New Olympic manager Grant Lee has eased himself into his new role with back to back victories, lifting Olympic into the top five where they trail third place Blacktown City on only goal difference.
But the 2-0 victory on Sunday against the Tigers gives Lee his second successive clean sheet, Olympic’s third on the trot, and offers an indication that their goal difference will soon be matching that of the top teams.
It was the final home game at Lambert Park before the planned renovations, and APIA-Leichhardt have left themselves in a difficult position as they ended the string of home games winless and now need to pick up points on the road, beginning in the toughest possible way with a trip to the league leaders Bonnyrigg.
The final game at Lambert Park before the renovations begin
Sydney Olympic looked relatively comfortable early, and aside from an 11th minute Jason Oswell header going marginally over, they looked the better team, keeping the ball well with Kingsley Williams pulling the strings, despite having to push further up or sit back a little more to avoid the mud bath in the middle of the pitch.
Oswell had two more chances to put APIA in front before the break, but he saw his 26th minute header saved, and two minutes later he put his low shot from the right narrowly across the face of goal. It was a busy period for Olympic ‘keeper Paul Henderson as Oswell’s two opportunities were preceded and followed by two more forced saves off Jin Sung Lee shots. The Korean import showed his pace in the 38th minute when he skinned his man down the right, but he failed to make amends for the missed one on one in the 25th.
It was a penalty two minutes after half time that broke both the deadlock and APIA as just moments after Williams slotted home from the spot following Mark Byrnes foul on William Angel did Angel cause even further pain for the Tigers. His good run saw him beat one man before a neat one-two put him in behind the line, and his low cross was turned in by Zakeriya Elrich as both ‘keeper and defender stumbled on the goal line.
The home side never really found their way back into the match and Olympic were always ready to pounce. Just a minute after Stephen Kayes volleyed over for APIA, the visitors were back on the front foot with Amaury Gauthier forcing a save from Anthony Bazi.
Nikola Taneski tried to create a spark for the Tigers in the 20 minutes he was given towards the end of the match, but the home side always looked off the pace as Sydney Olympic completed a professional performance with a clean sheet.
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