That Sinking Feeling - South Coast Wolves 1-1 Sydney Olympic

Round 12 took us down the coast to the impressive WIN Stadium in Wollongong to take on the home side, the Wolves. The recent form slump for our side continued as we dropped yet more points against an all be it tough opponent, but an opponent where we should have come away with the 3 points.

The 1st half saw Olympic start another match sluggishly and we were punished for it within the first 5 minutes of the match. The opposition were presented with a chance and they took full advantage. The 1st half was very very disappointing considering last week's terrible display and result, a better showing to start the match was the least that was expected and it didn't eventuate. At halftime we went to the break 1-0 down.

Thankfully, the 2nd half looked a bit more promising as we started to play a little better and in the process create a few chances. About 10 minutes into the 2nd half we had our equaliser thanks to Go Shirai, there was now 30 or so minutes for both sides to find a winner. There were numerous chances created, but neither side could snatch a winner, we had a very good chance near the end, but it was not to be.

Considering we beat this team twice already this season, both times by a 3-0 score-line, this match proved without a doubt that we are in a slump, most of the issues were covered in the previous blog entry, and my views have not changed. Our form in the last 4 league matches are: L-W-L-D. We must pick it up.

For some reason FNSW has decided that we must play an extra midweek match to decide if we progress to the Semi-Finals of the Waratah Cup. Which will be this coming Wednesday against Balmain Tigers at Belmore Sports Ground - 7pm.

Halfway through the season - Where are we at?

 3^rd on the ladder, into the round of 32 of the FFA Cup, and still in the Waratah Cup, if someone had said that’s where Sydney Olympic would be sitting halfway into the season, I, and most Olympic supporters would have probably taken that. But is it as hunky-dory as it seems?

Squad performance wise, it’s been pretty good as a whole, the last 3 weeks not withstanding. Injuries have played a part in the problems of several positions. Troy Danaskos (outside of preseason) has not played a game this year. Howard Fondyke was looking in decent form, but got injured as well and has now not played for 2 months. Harris Gaitatzis’ agent has taken him to Thailand for a trial with a 2^nd tier side and as a result has missed the last 2 matches.

All 3 players are major losses that have hurt us in the LB - DM - AM positions, positions where we have struggled to fill as a result, which comes back to a lack of quality in our depth. But at Olympic we should be bigger and better than that, last year we experienced something similar at the back end of the year where the fixtures came thick and fast, and our lack of depth in several positions cost us in the big games. Hopefully there is not a repeat of that this season.

In the last 2-3 matches, the players are not playing up to the club’s high standards, some look dis-interested or have lacked the energy and desire, Is there enough internal competition within the squad so that the players are constantly pushing each other and as a result raising their levels? Maybe a few feel a little too comfortable? A lot of the players have been involved in the tough schedule, are they just tired?

I’m not in the business of telling people what to do with their money, how to run the club, or how to run the squad, but it is patently clear to me at least, that we must improve our squad with the inclusion of a couple of quality players. The issue then becomes, Where are these players? and Where are we going to get them from? This is another matter, but we desperately need re-enforcements.

Below are our results against our fellow current top 5 teams:
Well beaten 4-2 by Blacktown away (All be it with a weakened team)
2-2 Draw away to A.P.I.A
Flogged 3-0 away at United
2-2 Draw at home to Bonnyrigg (Should have put our foot on their throat and won 5-0)

Outside of Bonnyrigg, the other 3 teams have the quality but also impressive depth of quality in their squads.

Now I’m not stupid enough to proclaim panic stations, but the bad signs of the last 2-3 weeks leaves me to at least be a little worried of where we will end up this season. Barring some ridiculous form slump we will make the top 5, but is that enough given we made the Grand Final last year? A Grand Final where we were unlucky not to win.

Brought back down to Earth - Sydney United 3-0 Sydney Olympic

This Sunday we ventured out to the Western Suburbs to take on old rivals Sydney United. To say the least, it was a lacklustre performance by our players with only 1-2 able to hold their heads high, as we shipped in 3 unanswered goals.

