An outstanding penalty save from Daniel Margush, topped off by a clinical double from Blake Carpenter, saw Adelaide United’s Youth Team defeat Adelaide Olympic 2-0 in Round 11 of the National Premier League on Saturday night.
The Young Reds produced another superb performance, as they galvanised Adelaide Olympic’s defence and created many close chances on goal, but a brace from Blake Carpenter was enough to secure the three points. United keeper Daniel Margush also played a pivotal role in the victory, as countless saves were made to retain a clean sheet.
The action did not take long to kick in and for both the United and Olympic defences to feel the pressure. The Young Reds were forced to clear the ball when Fausto Erba’s shot skimmed past the goals. Olympic were then awarded a penalty in the 7th minute, but Margush began his reign early on, producing a wonderful save.
Three minutes later, Carpenter added more salt to Olympic’s wounds, when he tapped the ball home after an attempt on goal by United’s Captain, Dylan Smith.
In the 17th minute, Kosta Mantis gave his team their first chance since their spot-kick as he found space, but his shot was tipped clear by the hand of Margush.
Samed Altundag came close to scoring, as he captured the ball from a corner with a perfect header that was unfortunate not to find the back of the net half an hour in. Jordan O’Doherty then came bursting through with a goal, but a deflection from Altundag ruled it offside.
The second half was sure to produce more special moments from both sides, and in the 50th minute it was Carpenter once again with an expert shot that Gino De Lucia could not get a hold of, making it 2-0 to the hosts.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos found some ground within his new team, as he created a one on one opportunity with De Lucia, but was unable to get a shot in.
In the 70th minute, Stamatelopoulos opooed up again, his shot hitting the post of what was an open goal. He then assisted Smith minutes later, but the shot was blocked.
Carpenter was adamant to attain his hat-trick when he volleyed the ball off an O’Doherty assist, but was denied.
The Reds were pressured defensively, but were solid for 90 minutes and continuously applied their own pressure, which helped to get them over the line.
Following the match, the Young Reds’ Head Coach, Mark Jones, was pleased with the win and his team’s efforts throughout the game, full of positivity for the rest of the season if the form were to continue, but insisted there are areas still to be worked on.
“We worked hard for the win, and with a little bit more class, we could have won by four or five goals,” Jones said. “We could have wrapped the game up and had no pressure at the end but to win and keep a clean sheet, I’m really happy.
“We did make a few errors, I think due to fatigue creeping in, but I believe we can work harder towards that and we will be well on our way to more wins.
“We’ll also need to work on having more composure on the ball, there were times where we turned the ball over and also played backwards giving Olympic an opportunity, when we should just been going forward and giving it a go.
“The boys were unlucky to not win by more goals, but overall I’m pleased with the three points and the performance.
