Sydney Olympic Off-Season – December

It’s that time of the year where not that much is going on. The club has already gone in early on their signings and re-signings and it appears that at this stage, the squad is pretty much settled for 2019:

Paul Henderson, William Angel, Jason Madonis, Niko Tsattalios, Alejandro Sanchez, Radovan Pavicevic, Hagi Gligor, Jinya An, Thomas Whiteside, Nicola Kuleski, Riley Woodcock, Zach Mackenzie, Ezequiel Consoni, Jake de Marigny, Stephen Athanaseris Billy Patramanis, Mitch Stamatellis, Troy Danaskos, Harris Gaitatzis, Michael Gaitatzis.

Darcy Burgess has returned from his overseas trial and has re-joined the squad.

We will just wait and see whether anyone else is added, but at this stage that’s how the squad is looking.

The squad has all gotten together and have done a few sessions of pre-season work. They will break for the Christmas and New Year period and by mid-January, preparations for 2019 should be in full swing. By then, the start of the new season will be just around the corner and who knows, maybe Football NSW will have released the Draw for the 2019 season.

Of course, the other big issue which is pre-occupying the minds of a lot of Sydney Olympic Supporters. is this situation with Tempe Reserve.

It has been nearly 5 years since this was first announced by the Club and mentioned in media circles prominently, by the late Mike Cockerill.

In that time, there has been a change at Board level at Sydney Olympic and the Marrickville Council, which gave its backing and in-principle support to Sydney Olympic to redevelop parts of Tempe Reserve, no longer exists.

The newly amalgamated Inner West Council, which took a while to get its affairs in order and get going, finally decided that it would move forward with the tender process with the Club. Discussions resumed and they were on-going as of mid-2018.

Two weeks ago it was reported in The Greek Herald, that the Club had met with the Council for further consultations, any news from this meeting or decisions coming out of it, has been hard to come by, nobody is saying a lot.

Given Sydney Olympic’s track record in this type of thing, it is very easy to be pessimistic or just plain negative about it all. If not by the end of this year, definitely by early 2019, we should have some idea of what is going on.

Until then, Merry Christmas to everyone and see you next year.

Sydney Olympic Off-Season – November

A fair bit has happened since the last blog. Sydney Olympic has announced the re-signing of 16 players from the 2018 squad:

Paul Henderson, William Angel, Jason Madonis, Niko Tsattalios, Alejandro Sanchez, Radovan Pavicevic, Hagi Gligor, Jinya An, Thomas Whiteside, Nicola Kuleski, Riley Woodcock, Zach Mackenzie, Ezequiel Consoni, Jake de Marigny, Billy Patramanis and also Darcy Burgess.

But like his brother Max, it appears Darcy is off and is heading to Europe to try his luck, specifically with Spanish 3rd tier club, Unionistas of Salamanca. So, we will have to wait and see what comes of that.

 

Apart from those re-signings, the club also announced a few more signings for 2019, with some interesting names returning to the club.

Mitchell Stamatellis is back at Sydney Olympic after his 1 season sabbatical at Hakoah. A good player and a good character who can cover several positions, so he is a welcome addition to the squad for 2019.

Troy Danaskos, who last played for us in 2015 before having a crack at the a-league, is back via a couple of detours in Bonnyrigg and Marconi. He did not set the comp on fire at either of those 2 clubs, so it will be interesting to see what he dishes up for us in 2019.

Harris Gaitatzis, who chased some coin (and good on him) over at the un-named for the past 2 seasons is back. He seems to be a direct replacement for Max Burgess in the No. 10 role and he should have some good football left in him and no doubt, he likes the idea of having the chance to win some silverware at Sydney Olympic.

Michael Gaitatzis has also returned after scoring for fun in the NPL 3 competition last season. In his previous life at the club, he managed to score some big goals for Sydney Olympic. Who could forget the one night when we all froze our nuts off down in Gungahlin in the FFA Cup that year.

Although the club has re-signed Sanchez and Pavicevic, you never know what will happen as anybody from anywhere, can now swoop in and take whichever player they want, that is the nature of the sport these days. But if we manage to hold on to both of those forwards, it’s going to be interesting to see where Michael Gaitatzis fits in to Abbas Saad’s plans.

From what I understand, all the players and coaches caught up only a few days ago for a get together and will soon ease their way into pre-season over the next few weeks, before they break for the Christmas/New Year period.

On the Tempe Reserve re-development situation, we will continue to wait to see what happens on that front. Negotiations are apparently continuing and by the New Year we should know either way, whether it is going ahead or not.

Sydney Olympic Off-Season – October

It has been a month since our season ended disappointingly in Adelaide at the Semi-Final stage of the NPL National Finals Series. We will just have to make do with the 2018 NSW NPL Minor Premiership-Championship Double.

And now, we settle in for one hell of a long and boring off-season.

Looking ahead at 2019, being Defending Champions next season will certainly bring its own difficulties and challenges. Every season Sydney Olympic is the hunted, no matter who, when and where we are playing, but that will be ratcheted up big time next year, given we will be the Defending Champions.

With that fact in mind, our players will be and already have been, the target of other clubs. Money and all sorts of other promises will be thrown at them, to lure them away from Belmore.

When it comes to recruitment, currently it is all fairly quiet on that front. There are a few rumours and whispers floating around about the possible return to Sydney Olympic of Mitchell Stamatellis, Michael Gaitatzis and others, but nothing has been announced by the Club as of yet, so that is merely wishful thinking for now.

On the departures side of things, it was made public last week, that Max Burgess had left the Club and has decided to take up an offer to play in the a-league with the Wellington Phoenix for the upcoming season. He was outstanding for us in 2018 and fully deserves this opportunity, so good luck to him.

But with our main concern here obviously being Sydney Olympic, the loss of Max Burgess is a heavy blow and will have a huge impact on our ability to defend our Title. It will be a very difficult task to try and replace him.

Onto the Tempe Reserve redevelopment, it is as you were in regards to that issue, with Sydney Olympic and the Inner-West Council remaining locked in negotiations over the future of the project. It’s all pretty hush-hush at the moment, but we should definitely know come the end of 2018 or by early 2019, which way it goes.

Finally, very sad news this month was the passing of ever-present supporter Steve Argyros, if you didn’t know him, you definitely heard him every week. Going to matches next year and not hearing Big Steve is going to take some getting used to. Condolences to his family and friends.

Season Review – Campbelltown City 2-1 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic’s season ended in Adelaide on Saturday Afternoon, after going down 2-1 to Campbelltown City in the NPL National Semi-Final, eliminating us from the tournament and kissing goodbye the chance to automatically qualify for the 2019 FFA Cup Round of 32. Meaning we will have to do it the hard way, something which we have not been able to accomplish since 2015.

The match itself, we completely dominated the first-half and scored very early thanks to a Max Burgess long-range bomb, we should have been 5 or 6 up at the half-time break, we were the far better side, but we butchered numerous chances. Right on half-time, we dropped our guard and allowed them back into the match as they equalised, to bring the score to 1-1 at the break.

In the second-half, both sides created several opportunities and we were well in the contest, but as time ticked on, it looked increasingly likely that we were heading for extra-time. Unfortunately, a dubious penalty decision was given against us deep into injury-time, which cost us the game. Former Sydney Olympic defender Iain Fyfe, made no mistake to put us out 2-1.

Disappointing way to end the season obviously.

Below is a review of the squad for 2018:

- Paul Henderson – Had another outstanding season, but at 42, how much longer can he go on for, will be the big question.
- Tom Whiteside – Improved massively in 2018, had a great season.
- Jake de Marigny – Has missed 2 years of football now, no idea what’s happening with his injuries or what his situation is at the club.
- George Timotheou – Was a gun for us until he left for Schalke. What could have been a disaster and massive loss for our campaign was somehow salvaged, as we scrambled together a good enough defensive unit to hold steady and win the Championship.
- Rafa Jimenez – Was touted as a good signing, but only lasted a couple of games before he was gone, not sure what happened there.
- James Demetriou – Mid-season signing, good player, but let down the club and left us in the lurch for the trip to Adelaide and had he been there, it could have been a different story on Saturday.
- Nikola Kuleski – Good season and the type of bulldog most teams need in the middle of the park, if they are going to be successful.
- William Angel – Another consistent year from Will, always ready and willing to do whatever the team needs.
- Jason Madonis – Another good season from the skipper, firmly cementing himself to becoming a club legend.
- Radovan Pavicevic – Had a much better year than last season, was more comfortable in the 2nd striker/wide forward role and was a good foil for Alex Sanchez.
- Max Burgess – One of our best this season and unbelievably consistent for us for the entire campaign. Look forward to seeing him get even better.
- Jinya An – Ran all day, did whatever was needed by Abbas this season, played in various positions and didn’t disappoint anyone. Good season.
- Zac Mackenzie – Mid-season signing from APIA and after the departure of Timotheou, he slotted in seamlessly into the CB position and helped us to the Premiership and Championship.
- Alex Sanchez – What more needs to be said about this guy? The exact type of player Sydney Olympic Supporters have been screaming out for, for years. Someone to consistently put away our opportunities and score the goals, and boy didn’t he do that. A revelation.
- Brendan Hooper – Returned to the club midway through the season, adding some much-needed depth to the squad. Was ultimately used in a substitute role in the back end of the season.
- Darcy Burgess – Much improved player and an important cog in the Sydney Olympic machine in 2018.
- Ezequiel Consoni – Limited game time.
- Stephen Athanaseris – Limited game time.
- Riley Woodcock – Was a much-needed signing for us and proved to be invaluable for us down the left flank, had a great season.
- Hagi Gligor – Disappointingly missed the entire season for us after being hacked by a Hakoah grub earlier in the year. Good to see him ease his way back into the side these last few matches, should be ready and raring to go in 2019.
- Niko Tsattalios – Generally used as a super-sub throughout the season, he always added something and looked dangerous whenever on the park.
- Paul Katsetis – Another one who missed most of the season through injury, not sure of his situation at the club for next season.
- Youngsters like, Billy Patramanis, Callum Fitzpatrick, Ben Morrison, Adam Hristodoulou, Lachlan Watson, also appeared for us at various stages throughout the year.

