Lions, nine-man Olympic play out tense Illawarra Premier League stalemate

In a tense and fiery clash at PCYC, the two teams were forced to share the points, with Olympic's Rick Goodchild and Lions captain Peter Simonoski scoring for their respective sides.

Tensions began to boil over in the latter stages of the match, with Brendan Low and Josh Alcorn both handed red cards in separate incidents.

The result means Olympic and the Lions both remain undefeated after two rounds of the Premier League season. However, it wasn't a match that Bailey will remember fondly.

"I think we must move on quickly from that game. It wasn't a positive showing on the discipline side, and it wasn't a positive showing on the football side. To me, it was a pretty scrappy game with lots of stoppages," Bailey said.

"The boys will reflect on that game, and the coaching staff will reflect on that game, but there's lots of growth in this team. Last week, we started the season on a good note (with a 3-1 win over South Coast United), but today was not a performance that's acceptable for this club, the playing group and the coaching staff that we've got.

"We need to be better than that."

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Both teams came out with a competitive attitude, but neither was able to capitalise on the scoreboard in the opening half-hour.

With about 10 minutes left until the break, Olympic had a great chance to score when Yuto Sugiura found himself on-one-one with Lions goalkeeper Nikola Ristevski. The pair collided, but the ball squirted past the open goalmouth.

However, it mattered not. Just minutes later, an Olympic player was dragged down inside the box, with the referee awarding a penalty. Goodchild made no mistake from the spot and Olympic led 1-0.

Olympic continued to press hard following that goal, but couldn't capitalise on their opportunities. At the other end, Simonoski found himself in a paddock of space with just the gloveman to beat, but the captain was ruled off-side.

Despite Cringila's best efforts, the score remained 1-0 at halftime.

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Cringila looked happy to control possession early in the second stanza, and were patient in their attacking build-up. The visitors' first big chance came via a corner, when an Olympic defender was penalised for a hand-ball inside the box.

Simonoski stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake, as the Lions drew level at 1-1.

Olympic didn't seem too fazed by the setback, as they pressed hard at the other end. A lovely team build-up allowed Goodchild to get one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Ristevski was able to make a solid save.

The hosts continued to play positive football, with Tynan Diaz and Goodchild having some half-chances, but they were unable to find their second goal.

Diaz had finally appeared to break the dead-lock around the 70^th minute mark when he chipped the ball over Ristevski, however defender Jonah Kalmanidis did a desperate header on the line to deny the Olympic veteran.

Minutes later, Cringila nearly scored via a Simonoski header from short range, with Olympic goalkeeper Chris Fuentes making an excellent save. Soon after, Ben Zucco wound up from long range, but his shot skimmed over the cross-bar.

Late in the match, Olympic were reduced to 10 men, when Brendan Low was given his marching orders following a strong challenge. Despite this, Olympic's Sandy Lowcock had a great opportunity to score from a free kick, with his header shaving over the cross-bar.

At the other end, Cringila's Cassander Grujevski wound up from the edge of the box, but his attempt swayed wide.

Tempers continued to flare between the teams Olympic were then reduced to nine men, when Alcorn was sent off. However, it mattered not, as the sides had to share the points.

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Following the game, Simonoski was left with mixed emotions.

"I feel a bit disappointed because we came here not just looking for the draw," the Lions skipper said.

"But at the end of the day, we played well and played the style that (coach) Jorge (De Matos) wanted us to play, and we came up with a point which is a good result on the road. We'll take that and move onto next week.

"We kept it simple and Jorge told us (at halftime) to keep doing what we were doing. In the first half, we held our own and they didn't create many chances, and they scored a lucky penalty as well. So we just kept plodding away with what we needed to do in the second half.

"We'll just keep pushing forward and keep building on what we want to do, and try get maximum results every week."

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