Wollongong Olympic and newly-promoted Corrimal Rangers fought out a 1-1 draw at PCYC on Saturday. Mark Picciolini’s second half strike cancelled out Yusuke Ueda’s first half opener.

There were chances aplenty at both ends, with Haydyn Lloyd hitting the woodwork for Olympic and his captain Brendan Fordham clearing off his own line at the other end. Solid defending kept the sides equal to the end, though the visitors finished the stronger and almost nicked the three points in time added on.

Olympic fielded the same starting eleven that had thrashed Cringila Lions in midweek, but it was clear from the start that Corrimal would be providing a sturdier opposition, even though some of their key players were missing, either through suspension or injury.

After the deluge that fell on Thursday, many might have expected this match to be postponed, but in the bright sunshine and light breeze, the ground had dried out enough for football. The surface was spongey, though, and throughout the game there were constant scuffed shots and mistimed balls.

Olympic had the bulk of possession early on but the Corrimal backline kept firm and there was no way through for the likes of Nuno Pires, John Martinoski or last season’s top scorer Ueda. The first real chance fell to Lloyd in the fifteenth minute. As he pushed forward up the right flank, he got a sight of goal and unleashed a swerving shot that thundered against the cross bar from 25 yards out.

That seemed to give the green light to Olympic’s forward line to up their game. Harrison Brown had an effort on target, saved by Jason Bleakley in the Corrimal goal; Pires began to press, testing the composure of teenager Tyren Maclou; and Ueda fired a right foot shot goalwards, only for Bleakley again to parry.

Having survived this pressure, the Rangers began to settle too and on the half hour almost took the lead. Nikola Rusic floated a corner onto the head of Oliver Carrasco, who watched his effort cleared off the line by Fordham. But as Corrimal pushed forward, they left gaps at the back.

Martinoski broke from half way and put a defence-splitting pass across to Ueda, who somehow managed to miss the target when all around the ground were expecting him to score. It didn’t take long for him to make amends, though. A defensive mix-up on the left released the ball to Fordham, who sent a cross in for Ueda. Paul Guido stumbled as he tried to block, and the ball fell to Ueda’s feet. This time he made no mistake and slotted home for 1-0 at the break.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to equalise after the break, though the goal came from a rare lapse from Olympic captain Fordham. He gifted the ball to Picciolini inside the box, leaving the Corrimal centre forward time and space to pick his spot.

And the Rangers could have gone ahead moments later. This time there was good work from Tim Wylie, who began to develop a useful partnership with Picciolini in Save Treneski’s absence.

Wylie reached the byline and pulled the ball back to Picciolini, who tried to squeeze the ball through the eye of the needle between gloveman Hayden Durose and the near post, but the gap just wasn’t big enough.

At the other end, Robbie Brown and Guido in the centre of defence were keeping Olympic at bay, so it fell to right back Lloyd to have the home side’s best effort of the second half, as he tried another right foot from a tight angle, but Bleakley was good enough again.

Jack Balmforth came on to provide fresh legs and new ideas up the left, but still there was no way through that solid back line, as first Martinoski scuffed his shot and then Maclou put in a well-timed challenge to keep out Ueda.

As the clock ticked towards the ninety minutes, a draw looked increasingly likely, though both sides were looking for a late winner. It was Corrimal who almost won it in time added on. Picciolini set up Chris Stevanovski and the Corrimal faithful leapt to their feet expecting a goal, only to watch in despair as the substitute steered his shot wide of the upright.

Olympic coach Rob Birkin said he was disappointed not to have got more out of a first half which his team had dominated. He acknowledged the pitch had sapped the energy of his side but said that it was the same for both teams.

Corrimal coach John Fleming was pleased to get a result against a team he fancies will be in the ‘top bracket’ at the end of the season. “In the second half, we created the better chances, I thought, but the ball wouldn’t drop for us. With seven players missing, I thought the way our boys competed, it was quality.” And he picked out centre backs Brown and Guido for particular praise: “(They) have struck up a marvellous partnership, and they are quality every week.”

Wollongong Olympic – 1 (Ueda 39’)

Corrimal Rangers FC – 1 (Picciolini 53’)

 

Saturday 1 April 2017

PCYC, Wollongong

Referee: Bobby Mazevski

Assistant Referees: Patrick Hutton, Caleb Blanch

Wollongong Olympic: Hayden Durose, Haydyn Lloyd, Shun Tokuno, Jack Keating, Jake Duczynski, Harrison Brown, Lukas Stergiou, Yusuke Ueda, John Martinoski, Nuno Pires, Brendan Fordham (Jack Balmforth 75’) (subs not used: Dion Avouris, Brendan Belsito, Dylan Perlovski, Jamie Wakeling)

Corrimal Rangers: Jason Bleakley, Tyren Maclou, Robbie Brown, Nathan Belsito, Gavin O’Brien, Paul Guido, Aden Wade (Christian Plakias 66’), Oliver Carrasco, Mark Picciolini, Tim Wylie (Melih Yilmaz 90’), Nikola Rusic (Chris Stevanovski 82’) (sub not used: Nick Peros)

Report by Simon Duffin