By BOB PEARCE
It took a touch of Wynton Rufer magic in the second half, but the Football Kingz finally rewarded their loyal supporters with a 1-0 victory over Sydney Olympic at Ericsson Stadium last night.
Rufer came on at halftime and 11 minutes later slipped a perfectly weighted pass through
the defence for Mark Burton to score.
It paved the way for the Kingz' first home win in the Australian soccer league for three months - perhaps appropriately on Australia Day.
And it was a notable scalp. Olympic are lying third in the league and have one of the best defences.
The Kingz were helped by a huge advantage in free-kicks and for the last quarter of an hour Olympic played with 10 men after Sebastian Sinozic was sent off by referee Derek Rugg for a second yellow-card offence.
But Olympic could hardly dispute the result. The Kingz dominated possession and, taking advantage of Noah Hickey's speed, set up numerous chances in the first half which they could not convert.
Aaran Lines came close in the 39th minute, but goalkeeper Clint Bolton produced a spectacular save.
The dominance continued into the second spell and in the 70th minute Paul Urlovic was brought down by Bolton with the goal at his mercy. But from the resulting penalty Bolton made amends by saving Urlovic's spot kick.
At the other end there were the usual scares in the defence, but for once the Kingz kept their cool for the win.
It was refreshing to see the New Zealand side quicker to the ball on a surface made slippery by steady rain.
Besides Burton and Hickey, Harry Ngata and Sean Douglas had good games and there was a confidence and combination which bodes well for the future.
Olympic could thank the brilliant Bolton for keeping the margin to one. Their frustration over the free-kick count cost them a number of yellow cards and did nothing for their chances.
