Olympic FC continued their winning return to NPL Queensland action with a 2-1 victory over Sunshine Coast Wanderers at Ballinger Park on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from Daniel Leck and Olaide Yinka-Kehinde were enough to seal all three points in the first ever NPL Queensland meeting between the two sides.
Leck opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the seventh minute after Wanderers defender Brodie Boyce handled a Costa Psaros shot inside the area.
The home side restored parity midway through the first half through Daniel Cuttler, who blasted a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area.
The decisive moment of the match came in the 74th minute when a pin point Kazuya Ito through ball picked out Yinka-Kehinde who turned the ball past Wanderers goalkeeper Eligh Williams to secure victory for Olympic.
Sunday’s win leaves Olympic in third position on the NPL Queensland ladder, just a point behind league leaders Lions & Gold Coast Knights who both have a game in hand on the Yeronga-based outfit.
Speaking post-match, Olympic Head Coach, Ben Cahn said to come away with a result from Sunday’s match was a strong reflection of the character within the playing group.
“It was a tough day, they’re very physical and aggressive, they’ve got a lot of good young players with a lot of energy,” Cahn said.
“The pitch wasn’t easy to play on, they’ll definitely take points off some good teams throughout the season.
“We started well, probably should have had it won within the first 15 minutes but didn’t capitalise on that pressure.
“I was really proud of the resilience the players showed, they kept calm and kept trying to find ways to win as well as dealing with a lot of direct pressure at the other end.
“It was a difficult day, but the character and togetherness of the group showed and I’m happy to come away with three points from a game like that.”
Olympic now turn their attention to next Sunday’s match-up with Brisbane Strikers as they finally make a return to Goodwin Park (6pm KO).
MATCH DETAILS
NPL Queensland 2020: Round 22 – Sunshine Coast Wanderers vs Olympic FC
Ballinger Park, Buderim
Sunday, 2 August
Sunshine Coast Wanderers – 1 (Daniel CUTTLER 33’)
Olympic FC – 2 (Daniel LECK 7’, Olaide YINKA-KEHINDE 74’)
Olympic FC Team: 7. Daniel LECK, 8. Kazuya ITO, 9. Olaide YINKA-KEHINDE, 10. Steve WHYTE, 11. Jez LOFTHOUSE, 12. Costa PSAROS (15. Kristen Waters 63’), 17. Danny DRIVER, 19. Jean-Philippe LASM (2. Shelford DAIS 46’), 20. Corey SEWELL, 21. Nicholas MOONEY, 22. James CUMINAO
Unused substitues: 3. Tom AULTON, 23. Prasiddha PAUDYAL, 25. Tayte ALDRIDGE, 36. Edward HOLMES