I would say, without knowing 100%, that most of the players will be with us for 2019, but even still, it will not be enough, we must also strengthen and not rest on our laurels.

The last few Champions, Bonnyrigg, Blacktown City and Manly United, have all fallen in a heap recently. We must stay vigilant so as to not suffer the same fate. There are some good players out there that we should be going after and hopefully the club is on top of all of that and we see a couple of additions for next season.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, no one can be disappointed in the effort and accomplishments of the team this season. We are Premiers and Champions and nobody expected it. Congratulations to everybody who had anything to do with it, it was a collective effort and a well deserved reward for everyone’s efforts and was an amazing ride for the Sydney Olympic Supporters.

I will keep it short for the Tempe Reserve saga:

After hearing and talking about this for nearly 5 years, 2018 is the last year of the exclusive negotiating period with the Marrickville now Inner-West Council and Sydney Olympic, meaning by the end of 2018 or the start of 2019, we will know either way whether there is a green light for this project to begin or once again, the club will be shafted. We will wait and see.

Sydney Olympic 1-0 Perth SC

Sydney Olympic has begun its National NPL Finals Series with a hard-fought victory over the Western Australian Premiers, Perth SC, at Lambert Park on Sunday Afternoon.

Any talk of a potential Grand Final hangover coming into this match was put to rest, at least early on in the contest, as we started off well enough and within the first 5 minutes of the game, we had been awarded a penalty. Some nice bit of play down the right-hand side saw William Angel make his way into the box, where he was then fouled by a Perth defender. Jason Madonis stepped up and made no mistake with the spot-kick, to put us 1-0 ahead. Perth SC were a willing opponent and did not drop their heads as they got themselves back into the game. Even still, we had the better of the first-half and created a host of opportunities and we most certainly should have been in front by more than 1, as we headed to the half-time break. But, some poor finishing by us, left the door ajar for the opposition instead of killing the game off by half-time.

At the start of the second-half, Perth were the more desperate of the two teams and it showed, flying in with some dreadful challenges, all going unchecked by the referee as usual. We looked threatening enough in the early stages of the second-half but could not find the 2nd goal. The longer it stayed at 1-0, the confidence of Perth grew more and more, aware that we could not put them away. As a result, they started to play some football and had a couple of really good chances to punish us, but luckily for us they could not take advantage. After weathering this storm midway through the second-half, we gained a foot-hold back into the game and with Perth pushing on, it left them exposed at the back for us to counter-attack and we did we thought successfully, as we thought we had scored through Alejandro Sanchez, only for it to be disallowed for some reason. After a frantic last 10 or so minutes, the relief was evident as the referee blew for full-time, seeing us come away 1-0 victors.

It was a game where we rode our luck at stages and it is always difficult playing against an opposition you know nearly nothing about, but we did well enough and got the desired result.

It was good to see Hagi Gligor back on the field of play on Sunday after several months out, after suffering a serious leg injury via a horrific challenge in the home match with Hakoah back in April. Welcome back.

With Paul Henderson on a well-deserved break, Ezequiel Consoni got his chance in goals once again on Sunday. He looked shaky I must say early on, but a couple of excellent saves to keep Perth at bay, would have done his confidence the world of good as he ended up having a good game in goals.

No doubt it has been a long season for the boys, but with only 2 weeks to go potentially, they should be putting everything into these next matches, stay focused and win this tournament and then enjoy the off-season.

Sydney Olympic is back in action this Saturday, September 22, in the National NPL Semi-Final, against South Australian Premiers, Campbelltown City, at Steve Woodcock Sports Centre, Newton, South Australia, Kick-Off is at 3.30pm Sydney time.

Back to last week’s Grand Final, it was great to see so many old Sydney Olympic shirts around Leichhardt Oval, and it got me thinking at least, that some of these should be re-made by the club for supporters to purchase. The Sydney Winter, doesn’t make it easy to wear short sleeves, but it would be great to see people wearing these retro jerseys out and about throughout the Summer. God knows I would have no problem wearing one.
(L – R):
1960, 1967, 1979, 1983
1984, 1986, 1990, 1994
1995, 1996, 2000, 2002

We are the Champions – Sydney Olympic 3-1 APIA Leichhardt

After what feels like 7 very long years, Sydney Olympic are once again Champions after claiming the NSW Championship, defeating old rivals APIA Leichhardt 3-1 at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.

We set the tone very early on in this Grand Final, taking the lead only a few minutes into the contest. A beautiful ball over the top found a free running Alejandro Sanchez, who’s pinpoint cross found an unmarked Radovan Pavicevic at the back post and his diving header, put us 1-0 up and sent the Sydney Olympic Supporters into early ecstasy. We continued to dominate proceedings, but very soon after this good early spell, APIA Leichhardt gained a foot-hold back into the match and began to play their own game. The contest ebbed and flowed and APIA did create a couple of opportunities to equalise during this period, but we defended brilliantly, a theme which would be repeated throughout the entirety of the day. But it would be us who would add to our lead, another great through ball once again found Alejandro Sanchez, who beat the offside trap and then rounded the APIA goalkeeper to finish expertly and put us 2-0 up, a fantastic goal. Both teams created chances leading up to half-time but at the half-time break, Sydney Olympic took a deserved 2-0 lead into the sheds.

It was a much more subdued beginning to the second-half. But as if realising the gravity of their own situation, APIA soon sprung back into life and pushed forward looking to get back into the match. They put us under pressure and got themselves into good enough positions to maybe score, but they never really threatened with any actual clear-cut chances, as our defence pretty much snuffed out every attack. After weathering this assault, we created several more opportunities and had it not been for APIA’s goalkeeper, we might have found ourselves with a 4 or 5 goal lead. With 15 minutes to go, we hammered the final blow into the 2018 Grand Final, as Alejandro Sanchez once again popped up to score his 2nd goal of the afternoon and extended our lead to 3-0, as O-LYM-PIC, O-LYM-PIC, O-LYM-PIC rang around Leichhardt Oval just like in the old days, it really was turning into a special day. A late controversial penalty awarded against us in injury-time, somewhat dampened the mood for a minute or 2, before that was all quickly forgotten as the referee blew for full-time and we could celebrate another Championship.



It was a truly magnificent afternoon to see so many Sydney Olympic Supporters come out to support the players and the club, the sighting of many a classic Sydney Olympic shirt being worn by many people around the ground also was brilliant to see.

When Abbas Saad was drafted in to coach the side a week before the start of the season, if anybody had said we would go on to claim the Minor Premiership and win the Grand Final, I would have advised them to go seek some medical help immediately.

But it has become a reality and Abbas Saad must take a lot of the credit for these accomplishments and must also take a lot of credit for convincing Alejandro Sanchez to stick around at the club after the departure of Gorka Etxeberria, who was the one who initially brought Alejandro to the club.

Just quickly on APIA, commiserations to them, they have had a big last 2 seasons, deep runs in the Waratah Cup, FFA Cup, Minor Premiership race as well as back-to-back Grand Finals. The loss of one of their most important players at the back end of this season hurt them and they definitely looked a fatigued side there on Sunday at Leichhardt Oval. Best of luck to them in the FFA Cup.

Of course, the season is not quite over yet for Sydney Olympic either, as we have the National NPL Finals Series to look forward to. A competition which involves the 8 other Minor Premiers of the other State Federations. The winner of this particular tournament earns a spot in the 2019 FFA Cup Round of 32, avoiding the need to play the 4 or so midweek qualifiers next season.

It all gets under way this coming Sunday Afternoon, September 16th. as we host WA Premiers, Perth SC at Lambert Park, Kick-Off is at 3.30pm

Into the Grand Final – Sydney Olympic 4-0 Sydney United

Sydney Olympic is the first team into the 2018 NSW NPL Grand Final, after seeing off Sydney United in the Major Semi-Final on Sunday Night. A hat-trick from Alejandro Sanchez and 1 from Jason Madonis did the damage for the Blues.

