Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade returned to their winning ways against Weston defeating the Bears 3-1. Olympic First Grade however lost again by 2-1 against the same opponent.
Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade put smiles on everyone’s faces with a gutsy 3-1 win over Weston after three successive losses which cost them first place on the points table. Playing in front of their fans at Darling St Oval for the second successive game the boys in blue took control of the match and dictated play.
Without the handicap of players from first grade “playing down”, the midfield trio of Goble-Lote, Harvey and Tsamouras were controlling proceedings in the middle while Zervas, Fitzgerald and Butler were a constant threat up front.
In the 19th minute a through ball by Blake Clifton in midfield to George Tsamouras and a quick one-two with Fitzgerald resulted in a wide pass to Zervas who laid the ball perfectly for Butler to strike it home and open the score for Olympic, 1-0!
A few minutes later Jye King of Weston was allowed to advance unchallenged until outside the box and from there he unleashed a long range shot which the Olympic goalkeeper wasn’t able to even get a hand for a 1-1 scoreline!
In the remaining 20 minutes until half time, an injury to Rhys Butler which caused a reshuffle of players as well as the natural confidence from the equaliser resulted in Weston getting the upper hand.
At half time Olympic swapped both centre halves who were filling in for Phillips and Paksec who were recovering from injury. The team regained control of the game and began to dictate play. With strength and composure at the back, crispy one touch passing in the middle and threatening strikes by their forward line, they were a delight to watch.
As early as the 46th minute a quickly taken short corner by Walshe and Tsamouras resulted in a beautiful cross into the box and with a glancing header by Fitzgerald the score became 2-1. A little while later a magnificent move and a through ball by Tsamouras to Fitzgerald resulted in another goal but this was disallowed as offside!
With the introduction of Steinerts and Petersen Olympic were in complete control and it was only a matter of time before they scored again to secure the result. This came in the 82nd minute when a pass from Fitzgerald found Steinerts on the edge of the box who had little trouble burying the ball at the back of the net with a smashing left drive.
Olympic not only returned to their winning ways but this was done against a strong opponent who fought and competed throughout the match. Despite the win Olympic remain 2 points behind Valentine on the points table but with 10 games remaining, there is plenty of time for them to return to 1st spot.
Newcastle Olympic First Grade misfortunes continued against Weston, going down by 2-1 despite putting up a fight. The boys in blue began well but found themselves behind as early as the 24th minute when Brock Beveridge opened the score for Weston with a long range shot from outside the box!
This lead was short lived as four minutes later a quick counter-attack produced a fine cross from Kale Bradbery and Ben Hays pounced to level the score 1-1. The arm wrestle continued between the two sides and just before half time a routine attack by Weston resulted in Chris Hatfield wrong footing the Olympic goal-keeper to send his side 2-1 into the half time interval.
In the second half Weston tried to score the goal that would secure the three points for them but Olympic fought all the way to try and equalise. The excellent performance by the Weston goalkeeper played a big role at keeping Olympic at bay!
Despite a gusty effort this was Olympics’ second successive defeat at home and it leaves them 14 points from the top and a mere 3 points off bottom spot. Next week they host Charlestown Azzurri and they are in desperate need of the two points to avoid a battle at the wrong end of the points table.
Source: Tom Tsamouras
