Sydney Olympic FC recovered from a horror opening 15 minutes and two-goal deficit to draw 3-all in an exciting NPL encounter with Blacktown City FC at Belmore on Sunday.

Despite some encouraging set piece plays from Olympic in the opening minutes, it was Blacktown that took the lead from a 10th-minute corner after some poor defending at the far post.

Just three minutes later, things went from bad to worse from the hosts, when a routine catch from Blues’ keeper Paul Henderson went straight through his hands to Blacktown’s Leroy Jennings, who tapped the ball into an empty net and doubled their lead.

The Demons dominated the rest of the opening half hour, before Nikola Kuleski’s delicious 30-yard free kick finally brought Olympic back into the game on 36 minutes.

After Alex Sanchez drew a foul from his defender, Kuleski curled his right-foot strike over the wall and into the top corner, beating Blacktown’s Tristan Prendergast in goal.

Still behind at the break, Olympic took just ten seconds to level the scores and blow the match wide open.

Just after the kick off, Jack Stewart’s impressive through-ball beat no less than six Blacktown defenders and found Sanchez, whose first-time shot found its way past Prendergast and into the exposed net.

Photo source: Photos by Loopii, FNSW

The match then began to see-saw from end to end, and another delightful strike from distance by Joey Gibbs saw Blacktown reclaim the lead on 53 minutes.

A missed interception from Thomas Whiteside allowed Gibbs to turn towards goal and unleash a right-foot curler past Henderson from just beyond 20 yards.

Minutes later, Blacktown should have put the result beyond doubt.

After another Olympic attack broke down, a searching ball found Gibbs on the left flank who played a great low cross for Devante Clut, who failed to finish at the far post with Henderson beaten.

In just the next play, the Blues thought they had equalised again.

Radovan Pavicevic’s flick-on header direct from the goal kick beat the defensive line and fell to Sanchez, who beat his defender with a smart cut-in into the box and rifled his effort home, only to be denied by a world-class, top-hand save from Prendergast.

The Blues eventually their third goal just after the hour, with substitute Harris Gaitatzis battling hard in the penalty area and setting up Jason Madonis, who struck his first-time effort past a flurry of defenders and into the net.

And it was the Olympic skipper who had the best chance to break the deadlock, hitting the post in the 83rd minute with another curled effort from distance.

At the full-time whistle, both sides were relieved and ever-so-slightly disappointed to share the spoils in an open and entertaining match.

Speaking to Neos Kosmos after the match, Blacktown defender Yianni Spyrakis said fans would have been happy with the spectacle.

“Both teams created plenty of opportunities,” Spyrakis said.

“It was disappointing to drop a 2-nil lead but in the end a draw is probably a fair result.”

Blues coach Abbas Saad spoke of his satisfaction with the squad after two matches in the League and denied that nerves have crept into the reigning Premiers.

“We were very unlucky not to win the match,” Saad said.

“We’re coming along nicely, it’s early still and we are looking forward to our challenge ahead.”

Around the grounds, Sutherland surrendered their lead to go down 2-1 to APIA Leichhardt, Marconi recorded its first win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Sydney FC, Hakoah trounced their Rockdale Ilinden hosts 3-0, Sydney United drew at home to Wollongong Wolves and Manly United an also shared the spoils with newcomers Mount Druitt.