Manly United 1-2 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic have kept their season alive for another week, after coming away with a very important and much needed victory, away to an always difficult Manly United side on Sunday Afternoon.

It was an intriguing first-half and had the feeling of a Finals match, given how desperate both sides were. We played OK throughout, but there was not too much to get excited about during that first-half. We did manage to create a few openings but we did not create many clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities. Defensively we were also fairly solid, snuffing out any Manly attacks.

In the second-half it would be a different story, as we witnessed 2 goal of the season contenders from a player in Nikola Kuleski, who just does not do tap-ins.

The first goal was a 30 metre volley giving the Manly goalkeeper no chance. The second goal was a great freekick which once again beat the Manly goalkeeper, who simply had no chance once again.

In between these 2 bombs, Manly equalised, with one of my personally most hated goals to concede. A cross come shot which alluded every player on the field, bounced inside the box, confusing the goalkeeper in the process, to find the back of our net.

There was some nervous moments near the end as Manly aggressively chased an equaliser, but we managed to hold on to record an important victory.

We somehow find ourselves still alive this season by virtue of every other side also being crazily inconsistent, bar the top 3 sides in Wollongong, APIA Leichhardt and Blacktown City.

The win over Hakoah a few weeks ago, which was nothing to write home about performance wise, was a turning point for this team. With 4 rounds remaining we are in with a chance of defending our Championship.

In the Club Championship, the 18s lost 1-0, and in the 20s we won 1-0.

An update on former player George Timotheou, who played with us last season and then was transferred to Schalke in Germany. After spending most of the last season playing for the Schalke reserves, he managed to feature in a few Schalke 1st team matchday squads and even played in the 1st team late in the season. He has recently been sold to Belgian side Zulte Waregem, where he will continue his career and we wish him the best of luck.

Whether Sydney Olympic has inserted any on-sale clauses or anything of that sort, nobody knows and it remains to be seen.

Next week is a bye round as a result of the Waratah Cup Final taking place. So we are next back in action in 2 weeks time, on Sunday Afternoon, July 21, a huge match away to old rivals APIA Leichhardt at Lambert Park, Kick-Off is at 3.30pm.

As for the First Grade women’s team, they beat the Bankstown Lions 2-1 on Sunday Afternoon to remain in 3rd spot on the ladder in NPL 1. Next Sunday Afternoon they themselves head to Cromer Park to face Manly United, this Sunday, Kick-Off at 3pm.