The 1st half started with us having a very early chance from a corner, but we could not turn the ball into the net, the only other serious chance for Olympic in the 1st half came to Will Angel who did well and took the ball around the keeper only to put his shot wide of the goal, other than that there was not much to report on the attacking front. Defensively a poor mistake in the box saw us give away a penalty which the opposition dispatched, another defensive error also saw the opposition pick up the ball and bury their chance through a nice shot into the top corner. We went to the break down 2-0 and had it all to do to overturn the deficit.

For the 2nd half there didn't seem to be any urgency from Olympic considering the predicament the side was in which was disappointing, energy levels for the players also seemed to be down. There were no clear cut chances created in what was a frustrating days viewing. We conceded a late goal to see the score end up 3-0.

Last year we saw our lack of depth cost us in the back end of the season. It is disappointing to have guys like Troy Danaskos and Howard Fondyke injured as they are pivotal players, throw in Harris Gaitatzis who is looking odds-on to sign for a club in Thailand, and it's a lot of quality missing. A couple of quality signings are needed to improve the squad, especially if we are going to challenge on multiple fronts. This must be a priority for the guys in charge.

Next match we are down in Wollongong to take on the South Coast Wolves next Sunday - kickoff 5pm.

Olympic back on track - Sydney Olympic 2-1 Sutherland Sharks

There was an important Grand Final on today, so i am told. But at Belmore, the team who has played in more National League Grand Finals than any other Club was taking to the field for an important match of its own.

Sutherland, we have had many a big match with them since our return to the NSW State League in 2005, and although this Sutherland team was different personnel wise to the past few years, they can never be under-estimated and are always tough to beat. For Olympic we were coming to the end of a nightmare run of fixtures so a win was vital. We will have no fixtures this midweek, giving our squad more time to recover from the tough schedule (i'm pretty sure this is correct, if not someone correct me)

The 1st half saw our boys fashion many chances as we dominated play in the first 25 minutes, that all-important goal was eluding us though. The goal would come just a few minutes later though, thanks to the good work of Nick Tsattalios who delivered a great cross for Dimi Hatzimouratis to finish. We would go to the break with a slender 1-0 lead.

In the 2nd half, the match became tighter as a contest with chances proving hard to come by for both teams. 15 minutes into the 2nd half, Dimi Hatzimouratis was correctly awarded a penalty by the referee, who then got up, dusted himself off and scored the penalty himself to send us up 2-0. Despite being 2-0 up we pushed on looking for a 3rd and really should have had a 3rd, but the chances went begging. As always happens the opposition went up the other end and to their credit scored a great goal through a long range shot, all of a sudden it was game on again with roughly 15 minutes to go. Sutherland were buoyed by this and set out to find an equaliser, and did have a few chances of their own to snatch a point, but in the end the boys held on to record a vital win at home.

Our next match is next Sunday against Sydney United at Edensor Park - 3pm.

FFA Cup round of 32, here we come (again) - Sydney Olympic 3-0 South Coast Wolves

For the 2nd year in a row the mighty Sydney Olympic has secured a spot in the final 32 of the FFA Cup, defeating the South Coast Wolves last night. The match was at Lambert Park (if you believe reports, at the request of the coaching staff) on a very cold evening in Leichhardt.

The match got underway and quickly it became very noticeable how highly both clubs valued this match. With both clubs qualifying for last year's FFA Cup, both sets of players and supporters were aware of the reward awaiting the winner. The 1st half saw chances for both teams, particularly for Olympic, with nobody able to take advantage and the match went to the break at 0-0.

The 2nd half saw Olympic come out looking to break the game open with an early goal, and the goal came 10 minutes into the 2nd half after some nice work from Will Angel opened up an opportunity for Dimi Hatzimouratis who made no mistake with the finish. The goal spurred Wolves to come out of their 2nd half slumber and went chasing the goal, which suited Olympic fine as we continued to create chances in a bid to find the killer goal. With about 15 minutes to go, the 2nd goal came thanks to a good finish from the in-form Harris Gaitatzis. Olympic wrapped the game up with 5 minutes to go through Scott Balderson who converted a penalty to make it 3-0, cue the fulltime whistle and the celebrations.

We will go into the FFA Cup round of 32 main draw now, to await our opponents (not sure when the draw will take place) which will most probably be another state league opponent, perhaps from interstate.

