Sydney Olympic ensured their four-point lead at the top of the League ladder remained intact following a 1-0 defeat of Blacktown City FC at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.
Sydney Olympic ensured their four-point lead at the top of the League ladder remained intact following a 1-0 defeat of Blacktown City FC at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.
Following Sutherland Sharks win against Manly United on Saturday evening, and with Blacktown City closing in on third heading into Round 13, the Blues needed one goal to secure maximum points and it arrived via the feet of Chris Triantis.
Triantis had the Blues ahead after only 4- minutes of play as Sydney Olympic stretched the Blacktown City defence for the opener. A fine interchange of passes between William Angel, Robbie Mileski and Todd Bamber setup the opening as Chris Triantis drove his diagonal effort into the bottom left-hand corner of goal.
Blacktown City did have momentum on their side in the second period as Mark Crittenden-s men squandered a number of chances to draw level. Despite playing most of the half on the back foot, Sydney Olympic held off Blacktown City FC-s challenge to secure maximum points.
Sydney United moved into equal third-spot following a much needed win over Marconi Stallions at Sydney United Sports Centre. The Reds, coming off a rather lean spell in recent weeks in-terms of results, had the match wrapped up with Luka Glavas- late first-half strike. Glavas skipped his way past the challenges of both Brenton Rhodes and Ali Haydar before slotting the ball past James Chronopoulos for the match winning goal.
The Stallions best efforts to salvage a draw fell to Andrew Mailer and Josh Sama late on, though the Reds remained composed to administer the final stages of the match and secure three vital points to keep the side-s finals ambitions well on track.
At Jensen Park, Bankstown City claimed their first home win of the season as the side grabbed bragging rights over stern rival Rockdale City Suns in the local derby.
In a match of few chances, it was a late goal to Frederick Graham that secured the points for Bankstown City.
The match could have taken a different shape had Peter Apolevski converted his 8- minute penalty – denied by a strong save by Lions- goalkeeper Zlatko Joseski.
Apolevski-s afternoon took an additional negative turn when he was shown a straight red card in the 64- minute for a poor challenge on Peter Peralta. The Suns played the final 26- minutes with ten-men as the Lions winner arrived in the 86- minute.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles- return to form continued with a strong showing in their 1-0 defeat of A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers at Lambert Park. Tigers- goalkeeper Jose Bello-Amigo was forced into three impressive saves in the first period as Bonnyrigg pestered the A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt defence from the opening whistle. The Tigers too created their own chances as Anthony Hartshorn nearly headed home from a set-piece before Sam Messam was thwarted by a brave Andrew Bazi save.
A Chris Tadross corner in the 56- minute provided Alex Canak with a headed opportunity that he coolly took, heading home for what proved to be the match winner.
The win sees Bonnyrigg White Eagles move into equal third place on the League ladder, the side-s highest placing this season.
On Saturday evening, Sutherland Sharks momentarily cut Sydney Olympic-s lead at the top of the table to one-point as the Seymour Shaw side defeated Manly United FC 3-1 in another very tight encounter. Following a scoreless first-half, a Matt Bailey double and a Nick Tsattalios goal were too much for Manly United FC who pulled a goal back through Scott Balderson.
With 20- minutes of play remaining, Manly United FC threw all caution to the wind in search of a second goal that would have certainly re-opened the encounter, though Nathan Denham-s posts and crossbar continued to prove an obstacle too difficult to climb for Manly United as the side slumped to defeat.
The second Saturday evening clash between Parramatta FC and South Coast Wolves was called off due to the heavy rain in Sydney during the week.
Visit the Football NSW website for updates on when this fixture will be played.
