Newcastle Olympic record a comfortable 4-1 win in Reserve Grade and a narrow 3-2 defeat in First Grade against Edgeworth Eagles

Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade opened a 9 point lead at the top of the table four games before the end of the season while First Grade were narrowly defeated by Edgeworth Eagles in a game they deserved at least a draw!

Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade delivered a vintage performance in their last home game of the season defeating an Edgeworth Eagles side by only 4-1! Despite regular players missing, their u18s replacements slotted in perfectly to produce an outstanding performance which deserved a scoreline much higher than the 4-1.

With First Grade regulars Mason King and Joey Smith, Edgeworth Eagles did not resemble a team at the bottom of the table in the first half of the game. Indeed, a deflected shot by Mason King enabled the ball to fall perfectly at the feet of Brodie Slattery in the 10^th minute of the game to put the visitors 1-0 ahead.

By the 16^th minute and after a teasing corner by George Tsamouras and sustained pressure inside the Edgeworth box, Callum Priestley came into possession of the ball and had no problem slotting it in the back of the net to bring the game level at 1-1. In the 35^th minute another teasing corner by George Tsamouras resulted in Blake Clifton having his header rebound off the crossbar and when it landed on the ground, Callum Priestley was there to poke it into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead! The shots on target at the end of the first half only had Olympic 4-1 in front but the 17-4 shots on goal is indicative of the domination from the home side!

The second half was all Olympic with an incredible 29-6 shot-on-goal ratio demonstrating the dominance of the home side! Proceedings on the scoreboard had to wait until the 64^th minute when midfielder George Tsamouras was given enough time and space outside the box to unleash a thunderbolt that increased the score to 3-1. Jesse Fitzgerald who returned from injury and entered the game at half time made it 4-1 in the 70^th minute with a curling shot from just inside the box.

Olympic continued to threaten the Edgeworth goal and the scoreline should have been a lot higher had it not been for the outstanding performance of Ethan Lewis in goals for the visitors and the poor finishing by the Olympic attack.

The win gives Olympic 14 wins from 18 games and 9 points clear from second placed Cooks Hill and Maitland with four games remaining!

Newcastle Olympic First Grade began the match against Edgeworth in 7^th place on the ladder, 25 points behind the visiting league leaders! Despite this, the performance by the home side had their supporters rubbing their eyes in disbelief! Olympic dominated play, led 1-0 from the 30^th minute through a goal by midfielder Lachlan West and finished the half with a 5-1 shot on target ratio!

The start of the second half was no different and spectators sensed that perhaps an upset was on the cards against a team which had recorded 15 wins in 18 games! It wasn’t until the 64^th minute when the visiting team was able to equalize from a superb Aaron Oppedisano cross and a volley on the far post by Jose Atayde!

In the 71^st minute a corner by Edgeworth resulted in players rising up for a header and despite no player connecting with the ball, the referee awarded the visitors a very soft penalty! An Edgeworth player who went up for a header but did not connect with the ball and who fell to the ground was judged to have been impeded!

In the 86^th minute a ball was cleared off the line by Olympic, the linesman did not see the ball cross the line but the referee who was 20 metres away awarded a goal. Olympic players protested and pointed to the linesman who was in a better position to determine if the ball had crossed the line but the referee was not interested!

In the 90^th minute Jye Rodway fired a thunderbolt at the Edgeworth keeper who, despite being able to get a hand to the ball, was unable to keep it out. The game finished 3-2 in favour of the visitors but Olympic gave a good account of themselves and deserved at least a draw.