Despite the score-line and what appears to be an easy, straight-forward victory, it was anything but in the opening stages of the first-half. We were under the pump early on and could well have gone behind inside the first 10 minutes. The opposition had a couple of good chances to take the lead, but fortunately for us we were able to dodge these bullets. We were looking a little rattled, before we finally composed ourselves and got ourselves into the match. Somewhat against the run of play, we managed to hit them with a dagger after a great poacher’s goal from Alejandro Sanchez. Mid-way through the first-half Sydney Olympic found itself in front. From this point on, we dominated the rest of the first-half, we capitalised on this dominance by getting our 2nd goal of the game via a Sydney United error, and Jason Madonis was on hand to take full advantage to put us 2-0 up. Not even 60 seconds later we had our 3rd and Alejandro Sanchez grabbed a double, as he was found with a good pass before doing the rest to smash his shot home and put us 3-0 up. It was the opposition who now found themselves shell-shocked. We had chances to extend our lead in the closing stages of the first-half, but at the half-time break we had to settle for our 3-0 lead.

As expected, Sydney United came out the hungrier at the start of the second-half, looking to claw back the deficit. To their credit, they did create a few opportunities, but some good defending by us kept them at bay and kept our clean sheet. Just as they were looking to get on top, 20 or so minutes into the second-half, we hit them with the sucker-punch as Alejandro Sanchez broke free, beat his defender and then finished with a plomb for his hat-trick and put us into an unassailable 4-0 lead. We were on fire and could have quite easily made it 5 or 6, but we just lacked that little bit of composure, maybe we were too excited. The last 15 or so minutes of the match were end-to-end, as the opposition went searching for a miracle and for some quick goals, but they left themselves open at the back for counter-attacks. We easily could have scored a few more goals, but everybody was satisfied enough at the full-time whistle with the 4-0 victory and securing a spot in the Grand Final.

We were the better side overall and deserved the victory. Form is all about timing, and we are playing very well at the right time of the season, led of course up front by the revelation that has been Alejandro Sanchez.

We here and most Sydney Olympic Supporters have been saying for some time now, that we have had a good enough XI, all be it with a lack of squad depth, but in this league, you need a quality striker who can make the difference in the important matches, and we definitely have that this season.

The Grand Final this year will be held at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday September 9th. We will now wait to see who we face from the Winner of the Preliminary Final this coming weekend, APIA Leichhardt or Sydney United.

Whoever it might be, all Sydney Olympic Supporters should be at the Grand Final to push the team to victory, see some good football and to salute the players on what has been a fantastic season up to this point.

Obviously beyond the Grand Final, we are also involved in the end-of-season National NPL Finals Series. The draw which has already been done, sees us host Perth SC (Azzuri), the Western Australian Minor Premiers in an Elimination Final on the weekend of the 15th/16th of September.

COME ON OLYMPIC!

We are the Premiers – Sydney Olympic 1-0 Sydney United

Sydney Olympic are the NSW NPL Minor Premiers or Premiers (whichever you prefer), after a 1-0 win over Sydney United at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon, coupled with a slip-up from APIA Leichhardt at Lambert Park at the same time. They went down 2-1 to Hakoah Sydney City-East, to give us the title.

A great crowd rocked up to Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon to see if a miracle would occur. Would we first and foremost do our job and get the victory against Sydney United and would one of our eternal enemies Hakoah, do us a favour against another old rival APIA. It was all very exciting and nerve racking trying to watch the game and then looking at the phone to see what was happening down the road.

For our match, it was a first-half in which we totally dominated and started off like a house on fire. We had the ball in the back of the net very early on, but the referee decided to disallow it. Not long after this, we did get our goal through some good build-up play and a brilliant finish from Alejandro Sanchez, sending the crowd into a frenzy. We had several, clear-cut, golden opportunities to increase our lead throughout the first-half, but some fine goalkeeping and more importantly some poor finishing from us kept Sydney United in the game, who late-on in that first-half, went down to 10 men after a last man challenge which if it did not occur, would have had Alejandro Sanchez 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper and almost certainly a goal.

At half-time we went to the break leading 1-0, while over at Lambert Park, we were astonished to learn that Hakoah were actually the ones leading 1-0 there at half-time. In perhaps what was a good omen or some bit of irony, Hakoah’s goal-scorer was former Sydney Olympic player Amaury Gauthier.

Like we have seen a few times this season and also in the reverse fixture against Sydney United earlier in the season, we struggled to play our normal game against the 10-men and for some reason even retreated into our shell. With this nervy backdrop, we were finding out via updates, that APIA had equalised early in the second-half to make their game 1-1. The nerves were really jangling now and the tension was filtering throughout the ground. We didn’t know whether to push for more goals or to hold on to what we had and this mindset clearly played tricks on the minds of the players. But despite this, we still had more than enough chances to kill the game off and ease our nerves at least at the ground. With 5 minutes to go, we were dismayed to hear that APIA were awarded a penalty in their game, fortunately for us that was missed and Hakoah went down the other end and scored themselves to take the lead, the cheers at Belmore were as loud for that as for our goal.

As full-time was blown at Lambert Park, APIA had been defeated 2-1 by Hakoah, meaning all we had to do was hold on to our 1-0 lead or at the very least get a draw and the Minor Premiership was ours. The full-time whistle was blown a few minutes later at Belmore, cue the pitch invasion and the trophy was on its way to Belmore.

It was a fantastic moment for all Sydney Olympic Supporters and everyone involved at Sydney Olympic as we had clinched our 5th Minor Premiership in our history – (1958, 1960, 2003, 2011, 2018)



Of course this is Australia, and much more importance is given to the Grand Final Winner, as they are the team which are declared the Champions of the season, so the job is only half done. We celebrate and bask in what we have achieved, but we’ve got to push on now.

The capture of the Premiership also qualifies us for the National NPL Finals Series, which is a tournament for the Minor Premiers of the 8 Australian State and Territory Football Federations. The reward for the Winner of this tournament, is to qualify directly for the 2019 FFA Cup National Round of 32.

In the Club Championship, the U18s won 3-1 and in the U20s we lost 4-0. We ended up finishing 4th in the Club Championship, on the face of it very respectable. But look a little closer and First Grade carried us to safety this season, we cannot afford to be that bad again in the U18s and U20s again.

For finishing 1st, we have earned a week off in Week 1 of the Finals, so we will sit back and see how it unfolds and find out who we play the week after. 
 

Wollongong Wolves 0-4 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic has made it 3 wins a row, after defeating the Wollongong Wolves down in Wollongong on Sunday afternoon. The team has come through a difficult spell in the middle of the season and is now entering into some good form at the right time of the season, with Finals around the corner.

Tension was in the air in Wollongong, as both sides had something riding on the result, Wollongong a potential Finals spot and us, chasing the Minor Premiership. It was a fairly even first-half, although Wollongong made the early running in the opening 15 or so minutes, having a couple chances in the process. They could not take advantage, allowing us to settle back into the contest. We dominated the final 25 minutes of the first-half, dominating possession and piling on the pressure onto Wollongong’s backline, we just could not create that one golden chance to put us ahead. But we kept trying, kept pushing and we were eventually rewarded in the shadows of the half-time break. A nice ball found Alejandro Sanchez, who drove towards goal and let off a stinging shot passed the Wollongong goalkeeper to put us 1-0 up. Which was how the score stayed heading into half-time.

5 minutes into the second-half we extended our lead, via a rare headed goal from Niko Tsattalios. After this, we relaxed a little bit too much and invited Wollongong back into the game. They had a couple of chances of their own to pull a goal back, but our defense held firm. After surviving this scare, with 15 minutes to go we went and grabbed our 3rd of the afternoon, with Alejandro Sanchez picking up goal number 2 for himself through another clinical finish. Despite the score-line, the Wolves kept threatening to score themselves, but we continued to keep them at bay and kept our clean sheet. Perhaps cruelly for Wollongong, in injury time we made it 4 thanks to a goal from Max Burgess. At the full-time whistle, we were extremely happy to come away from there with a big win and the important 3 points.

It was a clinical Sydney Olympic display and an even better result, as we continue to keep up the pressure on 1st place APIA Leichhardt, in the tussle for the Minor Premiership.

As the full-time result was known from our fixture, we all turned our attention to the match at Lambert Park, where at the same time, APIA Leichhardt was 30 minutes into their match with the Bonnyrigg White Eagles and happened to be 3-0 down.

What happened next, can only be described as one of the most bizarre turn-arounds ever seen. APIA went on to score the next 6 goals, unanswered, while Bonnyrigg also happened to have 3 of their players sent off during this same period. Remarkable to say the least.

If that happened in Greece, Italy, Croatia, Serbia etc. you can bet your bottom dollar match-fixing accusations would have been thrown around like confetti. While no one is suggesting anything untoward occurred yesterday at Lambert Park, all we can do is read the comments of the Bonnyrigg coach at the conclusion of their match, where he said in his post-match interview – “I don’t think I should say anything, I might get in trouble.” – Make of that what you will.

