NPL Round 1 Wrap
- Tim Warren
- May 3, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 26, 2019
Canberra FC 0 def. by Canberra Olympic 3 (Andre Jancevski 30’, 62’, Stephen Domenici 54’)
By Tim Warren / capitalfootball.com.au
Last modified on 08/04/2019 16:28
The rematch of the 2018 Men’s Grand Final on Friday night was a heated affair, as Canberra Olympic triumphed in the season opener with a 3-0 win at Deakin Stadium.
A brace to Andre Jancevski and a goal from Stephen Domenici was enough to see Olympic cruisee to a convincing victory that would surely send a warning message to the rest of the competition.
Canberra FC appeared the stronger side on paper after an off-season full of acquisitions, it was the visitors who held the ascendency of the match and went to claim the three points.
While the opening period was a chance for the fierce rivals to blowout a few off-season cobwebs, there were some defined chances in early minutes.
Olympic thought they took an early lead in the ninth minute when Lasse Olrik put the ball in the back of the net, however it was adjudged handball from the lead-up play in the box.
Canberra FC were agonisingly close to scoring a miraculous goal near the half-hour mark when a back pass to goalkeeper Jordan Thurtell was launched up-field and almost lobbed over a back-pedalling Rory Larkin into the opposing goal.
The opening goal of the game eventually came in the 30th minute.
Olympic took a quick free-kick and caught Deakin flatfooted on the counter-attack, with Jancevski calmly caressing the ball past Thurtell and into the bottom corner.
Olympic doubled their lead in the 54th minute when Tim Bobolas’ sharp cross found Domenici on the edge of the area, and pivoted before blasting the ball into the bottom left corner.
The visitors put the result beyond doubt just inside the final half hour when Jancevski netted his second and Olympic’s third on the night.
Nik Popovich was sent scurrying towards the byline by a perfectly time through ball, and after controlling the ball he dragged it back to the top of the area for Jancevski to thunder home past a stranded Thurtell.
From there the game sparked up with some late challenges, and Marko Vrkic was shown a straight red card for a horror challenge on Olympic’s Jay Kelly in the 84th that saw Kelly chaired from the field.
Canberra Olympic will look to continue their winning ways next Sunday against Gungahlin United at O’Connor, while Canberra FC will hope to get back into form on a trip to Greenway to face Tuggeranong United.
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