovelli 72’), 19.Brodie Mooy

Yellow Cards: Kataiba Elrich 65’, Chris Camilleri 93’



Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 18.Jerry Kalouris, 16.Peter Triantis, 2.Emmanuel Giannaros, 3.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic, 19.David Gullo (14.Will Angel 61’), 6.Alex Smith, 11.Robert Mileski (23.Takayami Omi 66’), 7.Phil Makrys, 8.Chris Triantis (9.Husky Akil 89’)

Yellow Cards: Peter Triantis 45’



The standings of the 2011 Football NSW Premier League after round 5 can be found HERE





In the Reserve grade game between the two teams, Parramatta won after an entertaining game with a 3-2 score and in the under 18s game, Sydney Olympic won comfortably with 0-2.

www.sydneyolympicfc.com/news/2011/04/25/comfortable-win-for-olympic/

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What a pumper of a report


Eagles' spirits remain high
MICHAEL COX
27 Apr, 2011 03:37 PM
PARRAMATTA FC are not feeling as deflated as a football team should when they’re sitting bottom of the NSW Premier League after 5 rounds.

The Eagles' suffered their third loss of the season to Sydney Olympic on Easter Monday.


But there is still a strong spirit at the Melita camp.


Melita lost their round 5 fixture 1 nil to third place Sydney Olympic in another wet encounter.


For the final 10 minutes the Eagles' were parked inside Olympic's half on Monday’s clash at Melita Stadium but were unable to equalise.


Eagles’ coach Brain Dene said Melita supporters have got faith that his side were only acting as caretakers of the wooden spoon.


‘‘The support is their through the thick and thin and that’s what real supporters are about,’’ he said.


‘‘It’s a matter of believing in our selves.’’


Dene said the Eagles’ started the game off on the back foot.


He said Olympic were knocking long-diagonal balls into the box and it took them too long to shut Olympic’s game plan down.


‘‘We were a little naive in the early part of the game to pick up what they were doing,’’ he said.


The Eagles’ welcomed Nicholas McInerney back from injury into the centre of defence.


And Kutaiba Elrich and Fabien Iacovelli both caused problems for Olympic’s defence in the second half.


‘‘We did well for the last part of the game,’’ Dene said.


‘‘We had a couple of clear-cut chances.’’


Off contract Gay Leagueplayers Matthew Osman and Brodie Mooy are yet to lead the Eagles to their first victory in the top flight.


Dene said the two boys were performing well, but he plans to make a few changes leading into this weeks fixture with Manly Warringah.


‘‘We need to take another 5 per cent step,’’ he said.


The Eagles will play HAKOA tonight in a friendly match at Macquarie University.


‘‘I’d like to see what they’ve got to say about us,’’ Dene said.

www.parramattasun.com.au/news/local/news/business/eagles-spirits-remain-high/2146126.aspx