Questions must also be asked of Football NSW, on why it staggered the Kick-Off times for the 2 teams in the running for the Minor Premiership? Why didn’t Football NSW, knowing what the table was looking like, make the necessary changes to avoid any funny business? Well we are talking about Football NSW at the end of the day, they have no idea.

In the Club Championship, the U18s drew 1-1 and the U20s lost 1-0.

Next week is the final home game and final round of the regular season. No matter what happens, or what needs to happen, or what happens elsewhere, Sydney Olympic Supporters should get down to Belmore Sports Ground after what has been a magnificent season for Sydney Olympic and support the players as they take on Sydney United. So get there this Sunday Afternoon, Kick-Off is at 3pm.

Sydney Olympic 3-1 Sutherland Sharks

Sydney Olympic has kept its hopes of claiming the Minor Premiership alive, after a dominant victory at home to the Sutherland Sharks at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon. We were by far the better side and deserved the victory.

It was an uneventful opening 10 or so minutes of the match and there was a distinct lack of intensity from both sides early on. There were no real clear-cut chances in the opening stages of the first-half until the opposition managed to carve one out after the initial dull period, which luckily for us came to nothing. After this uninspiring spell, we managed to wake up and get ourselves into gear and the final 20 minutes of the first-half was all Sydney Olympic. We fired a few warning shots at Sutherland’s goal, before we finally opened the scoring thanks to a well worked team move and a good finish from Alejandro Sanchez. Very soon after Sanchez could have had his 2nd for the afternoon only for him to miss the target. Sutherland had 1 good chance before half-time but it was us who finished the first-half the far better side, and we were unlucky not to go into the half-time break leading by more, but the signs were there that there would be more goals in the second-half.

We continued in the second-half from where we left off in the first-half, as we created a couple of half chances in the early stages, before we finally buried one to double our lead, with Alejandro Sanchez finishing well again to send us into a 2-0 lead. With that 2nd goal, we looked like we had wrapped it up, we would be in for a comfortable rest of the afternoon and cruise to the victory. But that was knocked on the head very quickly, as Sutherland hit back straight away, after former Sydney Olympic player Adrian Vranic pulled a goal back after a scramble inside the box, meaning it was game on once again. Thankfully we did not drop our heads after we conceded and went right back to work, looking for more goals and 10 minutes after we had conceded, we restored our 2-goal lead as Max Burgess finished off his chance well to make it 3-1. We created several more opportunities in the closing stages of the match, but we were not clinical enough in front of goal and we could not add to our lead. At the full-time whistle we had to be satisfied with the 3-1 victory.

So we did what was needed on Sunday to keep the pressure on at the top of the table. It wasn’t our best performance but we pushed through to claim the vital 3 points. It makes for a very interesting finish to the season now.

As a result of the weekend scores, we find ourselves equal 1st, equal on 42 points with APIA Leichhardt, with 2 rounds remaining in the race for the Minor Premiership. We will need a bit of luck and some results to go our way if we are to leapfrog APIA into 1st, as
we have a significantly inferior goal differential and have the much tougher schedule to end the regular season.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 3-0 and the U20s lost 1-0.

Our next match is this Sunday Afternoon, August 5. A tough one against the Wollongong Wolves away in Wollongong, at Hooka Creek Park, Berkeley. Kick-Off is at 3pm.

Sydney FC NPL 2-3 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic is back in the winner’s circle after a dominant victory over Sydney FC’s youth team on Saturday Night. Do not let the score-line fool you into thinking the match was at all close, as we had 2 dubious penalty decisions given against us, making the match seem close, when in reality the end score was flattering for them.

After a week off, we pleasantly came out of the blocks fast at the beginning of the first-half. We controlled the tempo and most of the possession early on and very soon, we were looking threatening and dangerous in attack. We were rewarded for our early positivity 15 minutes into the match, as Max Burgess picked the ball up got into a good position and put the chance away through a good finish, to put us 1-0 up. We were all over them and with a bit of luck we could have had our 2nd very soon after, but it was not to be. As the first-half rolled on, we were certainly the far better side and we were showing it, but that did not stop the referee from awarding a penalty to the opposition late in the first-half, which they managed to put away to make the score 1-1. We didn’t drop our heads though and continued to push in an effort to re-take the lead before half-time. We had a couple of attacks and half-chances during the closing stages of the first-half, but as the whistle went, we had to settle for the 1-1 score-line heading into the half-time break.

The second-half was more of the same from Sydney Olympic, as we continued our dominance and not long after the restart we had restored our lead, a nice cross from William Angel found the head of Alejandro Sanchez to put us 2-1 up. Not long after this, we again hit the back of the net, thanks to a nice goal from Nikola Kuleski via a freekick. We were 3-1 up and well on top now, looking for more goals and looking to put the opposition to the sword. We had a plethora of chances to do so and realistically we should have been 5 or 6 goals up by the mid-way point of the second-half. But as is usual for Sydney Olympic Supporters, we had to suffer a few heart-attack moments near the end, as the referee once again gave another dubious penalty decision to the opposition. They put the penalty away to make the score 3-2, which was how the match ended at the full-time whistle.

The score-line looks close or “respectable” but in reality, they were never in it and it should have been a real pasting but it wasn’t, a common theme of our season.

So, it was good to get the 3 points and put ourselves back in the Minor Premiership race, as APIA Leichhardt slipped up down in Wollongong only managing a draw. These last 3 matches of the season will be massive and there will be plenty of twists and turns before we head into the Finals.

We have lost the services of George Timotheou, as he has signed a contract with Schalke in Germany, he had been a big loss these last few weeks and will now be an even greater loss for the rest of our season.

But all you can say is congratulations to George for all is hard work and wish him all the best for the future.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 3-1 and the U20s lost 6-0.

Our next match is this Sunday Afternoon, July 29, our first match back at home at Belmore Sports Ground for a long while, against the Sutherland Sharks. Kick-Off is at 3pm.

Rockdale 1-0 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic has run out of steam for 2018, after recording back-to-back losses for the first time this season, in what is the most crucial part of the year. The poor results of the last several weeks has seen us relinquish top spot and all indications suggest that we have thrown away our chance to finish top.

We started off brightly and we were the better side throughout the first-half in what has to be said, was a half of limited goal-scoring opportunities. When we did find ourselves in good positions, the final pass or cross was poor and on other occasions, we were too scared to actually shoot the ball and tried to play intricate passes basically inside the 6-yard box. The first-half was a battle for the most part, but as we went to the half-time break dead-locked at 0-0, I myself, was at least confident we would put away a chance in the second-half and claim the victory.

The second-half was pretty much more of the same but with the added rise in desperation levels from both teams. Both sides created chances but both goalkeepers were in good form and kept the scores at 0-0. We had 1 unbelievable chance and thought we had scored, only for Rockdale’s goalkeeper to pull off a ridiculous save from close range. With 15 minutes remaining we went behind, Paul Henderson pulled off a nice save, but a Rockdale player reacted quicker than anyone else to put away the rebound. We pushed in the closing stages for the equaliser, but it was not to be our night and we had gone down 1-0.

Along with the poor run of results, Sydney Olympic has simply stopped scoring, not that we were a free-scoring team in the first place, but the goals and even the chances have certainly dried up.

As mentioned at the top, this team looks to have run its race for season 2018. Despite having plenty of reasons to be motivated yesterday, (Maintaining ladder position, Will Angel’s 200th match, the big Olympic support that turned up and many many others), we just did not want it enough, as sad as it is to say.

In the first 11 rounds of the season we were incredible, but ever since the start of the second-round of matches, our form and results have dipped. The 7 matches from rounds 12-18 has seen us record a frustrating sequence of L-D-W-D-W-L-L, worrying to say the least.

After leading the competition with as much as a 7-point lead over everyone else at one stage, we have slipped to 2nd. Maybe we will be better as hunters than the hunted, but I won’t hold my breath for a remarkable form reversal.

The (once again) thin squad coupled with the long injury list has finally taken its toll, usually this collapse happens much earlier in the season, so we must at least be grateful for that.

Just to put it into a little bit of perspective, along with the season-ending injuries to Hagi Gligor, Jake De Marigny and Paul Katsetis, the likes of George Timotheou, Zac Mackenzie, Jason Madonis were also missing from yesterday’s match and it was obvious.

Next week is a Bye round as the Waratah Cup Final takes precedence. It definitely is a good thing as the break is needed and we do have plenty of injuries, but it is disappointing that we are limping our way into this break on the back of consecutive defeats and are limping towards the end of the season.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 2-0, the U20s won 2-1.

Our next match is on Saturday Night, July 21, an away match against Sydney FC’s NPL team, at Lambert Park. Kick-Off is at 7.45pm. It simply is must win now.

Blacktown City 1-0 Sydney Olympic

The annual petering out of Sydney Olympic’s season has begun, after witnessing a very lacklustre performance against Blacktown City on Sunday Afternoon. We always seem to save these types of performances at the most important times of the year, we can’t seem to get it done when it matters most and it has been that way for years. We are sliding at the wrong time of the year and it’s going to take something miraculous to halt that slide.

