Balls of Steel - Sydney Olympic 3-2 Blacktown Spartans

Well what a game. The boys came back from being 2-0 down (undeservedly) to snatch the game out of the fire and win it 3-2.

I'm not one to blame referees if we lose, and they do have a tough job. But the referee was truly a disgrace, doing all within his power to try and drag the opposition over the line, it really was sickening to see. Which makes our incredible comeback all the more remarkable.

The 1st half began with us taking it to the opposition, we seemed to be on song right from the get go. We created a plethora of chances and really should have been 2 or 3 up in quick time. Therefore it was really disappointing to see us not convert any of our many many chances. Usually in these circumstances the opposition goes down the other end and with a sucker-punch, and against the run of play, opens the scoring. It was no different tonight, well there was a difference actually, it was a double sucker-punch. Disturbingly, despite our great play we were down 2-0 and looked like we would go to the break 2-0 down. But with the last kick of the half, Go Shirai popped up to score to breathe life into the contest and lifted everybody's spirits, we went to the half-time break 2-1 down.

The 2nd half began the same way as the 1st, we came out determined to get an equaliser and we had it early in the 2nd half via a Michael Gaitatzis finish. This signaled for us to go up another gear and to chase a winner.  With about 20 minutes remaining, goal-scorer Michael Gaitatzis was subbed off for Dimi Hatzimouratis. This move worked a treat, with 5 minutes remaining Hatzimouratis popped up to score the winner to send the Olympic faithful into dreamland. Shortly after the referee managed to blow his whistle correctly securing us an important 3 points.

No one had a bad game tonight. Will Angel and Troy Danaskos were brilliant down the left-hand side. Go and Taiga in the middle were great. Ryan Keir was solid and so was Jason Madonis who replaced him during the 2nd half. The Gaitatzis brothers Harris and Michael did well as did Dimi Hatzimouratis when he came on. Scott Balderson also played his role when he came on. The Defenders and the Goalkeeper were also solid.

Our next match is next Saturday at Belmore against Blacktown City - Kickoff 3pm.

Which is followed on the Tuesday for an FFA Cup match in the A.C.T. against Gungahlin.

Toughing it out - Marconi Stallions 0-2 Sydney Olympic

On Saturday night, I ventured out once again to Fairfield to see the boys play, a place where we had already lost 3 times this season, twice at Sydney United and once at Bonnyrigg. It always feels special to be at Marconi Stadium no matter what the occasion is, even if the crowds are no where near what they were during the golden days of the NSL or the pre-NSL State League era.

The 1^st half began with both teams understandably showing nerves, a by-product of the poor recent form both teams have been experiencing. After the slow start, Olympic had the better of possession and had the upper hand in proceedings. Our inter-play and passing was quite good but we were having trouble with the final pass and carving out clear cut opportunities. We did have a couple of chances during the 1^st half but the scoreboard was not troubled by either side and the score remained 0-0 at the half-time break.

As with most teams who are sitting at the bottom of the ladder, if you don’t finish them off early they seem to grow another leg, and Marconi certainly did that as they came out for the 2^nd half with great enthusiasm and endeavour in their bid to open the scoring. The first 15 minutes of the 2^nd half saw Marconi have a couple of really good chances and I’m sure if you ask them they would say that they should have buried at least one of those chances. As it was, we weathered that storm and found our rhythm again midway through the 2^nd half. We played some good football had a couple of chances to once again open the scoring, all to no avail. With about 20 minutes to go Michael Gaitatzis who worked hard up front was replaced by Dimi Hatzimouratis in a bid to find a goal. 5 minutes from the end, the goal would come thanks to a great run from Will Angel into the box where he was fouled by a Marconi defender. Harris Gaitatzis stepped and put his penalty into the top corner to give us a deserved lead. A couple minutes later the 3 points were sealed, a good cross from Troy Danaskos found Dimi Hatzimouratis whose first-time volley flew into the back of the net to seal the valuable 3 points.

It was Marconi v Olympic, so it was never going to be easy no matter where the clubs sat on the ladder. The performance was an improvement on last week’s debacle with Manly. We now must improve further coming into the important part of the season and find some consistency in our performances.

Our next match is next Sunday at Lambert Park against Blacktown Spartans - kickoff 4pm.

