With pressure building for both teams after difficult starts in the National Premier Leagues NSW season, it was a clean header from Olympic skipper and former NSW Blues defender Thomas Whiteside that separated the two teams at the final whistle.
The home side looked dangerous from the get-go, creating chances through their impressive attacking combination of Oliver Puflett, Jason Madonis and Brendan Cholakian, however their efforts were without reward in the opening stanza.
The first, and only, goal of the match came for the hosts just moments after the half-time break through a set piece in the 46th minute.
Cholakian fired a free kick into the area and met the head of Whiteside, who guided the ball into the netting to earn his team a one-goal lead as well as record the club’s first goal in 2021.
Marley Peterson looked poised to extend the lead for Olympic in the 54th minute, creating a one-on-one opportunity with APIA custodian Ivan Necevski, but his attempt went firing into the keeper.
Olympic coach Ante Juric said Olympic worked super hard from defence to attack and finally got on the scoresheet and the three points “which is nice”.
“The fans deserve a winning team and a good performance like we just put out for them,” he said.
“We just keep working hard, that’s what we do as a team.”
“We’re a tight-knit team and we are just going to go out for another three points next week and start to climb the ladder.”