In the first-half we were second-best as Blacktown controlled proceedings and had most of the chances. We needed to be saved on multiple occasions by Paul Henderson who made a series of great saves. Where would we be if he wasn’t with us? And where will we be when he eventually hangs the gloves up? Up shit creek is where. We had a couple of chances as well but we failed to deliver the killer blow, a well-known story for Sydney Olympic this season. At the half-time break the score was dead-locked at 0-0 and we needed to improve in the second-half if we were to get the result.

The second-half was more of the same and within the first few minutes of the re-start we had gone behind and were now down 1-0. After this we reacted well and went in search of an equaliser, but it was not to be. Blacktown countered at pace, knowing full well that there would be space left for them as we pushed forward. Luckily for us they could not extend their lead, leaving us the opportunity to maybe go on and snatch something late on. Unfortunately, we could not manage to find a goal, thus ending a quite frustrating afternoon.

If it was not for Paul Henderson in this match we would have conceded more than 1. The continued absence of George Timotheou in defence leaves a big hole in this team and it was quite obvious again today, when he is due back no one is quite sure of. As for our attack, it has stagnated, the signing of James Demetriou was meant to help us in this regard, but he has been unsighted in the team since he re-signed with us nearly a month ago now.

We’ve had a strangle-hold on 1st place for many weeks now, but we have not been able to capitalise on the situation. We have not been able to increase our lead at the top and significantly gap the rest of the competition. When you also consider that our closest competitor APIA Leichhardt have had the handicap of playing several extra midweek matches in the last few weeks and are actually crushing their opposition in the process, it is even more pathetic from us.

Apart from 1 game this year against Wollongong where we put 5 passed them, we have scraped passed teams for the most part, struggling and generally edging them out by the odd-goal. We should be murdering sides and have had chances during matches this year to do so.

In the last few weeks we have lost to a shocking Bonnyrigg team, struggled to a draw with Hakoah, squandered the chance to beat APIA and have now lost to Blacktown City, we are hitting poor form at the wrong time of the season.

And the worst part is we do not have any excuses for it, we were knocked out of the Cup long ago, and that was supposed to be a “good thing” as we re-focused on our 1 mission, and that was to finish 1st. Despite still being 1 point in front, that looks like being a tall order now.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 1-0 and the U20s also lost, going down 3-1. So, zero points for the entire weekend. If we are not careful we will be dragged into something we don’t want any part of.

Our next match is next Sunday Evening July 8, a tricky match against Rockdale at their dump. 468 West Botany St. Rockdale. Kick-Off is at 5pm. A win is essential here.

Sydney Olympic 2-1 Marconi Stallions

Sydney Olympic picked up the all-important 3 points on Saturday Night against old foes Marconi, in what was a tight and tough contest. Sydney Olympic did enough to claim what may turn out to be a very important victory in the course of this season.

It was a cagey opening to the match, as both sides tried to take control of proceedings. In terms of chances, they were limited and we didn’t see any real chance at goal until after the first 15 minutes, which involved a nice passing move by Sydney Olympic, with the only thing lacking was the end product. After this early period of the match, we definitely started to take the ascendancy and started to pass it around better and have much more possession and before too long, we had opened the scoring. Alejandro Sanchez picked up the ball just outside the box, before making room for himself to then let off a shot, which managed to beat the Marconi goalkeeper and nestle in the corner of the net, giving us a 1-0 lead. The match was becoming a real battle of wills, with not many clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities being created and as time wound down for the end of the first-half, it looked like we would be going to the break with our 1-0 lead. But the referee had other ideas awarding a controversial penalty to Marconi, as it looked like a clear dive from their player. They missed the ensuing penalty but put in the rebound to make the score 1-1, which was how it remained at the half-time break.

The intensity picked up at the start of the second-half and in the first 10 or so minutes, Marconi looked the more hungry and desperate of the 2 sides and were also looking more dangerous and more likely to score, fortunately for us they weren’t able to do so. After this brief period of Marconi dominance, we composed ourselves and re-asserted ourselves in the match. We soon took control of the contest and 15 minutes into the second-half we carved out several good chances, the first was a snap shot from Sanchez which was well saved by the Marconi goalkeeper, the second chance also fell to Sanchez but his shot was smothered by the Marconi goalkeeper, it was to be 3rd time lucky for Sanchez as shortly after he headed home from a corner to claim his double for the night and put us into a 2-1 lead. The match opened up considerably in the last 20 minutes, as Marconi pushed hard for an equaliser, leaving spaces in behind for us to exploit. We did have quite a few chances to extend our lead but we could not add goal number 3, meanwhile Marconi also had their chances, but our defence held firm to keep the score at 2-1, which was how the match ended as the referee blew for full-time.

So another important win against tough opposition. The last 6 rounds will be torture for all Sydney Olympic Supporters by the looks of it, as the run home looks a particularly difficult one and it is made even more difficult by the fact APIA Leichhardt are keeping pace with us and right on our heels for the Minor Premiership.

On the match being played at Lambert Park in the first place, the Canterbury Bulldogs are playing matches there (last round and again next round) so our home match had to be moved to Lambert Park, a ground we seem to do well at anyway. These are the pitfalls of not controlling your own destiny with facilities.

I wonder if we will hear anything about the Tempe Reserve thing any time soon?

In the Club Championship, the U18s got smashed 8-1, but the U20s managed to grab the victory winning 2-1.

Next Sunday Afternoon is possibly our toughest and most important match of the season so far, an away match against 3rd placed Blacktown City at Lily’s Football Centre (Gabbie Stadium), Seven Hills. Kick-Off is at 3pm. 

Hakoah Sydney City-East 2-2 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic once again paid for not being able to put teams away and in the end, you’d have to say that we were somewhat fortunate to grab a draw with the last kick of the game, to salvage a point from the contest.

The beginning of the match was always going to be a tight and tense affair, as Hakoah are the type of team that do not give much away and are hard in the tackle, to the point of being over-physical during their matches. As witnessed in our first encounter with them earlier in the season, where you would be not be wrong if you thought they were meat proprietors instead of footballers. We had the best chance during the early stages of the first-half through Jason Madonis, a chance which was well saved by the Hakoah goalkeeper. We were on top and it would not be long before we did open the scoring, Alejandro Sanchez was put through on goal and he made no mistake to finish coolly and put us 1-0 up. Sydney Olympic dominated the rest of the first-half, in terms of play, possession, pressure and chances. The opposition goalkeeper was having a good game, keeping his side in it. Despite our ladder position, we have had a problem this season in finishing teams off during matches and it was the same story again on Saturday, we should have put them to the sword and been well out of sight at half-time, but we were not clinical enough in front of goal and at the half-time break we had to settle for a 1-0 lead.

If in the first-half it was total domination from Sydney Olympic, then the second-half would play out a little bit differently, it was a much more even contest. We carved out some half chances during the early stages of the second-half, but we could not add to our 1-0 advantage. After this period, the match would turn on its head as within the space of about 5 minutes, mid-way through that second-half, the complexion of the match had changed and we somehow found ourselves 2-1 behind. Firstly, through a speculative and flukey long rage goal and secondly, from a deflected freekick that found its way into our net. From being comfortably in the lead, we now found ourselves behind and would now have a hard task to turn it around. Credit to the players though, who did not switch off or give up and deep into stoppage time we managed to salvage something from the match. Max Burgess would be the hero, as the ball was fed to him on the edge of the box, he turned his defender inside out and with the last play of the game, he hit his shot, which was too hot to handle for the Hakoah goalkeeper securing us a 2-2 draw.

It is never easy to play Hakoah at their place and it certainly wasn’t on Saturday Evening. We showed great character to keep fighting right until the last minute, for which we were eventually rewarded.

The loss of George Timotheou for this match, who suffered an injury during the week was immense and it was quite obvious that he was not there, hopefully the injury is not too serious and we see him back soon.

As surely all Sydney Olympic Supporters would be aware of by now, Sydney Olympic is leading the competition after 15 rounds and are right in the mix to finish 1st. But there is no such thing as destiny and nothing is ever handed to you in this competition and with APIA challenging us all the way, we will have to work hard in every match, if we are to stay in 1st.

In the Club Championship, the U18s won 3-1 while the U20s lost 1-0.

The matches do not get any easier and our next match is another important one. A home match which has been moved to Lambert Park against the Marconi Stallions, on Saturday Night, June 23. Kick-Off is at 7.45pm.

Manly United 1-2 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic got back to winning ways on Saturday Night, seeing off defending Champions Manly United 2-1 away from home. It was a match we dominated but needed some late heroics to secure the all-important 3 points.

We started the match off very well and very quickly seized control of the contest. We were on the front foot and had a chance to take the lead early on, the chance was saved by the Manly goalkeeper. It did not take long for Sydney Olympic to find the back of the net, as the ball fell into the path of Radovan Pavicevic, who made no mistake by putting the chance away to give us an early 1-0 lead. We had a couple more chances inside the first 20 minutes to really put some space between ourselves and Manly, unfortunately we were unable to put away our chances and add to the 1-0 score-line in this time, we were clearly dominating. Perhaps predictably, not long after this passage of play, Manly went down the other end, and with their first real clear-cut chance of the first-half they equalised. Our heads dropped a little bit and perhaps sensing this, Manly bossed the closing stages of the first-half and even had a few chances late-on to go in front. Thankfully for us the half-time break arrived and we went to the sheds all locked up at 1-1.

