ALBION PARK WHITE EAGLES v WOLLONGONG OLYMPIC | IPL R9 | MATCH REPORT
Albion Park moved into the top five for the first time this season with a 3-0 win at home to Wollongong Olympic.
The White Eagles set up the potentially season-defining result with three first-half goals with the Olympic unable to lay a glove on the home side as they dropped to sixth.
The opening goal came with 16 minutes on the clock after a smart play from former Olympic captain Brendan Fordham.
The midfielder took a quick free kick which released former Wollongong Wolves attacker Jordan Nikolovski into the right of the area before he guided the ball across his old teammate Justin Pasfield and into the bottom left corner.
The advantage was doubled a quarter of an hour later when substitute Jacob Martin broke free down the left wing.
The wideman opted to play a low cross into Cameron Morgan with the striker making a lunging effort to get to the ball before Pasfield and poke the ball home.
Morgan was in the mix for Albion Park’s third with the goal-getter getting to the edge of the six-yard box before cutting the ball into defender Mark Every who deflected it into his own net.
Johnny Martinoski came close to getting Olympic back into the match with a couple of long-range attempts early in the second half with the first rattling the crossbar and the second forcing Nick Armand into an agile save.
Olympic’s afternoon went from bad to worse in the 60th minute when Martinoski was forced from the field with a hamstring injury just minutes after George Antoniou had made his third and final substitute.
The White Eagles had two great chances to put the match beyond any doubt in the 70th and 73rd minute with Joel Beattie and Martin both having one-on-one efforts blocked by Pasfield.
The visitor’s last attempt came in the 87th minute when Josh Hawker cut the ball back to the marauding Every who blasted the ball into a defender before giving away a foul.
The three points pushes Albion Park into fifth, ahead of Olympic by a single goal, however, the Terry Reserve club have a tough final fortnight where they will be hosting IPL heavyweights Wollongong United and Bulli.
The defeat sees Olympic fall out of the top five for the first time this year while also mathematically ending the side’s league title defence.
Antoniou’s charges visit Coniston next Saturday before taking on Tarrawanna on the final day of the season.
Albion Park White Eagles 3 (Jordan Nikolovski 16’, Cameron Morgan 30′, Mark Every OG 36’)
Wollongong Olympic 0
Albion Park White Eagles: 1. ARMAND Nick, 13. NATHANIEL Chris, 3. SENIOR Kyle, 4. SUZAKI Kohei, 17. BARRETT Cameron, 21. FORDHAM Brendan, 7. MORGAN Cameron, 5. LEIGHTON Jake, 6. WEHMEYER Cody, 10. BEATTIE Joel, 8. NIKOLOVSKI Jordan
Substitutes: 11. MARTIN Jacob (BARRETT), 9. WILSON Zane (NIKOLOVSKI), 15. MITROVSKI Branden, 14. WALLER Cody, 31. COAD Blake
Wollongong Olympic: 1. PASFIELD Justin, 5. KEATING Jack, 26. EVERY Mark, 28. CHAPMAN Timothy, 39. AVOURIS Dion, 22. MATIAS Keegan, 8. LAVELLE Joey, 23. HORI Kojiro, 9. HASAGAWA Yu, 10. MARINTOSKI Johnny, 11. HAINES-GROSE Corey
Substitutes: 4. CARLI James (HAINES-GROSE), 54. HAWKER Josh (CHAPMAN), 22. MIYAMOTO Seiya, 21. AGNO Harrison, 7. FLORO Matt (AVOURIS)
Date: 20 September 2020
Venue: Terry Reserve
Referee: Brodie Merchant
Assistant Referees: Ethan Zvargulis and Damien Dennelly
Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela
Photos by Kiah Hufton
