On a very overcast Sydney day Wollongong Wolves traveled the short journey up from the Illawarra to tackle Sydney Olympic in a match many would have predicted a 'bore draw' before the events unfolded on the pitch.
Olympic made easy going of things in the opening fifteen minutes with Hiroyuki Ishida and Predrag Bojic almost ripping apart the Wolves left flank with at least a very decent half chance falling their way in the first 30 seconds. Bojic skipped past a sleeping Wolves defence only to see his inch perfect cross scrambled out for a corner.
The visitors managed their first real attack when Dustin Wells made Ante Juric in the heart of the Olympic defence look static, but instead of slipping the ball out wide to the right for the unmarked Stuart Young to pick his spot he elected to go for glory and watch as he kicked the ground and see the ball bobble harmlessly past the 'keepers right hand upright. Has he passed to Young it would almost certainly have been one-nil to the visiting team.
Pablo Cardozo, not playing anywhere near his prime, was having an off day in the thirteenth minute when Juric passed to Iain Fyfe. His square ball was perfect for Cardozo but as was the case for much of the game, from both sides, his shot was well wide of the mark when it should have been easier to score.
Three minutes later and Olympic paid the price of their profligacy. A corner from the right, a scramble in the box and a poor attempted clearance by George Souris saw the ball end up at the feet of Dustin Wells and his cross back into the Olympic area was met by, who else, Nigerian Chimaobi Nwaogazi to head powerfully home for his eighth of the season, in only Wolves' second attack.
Wollongong from then on looked the brighter side and started making great inroads with the chipped ball over the top as Olympic's defence were all at sea but try as they might they could not net a second.
Fyfe was shown the first yellow card of the afternoon for a tackle the referee, Craig Zetter, deemed serious and, in fairness to the official, he had a marvelous game overall.
Olympic looked jaded, down and out but an unlikely 20th minute revival either side of half-time saw a complete reversal of the game. Firstly, Troy Halpin looked to have hit a pass too long for Zenon Caravella but he stretched full length to connect with the ball and send the sides in level at one apiece at the break.
The home side came out stronger, faster and hungrier after the break and should have extended their lead on 50th minute when Jim Nikas broke down the Wolves right and sent over a good looking cross that Ishida met on the run with a magnificent volley that just whipped past the upright. It was a sign of things to come.
Scott Baillie replaced Souris in the Olympic defence after 53-minutes and half-time substitute George Goutzioulis began to turn the tide inexorably in Olympic's favour.
Caravella slipped the ball to Juric, who in turn found Cardozo unmarked and this time there was no mistake as Olympic finally took the lead. Indeed, Caravella really came out fighting and was carving up the Wollongong side when his cross on the hour found Bojic alone in the box. Again a chance went begging and left the door open.
Ben Blake was cautioned for a foul on Ishida, who himself had been booked one minute earlier for a foul in Adam Hughes. From the resultant free-kick, some 25-metres out, the ball was rolled into the path of Nikas whose shot was bulging the net before anyone had a chance to move as Olympic extended the lead to 3-one.
If they thought this would finish off the Wolves they were very, very wrong.
John Majurovski came on after 66th minute and his influence, along with Steven DeGiovianniello, pulled Wolves back to one down after the former slotted home from the latter's pass on 75th minute.
From there Wolves could have equalized several times, but in going forward looking for the third goal they left gaps at the back which Olympic ruthlessly exploited.
Olympic added a fourth when Goutzioulis netted and then a fifth, the second for Cardozo, in stoppage time which, if truth be told, flattered the home side and helped to paper over some of the cracks that were glaringly obvious to the casual observer.
On the evidence of this game, it is unlikely a serious championship threat from Sydney will come from anyone but Parramatta Power.