In somewhat of a continuation from the second-half, we remained on the backfoot during the opening stages of the second-half and we may well have found ourselves behind, but we survived. After this we got ourselves back into the contest, the introduction midway through the second-half of Nicola Kuleski and Jason Madonis, certainly gave us the injection we needed as we once again re-asserted our dominance. We began to pass it around better and carved out several chances as a result, we had them trapped inside their own half for the final 25 minutes and it seemed only a matter of time before we found the winner. This confidence seemed to diminish as every minute passed by and we began to resign ourselves to the 1-1 result, but up-stepped Max Burgess with only a couple of minutes to go, who did well to control the ball and then shoot quickly passed the Manly goalkeeper and into the net, to put us 2-1 up. There were the usual nervy moments late-on but we held on for the huge victory.

So it was good to get back to winning ways, especially at a venue where it is always difficult to get something from, the players and coaching staff must be commended for how they’ve bounced back, after a tough last couple of weeks.

It is fair to say that if the result didn’t end up being what it was, this blog would have been about something entirely different. Like how do certain people, make it all the way to that level as a referee and not know anything about the game.

After the signings of Brendan Hooper and Zac Mackenzie in the signing window, the Club has also added attacker and former Sydney Olympic player James Demetriou, who played with us in 2013 before heading to Europe where he has played for the last 5 or so years, a good addition to the squad.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 3-0 while the U20s lost 4-0. Thank God for First Grade.

Our next match is another important one, this coming Saturday Afternoon June 16, away to Hakoah Sydney City-East, at Hensley Athletic Field in Eastgardens. Kick-Off is set for 4.30pm.

Sydney Olympic 1-1 APIA Leichhardt

It was a much-improved performance from our last 2 matches, where it must be said we were quite ordinary. On Sunday Afternoon we bounced backed to some type of form and Sydney Olympic was very unlucky not to come away with all 3 points against APIA Leichhardt, 4 days after our disappointing Cup elimination to the same opponent.

We started the match off well and had a couple of good chances inside the first 5 minutes, but both shots lacked the power to seriously trouble the opposition goalkeeper. Not long after this we had a header saved off the line, we were well and truly looking the better side. APIA only looked threatening in the first-half via set-pieces and even from those, they really didn’t look like scoring. We continued to dominate proceedings and 10 minutes before the half-time break we got our deserved reward, as Jinya An reacted first to a loose ball inside the APIA box to smash his shot into the back of the net, to give us a 1-0 lead. We were by far the better side in that first-half and we were deserved leaders, we could have easily been 2 or 3 nil up but at the half-time break we had to settle for the 1-0 lead.

We continued our dominance at the start of the second-half, while APIA did step it up, looked threatening and had a couple of chances. The best chance of the opening 15 minutes fell to us through a long-range drive from George Timotheou, which unluckily skimmed the top of the crossbar. We were clearly in the ascendancy but we could not find the 2nd goal which would have killed the game as a contest. APIA remained dangerous going forward, but halfway through the second-half, we were further helped as an APIA player was given his 2nd yellow card and was sent off, meaning we would be up against 10 men for the remaining 20 minutes. We had more chances in the next 10 minutes to put the game to bed but it was sadly not to be. As is usually the case when you let a team off the hook, it comes back to bite you on the backside and it did for us. With 5 minutes to go, APIA levelled the scores via a set piece headed goal, which totally deflated everyone in the ground. Despite this we kept our heads up and continued to push, this time for a winner and right at the death, we had a great chance through Alejandro Sanchez who’s lofted shot unfortunately hit the crossbar, as the full-time whistle was blown, we had to accept the 1-1 result.

It was a good bounce back from the disappointment of FFA Cup elimination. It was a match we absolutely dominated and should have had wrapped up early on, the prize on offer was big, the chance to go 6 points clear of 2nd place heading into the back end of the season, unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.

After signing Brendan Hooper in the window, the club has also signed Zac Mackenzie, previously of APIA. Whether these 2 signings will give us the push we need we will all just have to wait and see. You can’t help but wonder that we need something more.

In the Club Championship, the U18s won 2-0 while the U20s settled for a 0-0 draw.

Last Wednesday Night we had an all-important FFA Cup Round 7 qualifier against APIA Leichhardt. It was a nightmare before a ball was even kicked, with Paul Henderson, Alejandro Sanchez and Radovan Pavicevic all ruled out before the game due to injury, adding to the already long injury list.

It did not help that a goalkeeping error gifted APIA an early goal, which meant we were on the backfoot from the get-go. The makeshift line-up just could not create anything substantial in attack, while at the back, we looked uncharacteristically shaky and dis-organised throughout.

2 more second-half goals from APIA sealed our fate and once again, we were knocked out early from the FFA Cup and as a result the Waratah Cup, also for another year. It is disappointing to say the least and it is now 3 years in a row of non-progression.

For such an important match and even with all our injuries, we still did not look interested which was even more disappointing. Given the exposure the club and players were likely to receive if we had qualified, it makes it even more disappointing for all Sydney Olympic Supporters.

Our next match is this Saturday Night June 9, away to defending Champions Manly United at Cromer Park, Kick-Off is at 7pm. We need to kick-on now and have a good end to the League season.

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1-0 Sydney Olympic

Sydney Olympic has lost its first match in 10 weeks, going down to the Bonnyrigg White Eagles in a torrid affair on Saturday Night. You can’t win every week and at some point, we knew we would have our loss, and it happened to be to a much more desperate team.

Those who have been following this League for a while would know what becomes of the pitch out at Bonnyrigg, especially at this time of the year. If we’re being frank, you wouldn’t let your dog take a dump on it, it’s that bad. But in saying that, we should have known this and prepared for the conditions accordingly. Add to the fact that we’ve always had a tough time of it out there and it was always going to be a slog. Bonnyrigg, being accustomed to playing there, adapted to the conditions easier. It took us a while to get into the match and find our feet, ironically, we had the best chance of the entire first-half but unfortunately, the chance was missed. Not long after this Alejandro Sanchez worryingly hobbled off, after being on the receiving end of one too many rough challenges, we will just have to wait and see how bad it is. At the half-time break there was no change to the 0-0 score-line, but we were well in the fight and we were confident that we could get the job done in the second-half.

At the start of the second-half, the arm-wrestle resumed, with the opening stages being a battle for midfield supremacy, with both sides looking to gain the upper-hand. Midway through the second-half we managed to score and thought we had our breakthrough, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. Sensing they had been let off the hook somewhat, in the last 20 minutes of the match Bonnyrigg went for it. They did have a couple of chances in that time and they somehow managed to bundle the ball into the back of the net to give themselves the lead. We pushed hard in the closing stages for the equaliser but it would not be our night and we suffered a 1-0 loss.

It wasn’t our greatest performance this season by any stretch of the imagination but still we were unlucky to actually come out of it with a loss. So just to wrap up this match, possession-based stuff and passing it around was never going to win us the game on a pitch like that on Saturday Night. The order of the day was route 1 stuff and a wing-based game, putting in cross after cross into the box would have been the way to go.

No doubt we will have some bumps and bruises after playing on the heavy pitch, but the concern is with Sanchez who got taken off in the first-half, we all sincerely hope that it is nothing serious as the next 7 days are massive for the club.

Currently we are in what’s called a “signing window” and as we have discussed a few times, we do need a couple of re-enforcements, due to our injury list. Last week Sydney Olympic did announce the signing of defender Brendan Hooper, who returns after previously playing for the club between 2013-2015. Another midfielder and forward will do nicely.

In the Club Championship, the U18s copped a 2-1 loss and the U20s also had a loss, going down 3-1, no shocks here, we are woeful in these grades. If our first-grade team happens to go through a 3 or 4 match winless run, we will find ourselves in a scrap to avoid relegation, which of course occurs via the Club Championship format, and this season it is particularly close.

Attention now turns to the coming week, the biggest week for Sydney Olympic Football Club in many years.

On Wednesday we have an all-important FFA Cup Round 7 qualifier against old rivals APIA Leichhardt. This is the final qualifying round, before the main FFA Cup Round of 32 begins. The match will be at Belmore Sports Ground, this Wednesday Night, May 30, Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.

Just 4 days later we will face APIA Leichhardt once again, this time in the League on Sunday Afternoon, June 3. Both sides fill the top 2 positions in the standings and after last week’s shock loss against Bonnyrigg, this match takes on extra significance for us as top spot will be up for grabs. Kick-Off is at 3pm at Belmore Sports Ground.

Get out to both matches and support the boys.

Sydney Olympic - Club Records - Pt 2.

This is a follow up on a blog I did last year attempting to put to together the Sydney Olympic club records, that is player appearances and goal statistics for every season.

