Sydney Olympic 4-3 Hakoah Sydney City-East

Olympic and Hakoah have been doing battle for over half a century (barring a 30 year period in there) and the last time we hosted a League match against them it would have been at Pratten Park sometime in the year 1986. Anyway, to the 4-3 result which flattered Hakoah, the result of the match should never have been in doubt and nor should it have been that close in the end. We were by far the better footballing team and should have put 6 or 7 passed them at least. Some dubious refereeing helped Hakoah out and helped keep them in the match, a match they realistically should have been out of by half-time.

We started the match on fire, you could tell that the Sydney Olympic boys were well and truly up for it and within the first 5 minutes we had opened the scoring via some good inter-play between Jason Madonis and Josh Gaspari, the former found the latter with a good pass and Gaspari coolly finished to give us an early 1-0 lead. Within the first 10 minutes we should have had a second goal, but Harris Gaitatzis who has been in good goal-scoring form of late, had his effort saved by the Hakoah goalkeeper. We only had to wait a few more minutes though for the second goal, which again came via Josh Gaspari who slotted his second goal of the afternoon with another expert finish, it was all Sydney Olympic at this point. Unfortunately Hakoah were allowed back into the match, after the referee awarded a penalty which they dispatched. This setback did not hinder our play or our confidence as we went right back on the attack, we dominated the rest of the First Half creating numerous chances, but we could not add to our score, including a shot which smacked the crossbar. With a bit more luck we could have gone to the half-time break 5-1 up, but as it was we had to settle for a 2-1 lead as the referee blew his whistle for half-time.

The first 15 minutes of the Second Half were fairly uneventful as both sides settled back into the game after the break. From then on we resumed our dominance of the match as we went close twice in the space of a couple of minutes to restoring our 2 goal lead, including another shot which hit the crossbar. With about 20 minutes to go that 2 goal lead would be restored as Jack Green sneaked into the box to receive the ball, he then smashed his shot pass the Hakoah goalkeeper to put Sydney Olympic 3-1 up. About 5 minutes later we came close to adding number 4 but it was not to be. It should have been plain sailing for us, but with 10 minutes to go Hakoah snatched a goal to make it 3-2 through Olympic old boy Adrian Vranic who was the only real Hakoah threat for the entire match. In the last minute of regulation time, the referee awarded another penalty for Hakoah, which they converted to make it 3-3. Unbelievably for the supporters the scores were level in a match we should have been leading comfortably, to say the swear words were flying is an under-statement. But deep into injury-time we found a winner through Josh Gaspari again who rounded out his hat-trick with a beautiful volley, the keeper had no chance. Seconds later the referee blew for full-time and victory was ours.

It was another good performance and more importantly another victory and another 3 points. This keeps us in the Top 5 and in a Finals position at the moment. The last 3 weeks of the regular season are going to be very interesting as games at this time of the season all have meaning and are never easy, whether you are coming up against the team coming First or Last.

Although the match was an exciting one, we really should have put Hakoah to the sword and put the game to bed before half-time. Another day and we would be ruing not winning.

Our Rwandan recruit Jean-Pierre Hakiri saw his first action for Sydney Olympic in a 20 minute cameo, who was solid.

For the Club Championship, in the U18s we lost 4-1 and in the U20s we won 5-1. Combined with our 4-3 victory in First Grade this secured us 18 points towards the Club Championship, a good haul.

Next weekend, Sunday July 31, we have another difficult match against a relegation-threatened and desperate Wollongong Wolves side down at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, Kickoff is at 5pm. 

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0-2 Sydney Olympic

As history has proven, Bonnyrigg has never been a happy hunting ground for Sydney Olympic since we’ve been back in the State League, having never won a League match there since we were thrown back into the State League in 2005. We did win there once in the Cup in 2011, but other than that it has been fairly slim pickings out there for us. All that changed on Saturday Night as we put in a great performance to come away with a victory and the all-important 3 points.

The match was a keenly fought one, with both sides knowing the importance of victory and the ramifications of defeat. After a circumspect opening 10 minutes from both sides, Bonnyrigg had the ascendancy for a lot of the First Half. They created the better of the opportunities but at the same time did not have many clear cut goal scoring opportunities; Paul Henderson was not troubled that much throughout the First Half despite Bonnyrigg being on top. For our Sydney Olympic, we were looking most threatening hitting them on the break through the likes of Will Angel down the Left and Josh Gaspari down the Right. We had a few half chances throughout that First Half but we could not find the back of the net either. After a tight and tense First Half, both sides had to settle for 0-0 at the half-time break.

At the start of the Second Half we looked a little more aggressive and assertive in our play. Bonnyrigg were also looking anxious and pushed hard in a bid to open the scoring. But it would be Sydney Olympic who would take the lead 10 minutes into the Second Half, after a quick break saw Jason Madonis end up with the ball in space, he dribbled the ball into the area and smashed his shot passed the Bonnyrigg goalkeeper to put us 1-0 up, a great finish. Bonnyrigg were now even more desperate to grab a goal, but Paul Henderson and our makeshift back 4 handled everything Bonnyrigg threw at them. With Bonnyrigg chasing goals and pushing up it left spaces for us to exploit and grab another goal and we had a few half chances to extend our lead but it was not to be. The opposition kept huffing and puffing but they could not blow our door down, we were solid defensively and held them out every time. With about 5 minutes left Harris Gaitatzis killed the game off for us with a smart finish to put us 2-0 up, which is how the score stayed at full-time, a much needed 3 points were ours.

