Mrs Stankovic
05-31-2000, 05:37 PM
Carlton are now only one step away from a coveted grand final berth after recalled Socceroo Steve Horvat snatched a dramatic 2-1 extra time victory over Sydney Olympic at Olympic Park last night.
They will face the Wolves at Wollongong next weekend in the National Soccer League preliminary final for a chance to travel west in a fortnight’s time to play against Perth Glory in front of what is anticipated to be a record grand final crowd at Subiaco Oval.
Archie Thompson gave Carlton a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute in a match that could have swung either way. Olympic, who looked dangerous up front throughout the match, quickly reasserted their midfield control as the prospect of elimination from the finals series loomed close.
In the 68th minute, after a spell of sustained pressure, Olympic made a well-deserved breakthrough. Pablo Cardozo hit a corner to Gebriel Mendez who slipped it across to Kresimir Marusic. He slotted it to Cardozo, who cut it back to defender Alex Juric who promptly levelled the scores by neatly slotting the ball past Carlton keeper Dean Anastasiadis.
The goal sparked a period of renewed pressure from both sides, Olympic’s Gabriel Mendez and Nick Clarke missing late opportunities. With 90 minutes gone, the score was deadlocked, taking the match into extra time. Carlton almost finished the contest after just one minute when Andrew Marth headed a Lubo Lapsansky cross onto the crossbar.
Pressing forward, Carlton appeared to be growing in confidence with each minute of sudden-death suspense, until in the 12th minute of extra time Horvat ran forward from the defence to loop a header over the Olympic back line into the net. Having secured the game, the veteran defender was swamped by his exuberant team mates.
"There was a group of players went up for the ball, I just wanted to make a challenge for it and thankfully got a touch in the right direction and the ball crossed the line, " he said.
Olympic coach Branko Culina told Soccer Australia he was “extremely disappointed” with the result.
“We definitely did not play as well as we could have. The conditions were definitely not in our favour, with the uneven pitch and the wind,” he said.
“In the first half we were a little disappointing. But at the end of the day Carlton deserved their win and I wish them good luck next weekend.”
Meanwhile Carlton coach Stuart Munro admitted his team was by no means the only potential winner in what was a very closely fought match.
“We only really played well for about 15 minutes in each half, but luckily that was enough. In the second half especially we let the Olympic midfield get away from us, but we came back to win with a great header from Steve [Horvat].”
On their match next week against Wollongong Wolves he told Soccer Australia: “It’s going to be a really tough match, but we fancy our chances. We’ve won our last six matches and we’ve still got a full-strength side so it’s going to be a close one.”
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They will face the Wolves at Wollongong next weekend in the National Soccer League preliminary final for a chance to travel west in a fortnight’s time to play against Perth Glory in front of what is anticipated to be a record grand final crowd at Subiaco Oval.
Archie Thompson gave Carlton a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute in a match that could have swung either way. Olympic, who looked dangerous up front throughout the match, quickly reasserted their midfield control as the prospect of elimination from the finals series loomed close.
In the 68th minute, after a spell of sustained pressure, Olympic made a well-deserved breakthrough. Pablo Cardozo hit a corner to Gebriel Mendez who slipped it across to Kresimir Marusic. He slotted it to Cardozo, who cut it back to defender Alex Juric who promptly levelled the scores by neatly slotting the ball past Carlton keeper Dean Anastasiadis.
The goal sparked a period of renewed pressure from both sides, Olympic’s Gabriel Mendez and Nick Clarke missing late opportunities. With 90 minutes gone, the score was deadlocked, taking the match into extra time. Carlton almost finished the contest after just one minute when Andrew Marth headed a Lubo Lapsansky cross onto the crossbar.
Pressing forward, Carlton appeared to be growing in confidence with each minute of sudden-death suspense, until in the 12th minute of extra time Horvat ran forward from the defence to loop a header over the Olympic back line into the net. Having secured the game, the veteran defender was swamped by his exuberant team mates.
"There was a group of players went up for the ball, I just wanted to make a challenge for it and thankfully got a touch in the right direction and the ball crossed the line, " he said.
Olympic coach Branko Culina told Soccer Australia he was “extremely disappointed” with the result.
“We definitely did not play as well as we could have. The conditions were definitely not in our favour, with the uneven pitch and the wind,” he said.
“In the first half we were a little disappointing. But at the end of the day Carlton deserved their win and I wish them good luck next weekend.”
Meanwhile Carlton coach Stuart Munro admitted his team was by no means the only potential winner in what was a very closely fought match.
“We only really played well for about 15 minutes in each half, but luckily that was enough. In the second half especially we let the Olympic midfield get away from us, but we came back to win with a great header from Steve [Horvat].”
On their match next week against Wollongong Wolves he told Soccer Australia: “It’s going to be a really tough match, but we fancy our chances. We’ve won our last six matches and we’ve still got a full-strength side so it’s going to be a close one.”
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