They were incomplete, as the statistics for seasons 1958, 1959, 1960, 1975, 1976, 1980 had not been located.

Over the last few months, I have managed to track down the information for seasons 1975, 1976 and 1980.

So we are getting there, all that is left to find is the relevant information for seasons 1958, 1959, 1960, which are our first 3 seasons, where we competed in the NSW 2nd division. This will obviously not be easy, but we hope to track them down in the near future to complete these records.

For the benefit of everyone reading this blog, here are the Top 20 for appearances & goals.

Appearances:

1. Gary Meier - 412 Games (1972-1994)
2. Gary Phillips - 312 Games (1982-1993)
3. David Barrett - 281 Games (1988-1997)
4. Peter Raskopoulos - 259 Games (1977-1979 & 1981-1989)
5. Tony Spyridakos - 251 Games (1982-1991 & 1992-1995)
6. Brian Smith - 212 Games (1962-1972)
7. Paul Henderson* - 211 Games (2010-)
8. Elias Augerinos - 210 Games (1991-2002 & 2003/04)
9. Ante Juric - 210 Games (1994/95 & 1997-2004)
10. Graham Jennings - 204 Games (1979-1985)
11. William Angel* - 193 Games (2011-)
12. Robert Ironside - 193 Games (1988-1994 & 1995/96)
13. Peter Katholos - 190 Games (1981-1986 & 1991-1993)
14. Peter Tsekenis - 180 Games (1991-2000)
15= Grant Lee - 176 Games (1988-1995)
15= Norman Tome - 176 Games (1993-2000)
16. George McCulloch - 168 Games (1965-1972)
17. Sotiris Patrinos - 159 Games (1960-1964 & 1966-1970) Missing 1960**
18. Comino Omeros - 158 Games (1958-1964 & 1966-1969) Missing 1958, ‘59, ‘60**
19. Pablo Cardozo - 157 Games (1990-1993, 1998-2001 & 2003/04)
20= Robert Hooker - 156 Games (1987-1992)
20= Chris Kalantzis - 156 Games (1983-1987 & 1997-2000)

Goals:

1. Brian Smith - 72 Goals (1962-1972)
2. David Harding - 69 Goals (1969-1975)
3. Pablo Cardozo - 68 Goals (1990-1993, 1998-2001 & 2003/04)
4= Marshall Soper - 60 Goals (1983-1989)
4= Norman Tome - 60 Goals (1993-2000)
5. Abbas Saad - 56 Goals (1987-1992, 1993/94 & 1996/97)
6. Mark Koussas - 53 Goals (1979-1985)
7. Doug Logan - 50 Goals (1963-1969)
8. John Karagiannis - 48 Goals (1963-1968)
9. Robert Ironside - 44 Goals (1988-1994 & 1995/96)
10. Peter Katholos - 42 Goals (1981-1986 & 1991-1993)
11= Chris Kalantzis - 40 Goals (1983-1987 & 1997-2000)
11= Matthew Mayora - 40 Goals (2008-2010 & 2012)
12. Sotiris Patrinos - 38 Goals (1960-1964 & 1966-1970) Missing 1960**
13. Harris Gaitatzis - 35 Goals (2014-2016)
14. Kris Trajanovski - 34 Goals (1993/94 & 1995-1997)
15. Chris Triantis - 31 Goals (2007-2012 & 2016)
16. Ante Milicic - 30 Goals (2001-2003)
17. Phil Makrys - 27 Goals (2010-2013)
18. Gary Manuel - 26 Goals (1971-1976)
19= Roy Blitz - 25 Goals (1965-1969)
19= Dimitri Hatzimouratis - 25 Goals (2014-2015)
19= Peter Raskopoulos - 25 Goals (1977-1979 & 1981-1989)
20. Greg Owens - 23 Goals (2000-2003 & 2004/05)

That’s how it looks as of 27/05/2018, until the records are completed. The relevant information has been passed onto the club.

Sydney United 0-2 Sydney Olympic

We almost have to pinch ourselves at what we are seeing so far this season. The team is absolutely in top form and brushing aside every adversary at this point in time. And it was no different on Saturday Night, as we professionally and clinically swept aside Sydney United at Edensor Park, in what was another brilliant display.

It was a cagey opening to this Sydney Derby as both sides felt each other out, but pretty soon we seized control of the contest and would go on to dominate the first-half. Despite our dominance and plethora of chances, we would take the lead via a defensive error, which saw Alejandro Sanchez put through on goal and he calmly put away his chance, continuing his great form of 2018 to put us up 1-0 up with around 20 minutes gone. After we managed to open the scoring, we kicked it up a few gears looking for our 2nd goal. We had a multitude of chances throughout the first-half as William Angel, Max Burgess, Radovan Pavicevic all should have scored goals in what was complete dominance from us. But it would be Tom Whiteside who would grab our 2nd of the night as his left-foot volley took a slight deflection before smashing into the back of the net and we were cruising at 2-0 up, he is becoming a goal-scoring machine. We continued to dominate in the final stages of the first-half and if we had our shooting boots on, we would have been at least 4 or 5 nil up at the half-time break, but we had to settle for the 2-0 lead.

Before we had to time to settle into the second-half, a melee had erupted after we had spurned an early chance. A Sydney United player then proceeded to push Sanchez to the ground on several occasions for reasons we don’t know. The referee sent the Sydney United player off which sparked the melee and 2 or 3 minutes of on-field rubbish. This was a clear attempt by them to put us off our game, as they were being thoroughly outplayed and thus tried the rough stuff only for that to also backfire. For the rest of the second-half we would be up against 10 men. This incident seemed to have a negative effect on us as despite now having the man advantage and being 2-0 up, we retreated into our shell for the next portion of the match. Sydney United started to control the game and had more of the ball, with us resorting to counter-attacks, which by the way should have resulted in us putting the game to bed if we had managed to finish off the opportunities. Although the opposition huffed and puffed throughout that second-half, they really didn’t create too many clear-cut chances and as the full-time whistle went, we had recorded another good victory.

So it was another fantastic display from Sydney Olympic as we continued our winning run and continue to play good football. Defensively we are looking very solid also. Confidence would be sky-high at the moment.

This match wrapped up the first half of the 2018 season, time sure does fly. 9 Wins, 1 Draw, 1 Loss. We will be doing extremely well to match that in the second half of the season and we all hope that it happens.

In the Club Championship, the U18s copped a 3-0 loss and the U20s also had a loss, going down 3-1.

In our Round 6 FFA Cup Qualifier against Hawkesbury City from last Wednesday Night, plenty of younger players got a run, but we still had enough quality on the park to get through to the next round. We rode our luck at different stages during the match but we got the job done which is what mattered. Now we look forward to seeing who we draw for Round 7, which is the final Qualifying round before the main FFA Cup draw.

For our next match, we are back out to Fairfield this Saturday Night May 26, to take on the Bonnyrigg White Eagles in another vital match. It will be at the Bonnyrigg Sports Club, Kick-Off at 7pm.

Sydney Olympic 5-1 Wollongong Wolves

The Sydney Olympic boys are in a purple patch of form at the moment, backing up their impressive recent displays by putting the Wollongong Wolves to the sword on Sunday Afternoon at Belmore. The confidence within the squad would be sky-high which is great, as we have some very important matches coming up.

It was a lively start to the match as both sides looked well up for the contest, it was an even first 10 or so minutes and Wollongong more than held their own. There were no real clear-cut chances in the opening stages, but it was a competitive contest all the same, with us just shading proceedings. Pretty soon though we took the lead via a beautiful finish from Radovan Pavicevic, who was put through on goal by Alejandro Sanchez with a nice flick pass. We dominated the next little period of the game and pretty soon we were rewarded with our 2nd goal of the afternoon. Our centre-back Tom Whiteside managed to score our 2nd with a great back heel flick, which was reminiscent of a goal the former Dutch International Rafael van der Vaart scored whilst playing at Ajax many years ago, a great bit of skill by Tom and we were now 2-0 up. In between our goals Wollongong should have had at least 1 player sent off, their new “superstar” recruit was flying into our players studs-up and off the ball, while others were elbowing our players in the head, all of this of course, was “not seen” by the referee. In the last 5 minutes of the first-half Wollongong stepped up their play and had a couple of good chances too. They were rewarded with a goal just moments before the half-time break thanks to a long-range strike. With Wollongong pulling 1 back we went in at half-time a little deflated but still leading 2-1.

The match was evenly poised as we started the second-half. In the first 15 or so minutes of the second-half you’d have to say that Wollongong had the better of the play and they put us under the pump in that period, fortunately for us, they were not able to take advantage of their dominance in possession and so we were able to survive. Shortly after this period though, we made it 3-1 and punished them with a bullet freekick from Alejandro Sanchez, their goalkeeper had no hope of getting anywhere near it, it was a great goal. Wollongong kept pushing in an attempt to get back into the contest, but as they pushed we hit them on the counter with around 10 minutes to go. Sanchez set up Pavicevic inside the box who put his chance away to put us 4-1 up. Wollongong by this time, with the wind knocked out of them were deflated, and right near the end we made it 5-1 as Sanchez grabbed another goal as he was found in the box from a William Angel cross.

