It took a 95th minute winner from Sydney Olympic’s Teng Kuol that sunk the hearts of Rockdale Ilinden in their gusty 2-1 victory at Netstrata Jubilee Oval in an action-packed match on Sunday.
It was a case of Ilinden not putting away their chances as the Blues took advantage when needed with a win that has now put them back in final series contention while the loss for Rockdale has cut their lead to six points from nearest rivals Marconi.
The first real opportunity of the encounter arrived straight after kick off when the ball fell nicely for Giorgio Speranza who fired towards goal, but he was denied by Christopher Parsons who made a double save.
Spectators then had to wait until the 22nd minute for the next chance of the game. Sydney Olympic worked a nice move from midfield and down the left channel before the ball was centred for Roy O’Donovan, but his instinctive shot was well blocked by the Rockdale defence.
There wasn’t much penetration from either side in the tight contest at this stage. On the half hour mark it was Speranza for the visitors who had another attempt from just outside the box but the ball drifted slowly wide of the target.
A few minutes later Bai Antoniou should really have struck the back of the net for Rockdale Ilinden. After receiving a pinpoint accurate cross from the right, he unfortunately for the Red and Blacks skied the ball from close range.
In the 38th minute Brendan Cholakian with no option was forced to attempt an overhead kick and, in fairness to him, it wasn’t too bad as the ball ended up only just wide.
In the 40th minute the breakthrough did eventually come Rockdale’s way and it was no more than they deserved as clearly they were pressing high and forcing Olympic onto the back foot at this stage of the contest. Sydney Olympic lost the ball in defence after some high pressing by Lachie Constable and then it was left to Dean Pelekanos to take full advantage of the spoils and slot the ball home from a central position.
In stoppage time at the end of the first stanza of play Rockdale really should have had their second goal. A close-range attempt by Isaac Danzo crashed miraculously off the post with ‘keeper Parsons beaten and then Pelekanos, with the follow-up, blasted his attempt just wide of the mark.
Right at the end things threatened to get a little heated between both sides and yellow cards were brandished to Parsons of Olympic and Antoniou of Ilinden as experienced whistle-blower Michael Weiner did very well to keep things in check.
After the break the first chance belonged to Rockdale in the 61st minute when a diagonal shot by Antoniou from the left went agonisingly wide.
A few minutes later a cross by Hunter Elliott from the right to Urosevski in the middle had just a fraction too much on it and the visiting captain with his touch couldn’t beat Parsons.
Sydney Olympic did manage to even the ledger in the 69th minute. Rockdale were caught off-guard in defence by Adam Parkhouse who won the ball and found O’Donovan unmarked and the Irishman marksman made no mistake with only the goalkeeper to beat.
In the 86th minute a shot by substitute Yinka Sunmola was well saved by Parsons down low to his left as Rockdale rallied in an attempt to regain the lead.
A minute later Elliott hit the side netting as he scooted towards the by-line and almost ran out of room on the left.
In the 90th minute a cross from the left reached Daniel Collins in the middle but his glancing header sailed narrowly wide and for Rockdale it was appearing very much like it wasn’t going to be their night.
And in the 94th minute that’s exactly what happened as Sydney Olympic scored the winner. A Michael Vakis cross found Teng Kuol in the middle and the ever-alert substitute drove it home.
After the game the coach of Sydney Olympic Labinot Haliti was very satisfied with that result.
“We have been performing every week and sometimes the results don’t come your way, but it’s the character of our team that counts,” he said.
In the Rockdale Ilinden dressing room, the mood was more sombre and coach Paul Dee was very gracious in defeat.
“That game shouldn’t have been anywhere near close enough for them to come back in, but anyway if you don’t put chances away that’s the result,” he stated.
“The first half showed that we have a very good playing style and we just have to keep replicating that for the rest of the time to come this season.”
*By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
