FFA Cup - Gungahlin United 0-1 Sydney Olympic

I, along with a few others decided to make the trek down to the A.C.T. to watch our boys take on A.C.T. NPL club Gungahlin United in the round of 32 of the FFA Cup. After flooring it down the highway for 2 and a bit hours we arrived on the northern outskirts of the A.C.T. at a freezing Gungahlin. Arriving at the ground it was heartening to see so many Sydney Olympic scarves and jackets wrapped around the many supporters who made it down for the match. Add to that the many Canberra Olympic people at the match and there was plenty of support for the boys for this very important match.

The match started with both sides looking to attack, which was made difficult by the condition of the pitch, which from all reports also hosts League, Union and AFL matches during the season. The healthy crowd was treated to a pretty decent match all be it scrappy at times. Gungahlin managed to carve out a couple of chances and had one excellent chance to take the lead but the shot went wide. We were dangerous down the flanks creating a few openings through some nice crosses all of which didn't find their mark and we went to the break dead-locked at 0-0.

At half-time we went down to see what was on the menu at the Gungahlin canteen. The hosts and well done to them, were catering for their guests, so we grabbed some souvlakia and to be fair they weren't bad. If the weather wasn't cold enough at the beginning of the 2nd half it somehow got worse with the temperature further dropping and accompanied now by a wind watch was blowing across the ground, which made things worse.

Back to the game. At the start of the 2nd half we seemed to lift our intensity which was lacking in large parts during the 1st half. We were looking much more dominant, reducing Gungahlin to sporadic attacks. Again we were looking dangerous down the flanks via Will Angel and Troy Danaskos down the Left and Brayden Sorge and the recently brought-on Michael Gaitatzis down the Right who replaced Go Shirai. The introduction of Yianni Spyrakis for Ryan Keir also seemed to spark us. With around 15 minutes to go, we made our final substitution with Scott Balderson coming on for Harris Gaitatzis. We were dominating Gungahlin with good passing and getting at them down the flanks but could not produce the killer ball. 6 or 7 minutes from the end our goal would come through Michael Gaitatzis who dribbled into the box, cut onto his left foot and smashed his shot into the corner of the net, leaving the Gungahlin Goalkeeper with little chance.

To the relief of the supporters who made the journey down, we avoided extra-time and the lottery of penalties and further dropping temperatures, to get the job done within the 90 minutes. We are through to the round of 16 of the FFA Cup, we will await to see who we draw in the next round.

Our next match is against Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday night - kickoff 7.30pm.