Olympic Continue Winning Form
Words & Image: Brisbane Roar FC
Olympic FC recorded their third straight win and moved to second in the league standings after defeating Brisbane Roar NYL 3-1 at Perry Park on Friday night.
The young Roar side held out for much of the first half before three well-taken goals in 13 minutes either side of the break gave Olympic the win despite a consolation strike from Roar’s Sam Sibatuara.
Olympic Reuben Way was in the thick of the action from the first whistle and almost netted the opener on 16 minutes when he ran onto a well-timed through pass, only to be muscled off the ball by Roar’s Brendan Gonano.
The home side’s Shelford Dais had a golden chance to break the deadlock in the 27th minute, opting to square the ball instead of shooting to allow Olympic’s defence time to scramble.
The visitors failed to clear the danger as Costa Psaros pounced on a follow-up attempt, but sent his shot wide of the target.
Way remained amongst the action and set-up the match’s first goal for Jake McLean a minute before the break – the young midfielder’s sixth of the campaign.
The winger then turned goal scorer himself with a clever solo effort eight minutes after the restart to extend his season’s tally to 18 goals.
Substitute Rhys Meredith extended the visitor’s advantage, outpacing the Roar defence to calmly slot past goalkeeper Denver Crickmore for his second goal in two games since joining Olympic from Redlands United.
Sibatuara rounded out the scoring with a well-taken strike nearing the hour – his second of the campaign.
Olympic continued to threaten til late in the contest, with Terry Hughe’s striking the crossbar from distance with ten minutes remaining before Meredith directed his 89th minute effort into the arms of Crickmore.
The result sees Olympic leapfrog Moreton Bay United into second place in the NPL Queensland standings, with a game in hand before the two sides meet next Friday night.
Roar have now lost their past five matches and, without a win since May, remain in tenth place.
Brisbane Roar NYL 1 (Sam SIBATUARA 58’)
Olympic FC 3 (Jake MCLEAN 44’, Reuben WAY 53’, Rhys MEREDITH 57’)
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