Unacceptable - Sydney Olympic 1-5 Many United

What has become of this season?

Only a few weeks ago, we were in serious contention of finishing 1st and securing the Minor Premiership. Everything seemed to be going so well, we were scoring for fun and confident in doing so.

The team currently is devoid of any confidence, the hunger and desire also seems to be non-existent from several players. In any sport and in any team, hunger and desire should be a prerequisite before setting foot on the park. We almost look defeated before a ball is even kicked.

On to the game, like many of our recent games, there seemed to be a lack of energy and dare I say a lack of motivation as once again we seemed to be going through the motions. We did manage to have a couple of chances in the first 20 minutes but we weren't able to capitalise on any of them. In the space of the next 10 minutes, poor play, poor defending and naivety saw us concede 4 soft goals and in what seemed a blink of an eye, the match was essentially over. To compound things we were reduced to 10 men just before half time. So we were 4-0 down and with 10 men as we headed to the half-time break. Understandably some of the supporters had already had enough and searched for the exits.

The 2nd half began the same way the 1st half had ended. Manly had several opportunities to increase their lead, some bad luck and some good Goalkeeping prevented an increase in the score-line. Mid-way through the 2nd half we had some more chances to score but again we were either thwarted by the opposition or poor finishing cost us. The miserable day continued as Manly would score their 5th, 5 minutes from the end. A late consolation goal for us made the score 5-1, it was irrelevant as we had been thoroughly beaten. We simply were not at the races and in reality we were never in it.

It really pains me to put up in black and white our recent run of results. But it needs to be done so that everybody realises where we are at the moment, and that we are nowhere near as good as we thought we were.

2 wins from the last 9 matches
7 points from a possible 27 points

In more bad news, our new recruit Tolgay Ozbey barely lasted 10 minutes as he picked up an injury, with fears he could miss the next couple of matches. Some players are simply not pulling their weight on the field and I have to believe that they are in serious jeopardy of losing their spot. In a connected story our 20's side won 10-3 in their match this afternoon. Surely the boys that have been doing so well in the 20's this season deserve a shot in 1st grade, considering our shocking recent form and the poor recent performances of certain players.

From a few weeks ago looking so good and riding high on top of the table, we are now in serious danger of dropping out of the Top 5 and missing the Finals all together. We must wake up before it's too late.

Next Saturday we take on old foes Marconi, who are struggling themselves, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they will lift at home against us, kickoff is 7.30pm at Marconi Stadium.

FFA Cup & Bye Round

I’m sure most Olympic supporters would join in with me in saying in regards to this weekend’s Waratah Cup Final clash between Blacktown City and Sydney United; who gives a f***

In better news, the round of 32 Draw for the FFA Cup was conducted this past Wednesday. I must say it was pretty exciting sitting there watching and waiting to see who our opponent would be. Would it be South Melbourne? Heidelberg United? Darwin Olympic? Or maybe even one of the A-League Franchises? The result of the draw meant it was none of these but a club from the A.C.T. - Gungahlin United, a club playing in the A.C.T. NPL and based north of Canberra City. That is the extent of my knowledge about them, but I’m sure the club will do their due diligence and find out as much as they can about them and be ready for this important match.

Onto the bye of which we are experiencing this weekend. Generally and without knowing any of the specifics, I suspect it will do the squad good to have a weekend off, to have a bit of break and to get over any niggling injuries any of the boys might have. Hopefully, everybody’s getting ready and gearing up for the business end of the season, with 6 rounds to go before the Finals.

Our run into the Finals, looks like this:
Manly (H), Marconi (A), Spartans (H), Blacktown (H), Sutherland (A), United (H)

Due to our poor recent form, the chasing pack sitting just outside the top 5 have a sniff of Finals and we must turn our form around and find some sort of consistency to stave off this challenge. We are off the pace of the top 2 and long odds to catch them, but there is still a chance of catching Bonnyrigg for that all-important 3^rd place finish, which guarantees a double-chance come Finals time. Although our results haven’t been too great, everybody’s energy must be put towards achieving a top 3 finish.

The League resumes Sunday the 12^th of July for Olympic. We take on Manly at Belmore - kickoff is 3pm.