Wollongong Olympic travelled to Ian McLennan Park knowing nothing less than a win would keep them in touch with front runners Bulli. Olympic coach, Rob Birkin introduced new signings Stefan Dimoski and Josh Milevski into his starting eleven with the later replacing the absent Hayden Durose. South Coast United knew an upset victory could push them into seventh but they would have to do it without key players Josh Brookes and Motoki Kinjo.

The in-form Olympic imposed themselves from the opening whistle with John Martinoski forcing David Valic into a strong one on one save inside four minutes. In the 6th minute, Yusuke Ueda shifted between the United centre-backs before a clinical finish that found the bottom right corner to put Olympic ahead. The Japanese striker's 11th goal in 10 games.

In the 17th minute, Olympic doubled their lead through Dimoski. Jack Balmforth crossed the ball into the box from the left wing, it skimmed Mate Nimac’s head and landed with the ex-Wolves forward who blasted it past David Valic.

The home side remained defiant and pulled a goal back in the 28th minute. The lively Ricky Bertakis fired a shot from distance forcing Milevski into a save to his left. Unfortunately for the ex-Inter Lions goalkeeper, he parried it into the path of youngster Ivan Bratjanscak who tapped it into the empty net for his first goal in men’s football.

The score remained 2-1 to the away side going into halftime however United were playing with more ambition than they had in the opening 20 minutes of the match. This continued into the second period and they nearly grabbed an equaliser in the 57th minute. Bertakis lobbed a free kick into the far left post for Chris Valic to thump against the upright, the ball scrambled across the goal to Greg Valic who could only find the outside of the right side netting - a monumental miss given the circumstances.

The teams began to go blow for blow with the usually controlled Olympic unable to dominate the midfield. In the 71st minute, Dimoski crossed into Blake Coates from the right wing. The substitute who had not featured since mid-March headed the ball to the right of the goal from five metres out - an excellent chance to put the game to bed.

In the 83rd minute, Olympic had their third. Haydyn Lloyd lobbed a deep free kick into the crowded South Coast box. Dimoski towered above his marker and nudged his header into the bottom right corner. A brace for Dimoski which sealed a 3-1 win for his new club.

After the match, Rob Birkin admitted his side had to dig in for the win, “It was a tough afternoon at the office, and you wouldn’t anticipate anything else coming up here. It is a battle every time you come here.”

Birkin also spoke of Dimoski on his Olympic debut, “He’s been thrown into the deep end to see if he can swim… It’s alright coming back from the Wolves but this league has its own tests and I think he stood up today.”

The win keeps Olympic hot on the tails of Bulli with the two facing off next Saturday in the match of the season thus far. Birkin's intentions for the match are clear, “We will have to do the little things right… but more importantly, keep possession of the ball.”

United remain in ninth, five points clear of the bottom three. In the post match interview, their spirited player-coach, Greg Valic explained his faith in young players, “I am always going to look for players who I think capable of making the next step and Ivan [Bratjanscak] is one of them and young Jason Pappas is another one.”

Next up for South Coast is a daunting trip across the racecourse to play Kemblawarra Fury. Valic is eager for the encounter despite Fury’s wealth of talent, “I look forward to playing the top teams, I look forward to testing myself… It’ll be a fantastic game… I am looking forward to shocking them”.

 

Click this link to listen to the post match interviews with South Coast United player-coach, Greg Valic and Wollongong Olympic coach, Rob Birkin - https://soundcloud.com/dylanarvela/post-match-interviews-after-olympic-battle-past-south-coast-united

 

South Coast United - 1 (Bratjanscak 28’)

Wollongong Olympic - 3 (Ueda 6’, Dimoski 17’, 83’)

 

Sunday the 28th of May at Ian McLennan Park, Kembla Grange

 

South Coast United - David Valic, Chris Valic, Greg Valic, Steven Dimitrievski, Mate Nimac, Jason Pappas, Tommy Skara, Ricky Bertakis, Ivan Bratjanscak, Shinji Shozu and Denis Stojic

Subs - Abdul Lawal (on for Pappas), Junior Mushaba (on for Bertakis), Francesco Liberti, Yu Takahashi (on for Bratjanscak) and Cameron Camilleri

Coach - Greg Valic

 

Wollongong Olympic - Joshua Milevski, Haydyn Lloyd, Shun Tokuno, Jack Keating, Lukas Stergiou, Yuseke Ueda, John Martinoski, Jake Duczynski, Stefan Dimoski, Brendan Fordham and Jack Balmforth

Subs - Brendan Belsito (on for Lloyd), Harrison Brown (on for Martinoski), Blake Coates (on for Balmforth) and Jamie Wakeling

Coach - Rob Birkin

 

Referee - Steve Bozic

Assistant Referees - Brendon Fotheringham and Keelum Harrison

 

Report by Dylan Arvela on Twitter @dylanarvela