Sydney Olympic produced a commanding 5-1 victory over newly promoted SD Raiders FC in Round 2 of the National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW at Ernie Smith Reserve, with five different players finding the back of the net.
Despite the Raiders briefly levelling at 1-1 late in the first half, Olympic asserted control and ran out comfortable winners, earning their first win in five NPL Men’s NSW matches.
The hosts started brightly, testing Olympic goalkeeper Josip Orlovic inside the first minute through Mihael Marcic’s header, which failed to trouble the keeper. Olympic responded with early flair, highlighted in the 3rd minute by Sebastian Malfara’s dazzling run that had Raiders’ defender Yuta Komura scrambling to keep up.
Olympic opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Bailey Callaghan delivered a precise ball to Komura, who struck from distance to put the visitors ahead.
The match’s first turning point came in the 27th minute when Cooper Hanagan conceded a penalty after bringing down Robert Eremugo. SD Raiders FC’s Michael Figueira produced a brilliant low save to deny Yuto Fujita, keeping the score at 1-0.
Eight minutes later, Raiders drew level through Noah Chianese’s powerful close-range header, leaving Orlovic with no chance.
The balance of the contest shifted dramatically before half-time when Hanagan received a second yellow and was sent off after an off-the-ball incident involving Ziggy Gordon.
The second half belonged to Sydney Olympic as they took control against the undermanned Raiders.
Just six minutes into the half, Marco Arambasic weaved past Raiders skipper James Letta before calmly slotting the ball past Michael Figueira to put Olympic ahead 2-1.
The visitors continued to capitalize on their numerical advantage, with Arambasic later teeing up Marcus Fernandez in the 61st minute for a composed finish that extended the lead.
Five minutes later, Giorgos Louca made an instant impact off the bench, scoring with a one-touch finish to make it 4-1.
The scoring spree was completed in the 83rd minute when captain Ziggy Gordon thumped home the final goal following a frantic scramble in the Raiders’ penalty area.
Reflecting on the dominant win, Gordon said, “We believe in what we’re doing, and I hope people can see the type of football we want to play.
“We continued from last week and it paid off.
“Our set pieces in particular were influential. We kept being brave and stayed together.
“Marco scoring to put us up 2-1 and Raiders going down to ten men helped as well.
“And for my goal, I always go up trying to score — it doesn’t always happen as much.”
Source: NPL Men’s.