So another good performance from the players and a huge win in the context of our season, which sees us stay in the hunt to make this year’s Finals Series. And it was done with almost a second string team, with many players unavailable for one reason or another.

For the Club Championship, in the U18s we lost 3-2 and in the U20s we lost 2-1. Our 2-0 victory in First Grade picked up the slack this week, securing 12 points towards the Club Championship.

In other news, out of nowhere, the Club through its Facebook page decided to announce a change in the Club Emblem for 2017, which would be welcomed by 100% of the supporters of that there is no doubt as the current Emblem was never loved.

Now I’m not sure about the protocols and procedures for these sorts of things but the members were not informed, were not asked and were not even made aware that there would be a change, the supporters to my knowledge were also not consulted at all. So the question has to be asked, who came up with it???



Some like it, others not so much. For me personally the design is a fine one, but the middle of it, with the soccer ball seems too generic and I and many others feel it does not represent anything to do with Sydney Olympic and should be replaced with a true Sydney Olympic identifier, the rings.



Plenty of members and supporters are rightly upset about not even being asked for their thoughts or opinions and any suggestions that were given in the last 3 years have been ignored. Fan engagement has been non-existent in this process. I suspect we have not heard the last of this.

All matches from now till the end of the season are now all “must win”. Next Sunday July 24, we are back at home at Belmore Sports Ground to take on Hakoah Sydney City-East, kickoff is at 3pm. 

Stayin’ Alive - Sydney Olympic 3-0 Parramatta FC

We have just about kept ourselves in the race to make the Top 5 and participate in this year’s Finals Series. After a fantastic showing on Sunday Afternoon which saw Sydney Olympic topple a resurgent Parramatta FC, who they themselves were harbouring aspirations of making the Top 5.

The play in the First Half from both teams was indicative of the importance both had placed on this match. With time running out to make the Top 5 and play Finals Football for 2016, both sides started cautiously. Although our best chance of the First Half did come early on, when Will Angel once again beat his defender and delivered a ball inside the box to Josh Gaspari, who disappointingly sent his shot straight at the goalkeeper. A Parramatta mistake in their own half soon after gifted us another opportunity, but unfortunately we could not capitalise. Both sides created half chances and threatened to score for the rest of the half, but there was no cutting edge from either side. Defense was the order of the day from both sides throughout that First Half, as any chances were quickly snuffed out and the score would remain 0-0 at the half-time break.

During the first few moments of the Second Half it was quite noticeable that there was an increase in the intensity from the Sydney Olympic players, which was a good sign from the supporters’ point of view. Within the first 5 minutes of the Second Half we opened the scoring, courtesy of a fantastic strike from Harris Gaitatzis, who made room for himself to have a shot from the edge of the box, which nestled into the corner of the Parramatta net. The match then see-sawed, with Parramatta going close to scoring an equaliser. With 20 minutes or so to go though, we got the all-important second goal via Harris Gaitatzis again, a beautiful piece of individual skill to get passed the defender was finished off with a brilliant chip over the Parramatta goalkeeper, it was another great finish. After this, Parramatta predictably then came out in a search for goals to put themselves back into the contest, this of course left acres of room for the Sydney Olympic players to exploit and deep into injury time, we grabbed our 3^rd of the afternoon thanks to that man again, Harris Gaitatzis, who tapped in from close range after a quick goal-kick from Paul Henderson found Jason Madonis in the clear, who summed up the situation perfectly to deliver the pass for Harris to finish the game off with an easy tap-in and complete his hat-trick.

So obviously a very important win which keeps our Finals hopes alive. We now have two weeks to gather our thoughts, to get over any injuries and also with no Cup distractions we can fully focus on the last 5 matches of the season and make a run at the Top 5.

The German Rene Klingenburg did not play as he was hacked to pieces last week and missed yesterday’s win over Parramatta. Rwandan International, Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza, who we have also signed for the remainder of the season did not get clearance in time to play yesterday. Hagi Gligor, who last played at Perth Glory was also signed in midweek and made his debut for us on Sunday and performed well. With the 2 weeks off, we have time to get our house in order so to speak, all Sydney Olympic Supporters hope that we haven’t left our run too late.

Also, a big congratulations goes out to Will Angel, who notched up 150 matches for Sydney Olympic on Sunday. Becoming only the 2^nd player to reach this figure in the post NSL era and the 2^nd player to achieve the milestone this season, following on from Paul Henderson who did it earlier this season.

For the Club Championship, it was a better week compared to the last few weeks. In the U18s we lost 2-1, in the U20s we picked up a 1-1 draw, adding in our 3-0 win in First Grade and we picked up a valuable 14 points towards the Club Championship.

As was mentioned earlier, next weekend is a bye round as the Waratah Cup Final between Manly United and Sydney United takes precedence, so we are not in League action. We are next in action on Saturday Night, July 16, away to the Bonnyrigg White Eagles, kickoff is at 7pm at the Bonnyrigg Sports Club.