Our next match is this Sunday in the League, at Belmore Sports Ground against the Sutherland Sharks - 3pm.

Undefeated streak ends - Blacktown City 4-2 Sydney Olympic

Our unbeaten run in the league came to an end on Sunday afternoon, at the hands of Blacktown City at Gabbie Stadium.

The coaching staff decided this would be the ideal chance to give quite a few players a rest. The recent schedule has been particularly difficult for the players, the Sunday-Wednesday fixture list for the past 4 weeks was beginning to take its toll, and given the club has an important FFA Cup match on Wednesday, this match was basically handed to Blacktown City.

Jason Madonis, Marcus Duncan, Ryan Keir, Michael Gaitatzis, James Andrew, Jack Green, Oliver Green all were given starts in the youthful looking line-up.

Blacktown City came out of the blocks and raced to a 2-0 lead. One of the few regulars in the side, Will Angel earned the team a penalty after making a great run before being bundled over in the box, the penalty was converted by Michael Gaitatzis sending us to the break 2-1 down.

10 minutes after halftime Blacktown City made it 3-1, despite the score line the game was still there for us to grab a point. Scott Balderson who had been brought on for the 2nd half scored a great freekick to make it 3-2, and all of a sudden we were in the mix to snatch a point, but a late goal to Blacktown made it 4-2 to give us our first loss of the season.

It was always going to be difficult with so many regular starters out, but especially so against an experienced and well-drilled Blacktown City team, given all that, the players put in a good performance and certainly no one disgraced themselves out there.

Our next match is this Wednesday to get into the FFA Cup main draw, at Lambert Park against South Coast Wolves - 7:30pm.

Late winner seals an important victory - Sydney Olympic 1-0 Rockdale Suns

Wednesday night saw the re-scheduled Round 5 encounter against Rockdale take place at Belmore Sports Ground. I was pleasantly surprised to see plenty of Olympic supporters make it to the game on a cold Wednesday night, well done to all who made it.

The match itself started with us having a couple of half chances, the opposition also had a couple of half chances leading up to half-time. Generally the first half saw the game get bogged down in midfield with both teams finding it difficult to carve out clear cut chances in what was a tense and at times a physical encounter.

The 2nd half saw much of the same as the 1st half, the recent run of matches by our boys looked to be taking its toll on a few of them as we continued to search for the elusive goal. The game looked to be heading for a 0-0 draw with both sides failing to find a winner. That all changed in the 87th minute when the ball sat up nicely for the in-form Harris Gaitatzis who smacked the volley into the back of the net sending the healthy Wednesday night Olympic crowd into delirium and securing another important 3 points.

Our next match is this Sunday away to Blacktown City at Gabbie Stadium - 3pm.

Win at Home, Away from Home - Sydney Olympic 4-3 Blacktown Spartans

For the 2nd week in a row our home match was moved (i'll expand on this later on) this time to the ground of our opponents for this week, Blacktown Spartans.

The Spartans came out of the blocks early and managed to get the opening goal of the contest. Harris Gaitatzis who pleasantly has been in some very good form of late led the charge scoring twice and being involved in a lot of our good attacks, Dimi Hatzimouratis also added another goal to his ever-growing tally and young defender Brendan Hooper scored a nice header as he managed to get on the end of a great Will Angel corner. This all before half-time.

Unfortunately in the 2nd half we seemed to rest on our laurels a bit and allowed the Spartans back into the contest, with them scoring a couple to make it 4-3, which in turn gave them the belief they could get something from the match, fortunately for Olympic and the supporters who made it out to Rooty Hill they were relieved to hear the final whistle and to know that the team had sewn up yet another 3 points.

On to the ground situation, obviously the heavy rain of the last couple of weeks and the condition of Belmore Sports Ground itself and the outside pitches would have played a part, and I understand the club would much prefer to have the matches go ahead despite the loss of home ground advantage, instead of having to play numerous mid-week catch-up matches during the season, which could cause some problems. But it is very disappointing to lose 2 home matches in succession, hopefully there isn't something sinister hiding behind the switch in grounds (Bulldogs etc.)

Finally feel free to leave comments if you agree or disagree and if possible leave some sort of marker that is specific to you, so that we don't have a bunch of anonymous' commenting..