Wollongong Olympic put on a clinical performance to down Shellharbour FC 5-2 on Sunday at PCYC.
In an exciting first half, Olympic found themselves 2-0 up through Nick Littler and Harry Callahan after 19 minutes before Matthew Floro pulled one back from the spot nine minutes later. Jarvis Paterson re-extended Olympic’s lead heading into the break and Littler scored his second with an hour played.
Jayden Branovski scored for Shellharbour soon after to provide some hope for the visitors, but Paterson made it a brace in the 79th minute to seal the win for the home side.
Shellharbour made a purposeful start to the match, putting Olympic under pressure for the first 15 minutes.
In the 10th minute, Woon Sub Sim took aim from a close-range free-kick, which forced Justin Pasfield to bat the ball away.
Seconds later, Branovski managed to spin in the box but rolled his effort narrowly past the right post.
Five minutes after that, Branovski raced through one-on-one with Pasfield, but the goalkeeper pulled off another stop.
Against the run of play, however, Olympic took the lead in the 17th minute. A left-sided corner found Littler, who glanced his header inside the far post.
Just three minutes later, Olympic scored their second. Some persistent pressing saw Callahan receive the ball outside the box, allowing the midfielder to lash a strike in off the bar.
Midway through the half, the hosts had a chance for a third when Kyle Jackson snatched the ball inside the box, but Cristofer Fuentes made a big save for Shellharbour.
Olympic’s two-goal lead lasted only eight minutes, as Floro tucked away a penalty for the visitors just before the half-hour mark.
Shellharbour could have been level in the 32nd minute when the ball fell to Zachary Mazevski in the right of the box; his low shot saved by Pasfield.
The home side carried on with their clinical display and notched a third goal with six regular first-half minutes to play. Paterson arrowing a left-footed shot inside the right post from the edge of the box.
Olympic went into halftime with a solid lead after a frantic first half at PCYC.
The second half was more conservative than the first early on until the 61st minute when Olympic scored their fourth. A left-sided free-kick bobbled around in the area before Littler smashed the ball home from close in for his second of the match.
Six minutes later, Shellharbour returned fire. Branovski raced in behind down the right and got into the box before slotting a composed finish past Pasfield.
Four minutes after that, Branovski was in once more as he latched onto Travis Oughtred’s long ball, but this time, he rolled it past the right post.
Shellharbour would be left to rue missed chances as Wollongong Olympic grabbed their fifth goal in the 80th minute.
A crashing tackle of Littler allowed the defender to spray the ball out to the left for Paterson. From there, the forward drove at goal and managed to beat Fuentes with his shot.
Olympic saw out the remaining minutes to earn their fifth win of 2024.
The side host Bulli on Saturday, while Shellharbour face Coniston the following week.
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
Photos courtesy of GragraPix