So again, it was another outstanding performance by Sydney Olympic and even more so, considering Max Burgess and Nikola Kuleski were missing, adding to the long list of players we already have missing at the moment, among them, Hagi Gligor, Jake de Marigny, Paul Katsetis. A truly Herculean effort.

In the Club Championship, the U18s grabbed a 0-0 draw and the U20s had a 1-1 draw.

Our next match is a Round 6 FFA Cup Qualifier against Hawkesbury City, this Wednesday Night, May 16, at Peter Moore Field. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm. We cannot afford to take this match lightly. Despite Hawkesbury being an NPL 3 side, they have dangerous players and have the ability to cause us problems, we must be switched on.

Our next match in the League is this Saturday Night, May 19. A tough match away to Sydney United at Edensor Park. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.

The matches are coming thick and fast, get down and support the boys.

Sutherland Sharks 0-3 Sydney Olympic

With a clinical display in the second-half against the Sutherland Sharks, Sydney Olympic find themselves Top of the Ladder after 9 rounds of the NSW NPL this season, thanks to a dominant 3-0 victory.

We started the match off promisingly once again and we looked well up for it on Saturday Night, against a side who potentially could have been a very difficult opponent for us. It would be Sydney Olympic though who would control proceedings. Our front 3 of Radovan Pavicevic, Alejandro Sanchez, Jason Madonis have been in top form so far this season, combined with the support of Max Burgess, Nikola Kuleski, Jinya An from midfield, we created several chances in that first-half. It was basically all-out attack from us with William Angel and Riley Woodcock overlapping and supporting the attack from their fullback positions. Despite our dominance we could not find the opening goal in that first-half, Jinya An hit the woodwork twice, Sanchez and Pavicevic were denied as well and we had a couple more chances outside of these. In defense we did not look all that troubled, although Sutherland did have a couple of chances of their own and Paul Henderson did have to make a decent save at one point. But as we headed to the half-time break, a sense of deja vu engulfed the Sydney Olympic Supporters who turned up to Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday Night, would it again be one of those nights, where we would have to battle all the way to the very end to defend a slender lead or save a draw?

By halfway through the second-half we got our answer to that question. We put away 3 quick goals and we were basically home and hosed. The first goal was from a nice volley finish from Pavicevic, the 2nd goal came through a great Madonis run where he was then brought down inside the box, he picked himself up to dispatch the penalty and the 3rd goal came via Madonis again, as he was set up by Sanchez and buried his shot low and into the corner to put us 3-0 up. The second-half was an attacking masterclass from Sydney Olympic and it looked like men against boys out there, we easily could have scored a couple more as well. In defense we were fairly comfortable throughout the match as we ran out comprehensive 3-0 winners.

It truly was a magnificent performance by the team and probably our most complete display of the season so far. We can’t get ahead of ourselves as there is a long way to go in 2018, but there are positive signs for the rest of the season.

As has been discussed, the squad does need a couple additions to offset the long-term injuries we have at the club. It is a delicate balance between finding and bringing new guys in, but at the same time, not disturbing the current chemistry of the side in this current moment. With the window opening on May 14, expect to see a couple of signings.

In the Club Championship, the U18s grabbed a 1-1 draw and the U20s picked up the 2-1 win. A good weekend all-round.

In our FFA Cup Round 5 encounter away to Terrigal United last Wednesday Night, our 20s players got their chance to show what they’ve got as a youthful Sydney Olympic got the job done with a 2-0 win and we now await our opponents in Round 6.

Our next match is in the League this coming Sunday Afternoon, May 13, at home at Belmore Sports Ground against the Wollongong Wolves. Kick-Off is at 3pm. Get down there and support the club.

Sydney Olympic 1-0 Sydney FC Youth

Sydney Olympic has recorded win number 6 of the season. But we did it much harder than it needed to be, as we squandered numerous chances to put this game to bed and, in the end, we had to grind out the result.

We started the match off in ominous form and we could have conceivably been 3-0 up inside the first 10 minutes, with only a couple of good saves from the goalkeeper and some desperate last ditch defending preventing it from being so. We were carving them up at will and it only seemed a matter of time before we would open the scoring, we continued to look dangerous in attack, especially down both flanks as the first-half progressed. If we weren’t missing chances, then it was our last pass options that was letting us down, we just didn’t have that little bit of luck. Eventually we did find the back of the net, only for that to be ruled out for offside. We huffed and puffed in that first-half, totally dominating the play but we were not able to get our reward, which was very frustrating. The only time we looked in any sort of trouble defensively, was due to our own doing. Losses in concentration saw us sloppily give the ball away a couple of times which resulted in them breaking away at pace, fortunately for us their end product was worse than ours. At the half-time break the score was 0-0 and it had the stench of being one of those days where the ball would not go in.

Unlike last week where we started the second-half poorly, yesterday we came back from the break and continued our positive play from the first-half. This positivity was rewarded 10 minutes into the second-half, as Radovan Pavicevic headed home from a corner to finally give us a much deserved 1-0 lead. We had other chances but we would not be as dominant in the final 30 minutes of the match. The opposition, having been let off the hook throughout the contest sensed an equaliser and pushed hard in this endeavour. It is what happens when you fail to put teams to the sword. As a result of them pushing for a goal, it did open up some space for us to kill the game off. We had a couple of good opportunities, but we just could not find the second goal. We had a couple of scares defensively late-on, but we were able to hold on to our lead and claim the all-important victory.

As a supporter, you cannot be displeased with the season we are currently experiencing. 8 matches, 6 Wins, 1 Draw, 1 Loss. A brilliant start to the season and we have put ourselves in a good position to challenge on all fronts this season.

With several injuries to the squad, we will be stretched thin over the next few weeks as the matches will now be coming thick and fast. A couple of re-enforcements are needed when the window opens in a couple of months.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 4-3 and the U20s managed to grab a 2-2 draw.

Our next match is a Round 5 FFA Cup match against Terrigal United this Wednesday Night, May 2. Taking place on the Central Coast at Pluim Park, Tuggerah St. Lisarow. Kick-Off is at 7pm.

Our next League match is this Saturday Night, May 5. An always tough away day to face the Sutherland Sharks. Kick-Off is at 6.30pm at Seymour Shaw Park in Miranda.

Sydney Olympic 2-2 R******e

On Sunday, Sydney Olympic threw away a 2-0 half-time lead, succumbing to a disappointing 2-2 draw and in the process, that result ended our perfect home League record for 2018.

The result should have been put way beyond doubt and we should have been well out of sight at half-time. Unfortunately, a poor second 45 ensured that we shared the spoils. The result also saw us spurn the chance to go outright First in the League.

It looked all very positive early on, as we started the match off very well and took the game to our opponents. We created several good opportunities, only some poor finishing and good goalkeeping kept us scoreless in that first 15 minutes. Alejandro Sanchez and Max Burgess were on-song once again for Sydney Olympic, they have probably been our 2 best players so far this season and were once again, our 2 most dangerous players in the first-half. 20 minutes in, they would combine to break the dead-lock, as some nice work from Sanchez saw the ball fall for Burgess who made no mistake to tap home and give us a 1-0 lead. It was good to see that we did not rest on our laurels, kept up the pressure and continued pushing for more goals. We had a couple of good chances to double our lead before Sanchez eventually did, around 10 minutes before half-time, with a good finish to put us 2-0 up. At the half-time break there was only one team in it and realistically we should have gone to the sheds 4 or 5 nil up. The confidence was there though that we would come out in the second-half and finish the job, so at 2-0 we looked comfortable.

That confidence diminished fairly quickly, as we looked like a different team to start the second-half. We looked sluggish and inside the first 20 minutes of the second-half, the opposition created 4-5 excellent chances and before we knew it our 2-0 lead had evaporated, as we conceded 2 goals in quick succession, we could have even shockingly found ourselves behind. We briefly awoke from our slumber late on in an attempt to re-take the lead, but in reality, it was the opposition who looked the more likely to find a winner. Fortunately, we did not concede again and at the full-time whistle, we had to accept the 2-2 result. It’s not about being an idiot and laying into anyone, but it was a poor second-half all-round, a more Jekyll & Hyde performance you will not see anywhere.

On the injury front, we now know that Hagi Gligor will join Jake de Marigny in missing the rest of the season with long-term injuries and it could be late June/early July before we see Paul Katsetis back. So, our depth will once again be tested, a problem the Club has experienced for the last few seasons. William Angel who we sorely missed yesterday, will be back next match after serving his suspension.

In the Club Championship, the U18s lost 4-0 and the U20s managed to grab a 1-1 draw. Same old, same old here.

For the FFA Cup, we have been drawn away to Terrigal United from the Central Coast in Round 5 of the competition. That match will more than likely take place next mid-week. Details TBC.

Our next match is this Sunday, April 29. We need to get back on the horse against an always difficult and enthusiastic Sydney FC NPL team, it is essential we bounce back straight away with a victory. Kick-Off is at 3pm at Belmore Sports Ground.