WOLLONGONG UNITED v WOLLONGONG OLYMPIC | IPL SG GRAND FINAL | MATCH REPORT
Wollongong Olympic completed a dream finals run to hand a 10-man Wollongong United their only loss of the season in the Illawarra Premier League Second Grade grand final, with Olympic winning a shootout after the scores were locked at 1-1 at the end of extra time.
Elisseo Chiodi and Daniel Treneski were the goal scorers for both United and Olympic respectively, as neither side could find a winner in regular time.
The first big chance of the game fell for United in the 16th minute after a brilliant shot from the eventual player of the match, Anthony Krsteski, forced a superb save from Seiya Miyamoto.
Ryan Akhurst thought he had United’s opener in the 19th minute after heading the ball home from close range, but he was flagged offside.
Joshua Hawker unleashed a venomous shot for Olympic in the 37th minute which just sailed past the bottom-left corner.
United scored the opener in the 43rd minute after Krsteski managed to find Chiodi in the box, who tapped the ball into the back of the net.
Krsteski was at it again in the 48th minute for United, as he unleashed a dangerous shot after a superb run with the ball. The shot was again saved by Miyamoto.
James Stojanovski was able to find the head of Jordan Prentoski in the 57th minute, but Prentoski’s header sailed over the bar.
Olympic found an equaliser in the 68th minute after a superb ball from Harrison Agno found the head of Treneski in the box, who made no mistake in heading the ball home.
Just two minutes later, substitute Samuel Adnum had a golden chance to restore United’s lead, but missed from inside the box.
Stojanovski was shown a red card in the 78th minute after his second bookable offence, meaning United had to play the remainder of the game with 10 players.
The sides could not be split during the 90 minutes, and extra-time followed.
Josh Correia nearly stole the show in the 96th minute, after his bicycle kick from inside the area struck the bar.
Dion Avouris came close to giving Olympic the lead in the 98th minute after he was able to connect with Hawker’s cross, but his touch sailed over the bar.
The teams could not be split for the remainder of extra-time, and the match went to penalties.
With United missing one penalty, Olympic prevailed 5-3 in the shootout to secure the grand final win.
It caps off a remarkable finals run for Olympic who finished the regular season in fifth place and won five games in a row on their way to lifting the trophy.
Wollongong United, in contrast, were handed their first loss of the season after 10 wins and a draw in the regular season.
Congratulations to Wollongong Olympic for beating Wollongong United in the 2020 Illawarra Mercury Premier League Second Grade grand final.
📸 Pedro Garcia https://t.co/Zcnxprq1Qv pic.twitter.com/euKL0IQojI— Football South Coast (@FSC_Official) November 1, 2020
Wollongong Olympic – 1 (5) (Treneski 68’)
Wollongong United – 1 (3) (Chiodi 43’)
Player of the match: Anthony Krsteski
Wollongong United: 62. BEDELOVSKI Zak, 18 KOTEVSKI Kane, 4. VESCIO Rene, 2. KALMANIDIS Jonah, 27 BARBAROVSKI Bailey, 32. STOJANOVSKI James, 24. AKHURST Ryan, 28. CHIODI Elisseo, 49. KRSTESKI Anthony, 43. PRENTOSKI Jordan, 8. CORREIA Josh
Substitutes: 63. MACK Luke, 45. NAUMOVSKI Jason, 6. CHICHARO Daniel (KRSTESKI), 5. ADNUM Samuel (PRENTOSKI), 9. DARJANI Thomas
Wollongong Olympic: 1. MIYAMOTO Seiya, 6. KYRIAKOUDES Michael, 24. GRAHAM Casey, 27. JAWLESKI Jamie, 15. TEKKOL Brent, 8. CARRASCO Oliver, 18. AVOURIS Dion, 20 CHAPMAN Timothy, 16. AVENNOS Nick, 11. HAWKER Joshua, 34. TRENESKI Daniel
Substitutes: 5. GEORGES Samuel (TEKKOL), 19. TZANEROS George, 9. SALAH Joel, 21. MORPHETT Bailey (JAWLESKI), 13. AGNO Harrison (AVENNOS)
Date: 1 November 2020
Venue: Ian McLennan Park
Referee: Peter Ilcevski
Assistant Referees: Lachlan Mcrae and Reece Edwards
Fourth Official: Brendan Fotheringham
Report by Jarrod Pollard, on Twitter @jarrodpollard99
Photo by Pedro Garcia
