Sydney Olympic FC tasted two NPL defeats in a row after succumbing to a 2-1 loss to Rockdale Ilinden on Sunday afternoon.
In a largely scrappy affair, the early stages were marred by injuries as first Hagi Gligor, then Alejandro Sanchez retired within the first half hour after picking up some concerning knocks.
Rockdale’s Khanh Hoon Cho fired the first meaningful effort on either goal, stinging the palms of Paul Henderson from distance on 15 minutes.
Gligor’s removal forced a host of changes in defence and midfield with Jack Stewart coming on, before Sanchez was substituted for Dimi Petratos in a straight swap up front.
The frustrating first period for Olympic was compounded when Nikola Kuleski received his marching orders.
Unhappy that a Blues counter was broken down by a cynical foul in first-half stoppage time, Kuleski pleaded with referee Craig Fisher to show a card, but the only one awarded was a second yellow to the Olympic midfielder for dissent.
The opening minutes of the second stanza showed more attacking promise for Olympic than arguably the entire first half.
Some simple, route-one football from defence unlocked Dimi Petratos, who rounded the keeper and slotted into an empty net to open the scoring inside 50 minutes.
The red-card disadvantage began to take its toll on the visitors as the second half progressed, with Rockdale controlling possession and Olympic limited to isolated sorties upfield.
On 65 minutes, the scores were level.
Some tired defending in midfield allowed for a chipped through ball to reach Cho at the left channel, who hit the ball past Henderson on the volley and inside the near post.
Ten minutes later, only some last-gasp defending from Will Angel denied Cho’s second of the match, after smashing the ball towards goal from ten yards.
With just seven minutes to play, referee Craig Fisher gifted the hosts a contentious penalty and the chance to take all three points.
After more patient play from Rockdale outside the box, Aleks Canak entered the penalty area and crashed into Mitchell Stamatellis, leaving Patrick Savor to slot home from the spot.
The final whistle confined Olympic to 7th place on the table on 7 points, and its ninth match without a win against Rockdale in the League, stretching back nearly five years.
After the match, Blues coach Abbas Saad was understandably frustrated with his side’s fortunes.
“We are adjusting to losing players from last year,” he said, “but certain injuries have weakened us.
“It’s only 6 rounds gone, another 16 to go. We will play our hearts out every game and results will come.”
Olympic open their FFA Cup account on Wednesday night away to local side Lindfield FC before hosting Manly United in the League on Good Friday afternoon.