A 4-2 win over cellar dwellers the Football Kingz has significantly boosted the National Soccer League play-off prospects of last seasonıs beaten Grand Finalists Sydney Olympic, following the teamsı clash at Waikato Stadium on January 31.
Itıs the second consecutive match in which Olympic have gone on a goalscoring spree, yet in this encounter, the Kingz carved out twice as many scoring opportunities, only to squander the vast majority of them through tame or misdirected finishing.
In a somewhat disjointed encounter, where far too many moves broke down as a result of wayward passing and the general lack of an incisive final ball being delivered into the danger zone, both goalkeepers were given the chance for an early feel of the ball by Chris Jackson and Pablo Cardozo, who fired respective long-range efforts at Brett Hughes and Michael Utting inside the first two minutes.
With their next attack of consequence, in the ninth minute, Olympic opened the scoring, thanks in large part to some non-existent marking from the Kingz defence. Jim Nikası corner was headed away at the near post by Danny Hay, but while the former All Whiteıs team-mates looked on, Predrag Bojic rose on the far post to head the ball into the goal area, where Cardozo, the arch goal-poacher, gleefully added another strike to his tally.
This prompted the Kingz to step up the pace, and they spurned a great chance to level matters seven minutes later. Brad Scott buccaneered down the right at pace before driving in a cross. It wasnıt cleared, and Jeremy Christie lumbered upon the scene, letting fly with a first-time volley from fifteen yards which sailed well over the crossbar.
After Jackson had again warmed the gloves of Hughes - the Kingz captain had been booked for the 26th time in his Kingz career moments beforehand - he showed that heıs capable of channelling his aggression in the right manner in the twentieth minute with a crucial role in a raid which deserved better fate.
Playing the ball forward, Jackson continued his run to support Harry Ngata, who laid the ball back to his colleagueıs feet. The resulting teasing cross was headed clear by Iain Fyfe, but Jackson had carried on running, and managed to retrieve the ball before it crossed the byline. He steered it into the path of Jeff Campbell, who was steaming in at the near post and met the ball with a header - how it flashed the wrong side of the post defies belief!
Even more amazing was with only their second attack of consequence in the match, in the 28th minute, Olympic doubled their advantage, and once again, the Kingz rearguard were found wanting, particularly goalkeeper Michael Utting. Zenon Caravellaıs through ball looked to be a lost cause, but lively Japanese striker Hiroyuki Ishida thought otherwise, and was rewarded for his tenacity by retrieving it before it rolled over the by-line, and laying it back to Nikas.
The midfielderıs hanging cross enticed Utting out of his goal, and Kingz defender John Tambouras, seeing this, opted out of heading clear. But Utting hesitated, then stopped, something which Olympic captain Ante Juric didnıt do - 2-0, and one of the easiest Juric will ever score to boot!
Hay attempted to make amends for his colleaguesı failings at the other end of the park three minutes later, when meeting a Campbell corner to the far post with a towering header. Hughes was beaten, but Troy Halpin, propping up the goal-post, blocked the ball on the line, despite knowing little about it.
Four minutes later, a probing through ball from George Souris found the Kingz rearguard again in ponderous mood, admittedly not aided by the fact that Hay was now struggling with a groin injury. Tambourası retreat was leaden-footed, but not the run of Fyfe, who charged forward from deep and got on the end of the pass, only to direct his effort at Utting.
Back came the Kingz, Jackson releasing Noah Hickey at pace. Souris couldnıt keep up with the speedster, who promptly skipped past Juric before letting fly. Hughes blocked the effort, then almost had the embarrassment of seeing his clearance cannon off the closing figure of Campbell into the net - the ball rocketed narrowly past the post.
Olympicıs keeper redeemed himself somewhat when thwarting Scott prior to the half-time whistle, while three minutes after the resumption, it was Uttingıs turn to be called into action, the goalkeeper saving smartly from Bojicıs header, after the midfielder had been picked out by Halpinıs clipped twenty-yard free-kick.
Hughesı first involvement in the second half was to fish the ball out of his net. Glen Collins hoisted a free-kick from inside his own half into the Olympic penalty area in the 51st minute. Hickey won the aerial duel, heading the ball down for Ngata, who teed up a shot for Campbell. Hughes had the midfielderıs drive covered, but the ball took a wicked deflection off Hickey to leave the custodian beaten all ends up.
At 2-1, it was all on for young and old, particularly given the Kingz were pressing all out for goals in their quest to avoid the wooden spoon for the second time in three seasons. Jacksonıs probing through ball gave Hickey licence to hit the turbo button once more, the striker checking then outpacing Paul Kohler before firing in a cross. It ricocheted off a defender to Campbell, who sliced his shot wide of the target.
It was to prove a crucial miss, for two goals in five minutes either side of the hour mark killed off the game as a contest. Ishida and Cardozo caused problems for the Kingz defence on the edge of the penalty area, Hay managing to clear the threat, but only as far as Fyfe. His first-time pass found Bojic roaming unchallenged inside the Kingz penalty area, and his first-time drive ripped into the roof of the net beyond a startled Utting.
That made it 3-1 to Olympic in the 58th minute, and their fourth goal followed five minutes later. Halpin and Cardozo combined in midfield, the striker releasing Ishida with a first-time pass which the groin injury-stricken figure of Hay attempted to stretch for, in vain. The nippy striker raced past Jason Rowley before expertly tucking the ball beyond Utting into the bottom far corner: 4-1.
Content with their lot, the visitors shut up shop at this point, a flurry of substitutions, allied to the aforementioned wayward passing, breaking up any flow to the game for the duration. Battle though they did in the last half-hour, nothing the Kingz tried to reduce the deficit came off, although they did have the consolation of concluding the scoring in stoppage time.
A corner from Jackson was cleared, with Collins picking up the pieces. His cross saw Hughes hurtle out to his penalty spot to punch clear, but Rowley was lurking in the landing zone, and from twenty yards, he unleashed a screamer into the top corner of the net to send the Hamilton crowd of just over 1000 patrons home with something to savour as their team edges ever closer to one of those unwanted records - the least points registered in a season.
For Sydney Olympic, however, this victory keeps alive their hopes of a top-six finish, with the win propelling them into sixth place ahead mid-way through this twenty-second round of NSL action. But such is the log-jam of teams in contention for the last couple of play-offs spots that they may well need to win all their remaining games to be certain of football in March.