Newcastle Olympic came away with two draws in the wash out Round 3 fixture of the 2026 Northern NSW NPL competition. Playing only their second home game of the season Reserve Grade dropped their first points after being forced to a 1-1 draw while First Grade were able to force a 2-2 draw at the end of the match!
Olympic Reserve Grade began their game with much promise after taking the lead in the 4th minute of play when Steven Theacos put a well flighted ball to Kane Treble on the left flank. The Adamstown goalkeeper came charging out of his goal, Treble sidestepped him and tapped the ball into an empty net! This was a perfect start to the game and the Olympic faithful who filled the Darling St Oval grandstand began to rub their hands for the sixth consecutive victory of the season.
What no one knew was that by the end of the match the referee was going to hand out 7 yellow cards and 1 red to Olympic and another 3 yellow cards and 1 red to Adamstown Rosebud for a total of 10 yellows and 2 reds! Being a referee is not an easy job and sometimes they too can have a bad game! The fouls ratio by the end of the match was 17 to 14 Adamstown’s way, yet the cards 8 to 4 Olympics’ way!!!
Olympic was very compact in defence and reduced Adamstown to only 5 shots on goal throughout the match with only 2 on target while Olympic took 18 shots on goal and only 3 on target! Olympic controlled the game and were never threatened but Adamstown had a physical presence that prevented Olympic from dictating play like they did in the 5 previous games.
Despite this, Olympic were cruising along and after a corner by Adamstown was cleared with a header by George Tsamouras, the ball fell into the path of left back Lewis Houston who chested a bounced ball to get it under control and while leading a speedy counter-attack, the referee blew his whistle to stop play. The decision was that Houston didn’t control the ball with his chest but with his elbow and Adamstown were awarded a penalty! Despite the protests the gift was then converted into a goal and 1-1 was the scoreline that the teams walked off for the half time interval.
In the second half Olympic continued to have the lion’s share of shots on the Adamstown goal but the physical presence of the Rosebuds kept the scoreline at 1-1. As the game wore on, both teams began to show evidence of fatigue given it was a midweek game and after a day’s work for most of the players. Olympic tried to freshen their play by brining in Lucas Walshe, Oliver Steinerts and First Grade player Brody Taylor, in the 60th minute.
Taylor’s first touch on the ball resulted in a yellow card and given the referee’s appetite for cards on the night, he received another yellow and was shown the path to the dressing rooms with a red, 20 minutes later! The Olympic coaching staff also received 2 yellow cards for protesting and 4 minutes later, Adamstown received a red card to make the player number equal again until the end of the match.
Despite the draw, Olympic are 1st on the points table, and after a rest over the Easter weekend, face Broadmeadow Magic on Saturday 11th April at Darling St Oval.
Newcastle Olympic First Grade went into this game facing a team at the bottom of the points table without a win and having scored only 3 goals in 5 games! By the end of 90 minutes of play the shots on goal were only 2-1 to Olympic, Olympic scored 4 goals, and the result was 2-2!
Olympic began the game well but were too slow in winning the ball in midfield and without the ball, could not provide service to the front line or give their defence time to catch their breath! Despite this, they took the lead in the 32nd minute when Ben Hay lobbed the ball from the centre circle to Kale Brabery who in turn lobbed a poorly positioned Adamstown goalkeeper. Rosebuds appealed for an offside, the linesman’s flag didn’t go up and Olympic were 1-0 in the lead.
Two minutes later an incorrect pass in midfield by Sean Pratt resulted in Adamstown launching a quick counter-attack, the ball is fired at the Olympic goal, Adam Pearce saves but the ball hits an Olympic defender and deflects into the net for a 1-1 scoreline!
At half time, the score is 1-1 and according to the statistics board supplied by Northern NSW, the crowd were treated to only 1 shot on goal a piece by both teams in 45 minutes of football!
In the 2nd half the introduction of Lachlan West and Wil Harvey on the hour mark gave the midfield spark and speed but not before another set back! A routine cross from the right by Adamstown resulted in the ball being chested into the Olympic goal by a defender for a 1-2 scoreline!
Adamstown sensed the possibility of an upset and retreated to hold the score while Olympic took control of the game and pressed their opponent all over the field. By the 83rd minute across from the left by Kierry James resulted in the Rosebud defence clearing the ball into the path of Marcus Duncan who unleashed a powerful volley to level the score 2-2.
Despite covering every blade of grass until the 90th minute Olympic were unable to find another goal and the 2-2 scoreline remained. After two successive draws against Cooks Hill and Adamstown, Olympic are in 7th place.
Source: Tom Tsamouras
George Tsamouras Football Journey 