Gutsy Olympic earn victory over Bankstown City Lions

Sydney Olympic has given new coach Nick Theodorakopoulos his second win in as many weeks, defeating the Bankstown City Lions in a fiery affair at the Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon.

Goals to TeleChoice Premier League top goalscorer Matthew Mayora and Jordan Simpson have fired the Blues to 12-points on the ladder and right in the mix of the Top-Five.

Fans had hardly taken their seats as the Blues commenced with a quick-fire shot by Paul Wither, alerting Bankstown goalkeeper Andrew Bazi from the outset.

In the 3’ minute however, Bazi was caught out as a beautiful through-ball from Chris Triantis had the goalkeeper out of his box with Paul Wither chasing. With Bazi having the ball at his feet, Wither took the ball off him and cut back to an advancing Matthew Mayora who shot into an empty net for a 1-0 lead.

Olympic then proceeded to take control of the match with the majority of possession creating many opportunities for the home-side.

In the 8^th minute a well-timed cross by Adam Biddle found an unmarked Jordan Simpson who missed an easy chance to put the Blues 2-0 up.

Two minutes later and disaster struck the Bankstown City Lions with player/coach Peter Tsekenis going down in what seemed like a hamstring injury for the veteran. Mathew Pressello replaced the Lions number 6.

Pressello hardly had time to settle into the game as Olympic continued their attacking dominance putting the left back under pressure. A 14’ minute free-kick taken by Chris Triantis met the head of Michael Cindric who made Simpson’s earlier chance look good as he also squandered a chance for the home team.

The two missed chances brought Bankstown City to life as they began taking charge in the middle of the park.

Lebanese import Hussein Salameh began taking charge on the left hand side for Bankstown, running rings around former Sydney FC midfielder Adam Biddle.

And Salameh’s work ended in success for the Lions as he earned his team a corner which effectively levelled the scores in the 20’ minute.

Suad Ameti’s cross was cleared by Sydney Olympic goalkeeper Nector Tsioustas – who was making his debut - however fell straight to Stefanos Liavas who after a first good touch hit a dipping shot into the top left corner of the goal; 1-1 Bankstown.

The Lions then held the bulk of possession as Olympic went missing, with Liavas on fire as he had another shot in the 24’ minute which went agonisingly wide.

Both teams then settled well into the game with a midfield battle brewing and a minimal amount of chances falling for each side.

However, in the back end of the first-half great lead up play by Iain Ramsey and Matthew Mayora gave Adam Biddle the chance to put his side ahead.

A great turn that gave Biddle space ended in a poor effort by the midfielder.

On the stroke of half-time however, Olympic regained their lead as a brilliant run to the box by Adam Biddle, beating three defenders, ended in the midfielder cutting back the ball to an oncoming Jordan Simpson who struck the ball cleanly into the left-hand side of the net past an extended Andrew Bazi.

The half-time interval brought a great gusty wind in the favour of the Bankstown City Lions as they attempted to come from behind and get the three-points against their rivals.

In the 52’ minute Hussein Salameh continued to be a menace on the left-hand side for Olympic as he cleverly cut the ball back onto his right foot, however the imposing shot went well above the crossbar.

The wind continued to make it difficult for both teams as the midfield battle again heated things up.

The Blues, missing Peter Zorbas and Anthony Doumanis, still had great fighters in the middle with Simpson, Triantis and Ken Chun doing their job.

Suad Ameti became a constant threat down the centre for Olympic, however the pressure on him ended up with him receiving a yellow card as he kicked out at Paul Wither.

Stefanos Liavas was close to earning a double in the 57’ minute as he cleverly spotted Olympic goalkeeper Tsioustas off his line. He tried his luck from 40-yards out, though the goalkeeper, with the sun in his eyes, was lucky for the ball to dip just over the top right corner.

 The Lions continued to attack Olympic with the game opening up. A counter-attack ad Salameh again in the action as he put a lovely through ball to Shane Webb which turned on the ball however his shot was quickly thwarted by Michael Cindric.

Bankstown seemed to be missing the final touch needed to score as they continued their attacks to no avail.

The substitutions then ran in for both teams, with Chris Godoy-Bascur and Hussein Akil coming into the attack for Bankstown.

The extra attacking players left gaps in the back for the visitors, which Sydney Olympic adapted to a counter attack style football.

In the 77’ minute a counter attack by Matthew Mayora down the right-hand side saw him tackled and again back up as he cut the ball back to an oncoming Jordan Simpson who had enough time to beat his defender and turn the ball to his left foot, however his shot was again blasted over the top.

The rest of the half was a back and forth affair with neither side having any clear opportunities at goal, as referee Kurt Ams put an end to proceedings as Olympic went closer to a top five position as they head into their catch up game this Wednesday night against Manly United.

In the Grade 20’s, Sydney Olympic came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with the Bankstown City Lions.

Match Stats:

Sydney Olympic 2 (Matthew Mayora 3’, Jordan Simpson 45’)

Bankstown City Lions 1 (Stefanos Liavas 20’)

Sunday, 26^th April, 2009

Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore

Referee: Kurt Ams

Crowd: 600 Approx.

Sydney Olympic: 21.Nestor Tsioustas; 3.Mirko Jurilj (C), 5.Michael Cindric, 6.Emmanuel Giannaros, 8.Paul Wither, 14.Chris Triantis (23.Chris Cahill 84’), 15.Matthew Mayora (3.Emmanuel Zunino 81’), 16.Jordan Simpson (7.Peter McPherson 66’), 17.Iain Ramsey, 18.Adam Biddle, 19.Ken Chun

Substitutions Not Used: 20.Sam Emmanouil (GK)

Yellow Cards: Jordan Simpson 11’, Paul Wither 37’, Ken Chun 39’

Red Cards: Nil

Bankstown City Lions: 20.Andrew Bazi; 3.Shane Webb, 4.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic (C), 6.Peter Tsekenis (13.Mathew Pressello 10’), 7.Stefanos Liavas, 9.James Monie (99.Chris Godoy-Bascur 65’), 10.Robbie Mileski, 14.Suad Ameti, 15.Hussein Salameh (39.Hussein Akil 73’)

Substitutions Not Used: 23.Tallan Martin, 1.Zlatko Joseski (GK)

Yellow Cards: Suad Ameti 53’, Shane Webb 57’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3- Jordan Simpson (SO)

2- Hussein Salameh (BCL)

1- Iain Ramsey (SO)

-By Chris Georgakopoulos

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