Monthly Archives: June 2026

Round 16 of the 2026 NPL competition of Northern NSW pitches Newcastle Olympic against Maitland FC at Cook Square Park on Sunday! The two matches for both Reserve Grade and First Grade will be difficult and both teams need to be at their very best to come away with any points.

Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade are at the top of the points table with 29 points while Maitland hold fourth spot on 22 and with a game in hand. Olympics’ mid-season slip up which saw them lose three successive games after leading the pack by as many as 6 points appears to be over.

The two problems faced by the team have been injuries and playing only two competitive matches in four weeks. Hopefully the wet weather is behind us and the team will return to the rhythm that saw them winning 7 games and drawing 1 from their opening 8 matches! Injuries to key players such as Jesse Fitzgerald and Oliver Steinerts coupled with the departure of others like Kane Treble and Steven Theacos to First Grade, has left the coaching staff with less options on the bench.

Olympic defeated Maitland by 3-1 at Darling St Oval earlier in the year but Maitland are strong at home and last week defeated Valentine who were league leaders until that match. On their day, Olympic can destroy the best of teams but to achieve this against Maitland, they need to give 100%.

The match is scheduled for an 11:00am Kick off at Cooks Square Park on Sunday 21^st June 2026.

Newcastle Olympic First Grade will also have their hands full against Maitland FC but for different reasons! The boys in blue are 3 points off bottom place and a mere 1 point off second last which leads to a play off to remain in the division. By contrast, Maitland FC is in 4^th place on the ladder and has a very good chance of making the finals.

Maitland defeated Olympic 3-2 in the Darling St Oval fixture earlier in the season and will be looking to do the same at Cooks Square Park. If Olympic have self-belief in being able to spoil the fun for Maitland, they most certainly can come away with a point or even points! Everything will depend on the attitude with which they begin the match and the level of commitment they demonstrate during the match.

The match is scheduled for a 1:00pm Kick off at Cooks Square Park on Sunday 21^st June 2026.

Source: Tom Tsamouras

Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade returned to the top of the league table after an emphatic 3-1 win over Kahibah FC while First Grade were held to a 3-3 draw.

Playing in cold and moist conditions at the unfamiliar time of 9:00am Newcastle Olympic took on a Kahibah FC side sporting from their first win of the season! Despite being only their second match over the past four weeks Olympic set to work and was able to hit the lead in the 11^th minute through Lucas Walsh and the 39^th minute through Wil Phillips!

By half time there was no misconception about who was in the driving seat at Darling St Oval, particularly after the 1-0 loss by league leaders Valentine, the day before! A win in this match would return the boys in blue to 1^st spot on the ladder where they had been for most of the season.

Olympic continued to go through the motions in uncomfortable conditions in the second half but did not add any more goals to kill off the game. In the 84^th minute Kahibah scored through Lachlan Hodgetts and for a moment an upset was on the cards. This was put to rest in the last minute of play by Kaiden Boldery who made the scoreline 3-1 to Olympic!

This was Olympics’ 9^th win of the season but only their second in the past six weeks! The win in conjunction with Valentine’s 1-0 defeat at Maitland returns Olympic to the top of the table by one point!

With seven matches remaining there is plenty of time to create a commanding lead while at the same time room to lose the lead too if there are any further slip ups.

Newcastle Olympic First Grade were able to salvage a 3-3 draw from a team which is bottom of the table and which was leading the match from the 65^th minute until 10 minutes from time!

Despite the changes in coaching staff and despite two weeks break, Olympic fell behind to an own goal in the 26^th minute before Kale Bradbery equalised in the 36^th minute and Dominik Brymora put them 2-1 right on half time.

With the start of the second half Kahibah equalised the match in the 52^nd minute with Jackson Burston and went 3-2 ahead with Jilles Bos in the 65^th minute. Olympic then chased the game until 10 minutes from time when Wil Southcombe was able to score and save the day!

This draw keeps Olympic to within 3 points of relegation and 1 point to second last spot which leads to a play off to avoid relegation!

source: Tom Tsamouras

Newcastle Olympic return to Darling St Oval to contest Round 15 of the 2026 NPL competition against lowly placed Kahibah FC. In both matches, Reserve and First Grade, securing 3 points is of the utmost importance for different reasons.

Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade return from a bye over the long weekend and probably needed to recover from the brutal encounter with Adamstown Rosebud in the previous round. Olympic have one win in their last five outings and occupy 2^nd place on the ladder, 2 points behind Valentine FC.

Kahibah on the other hand recorded their first win of the season but occupy last spot on the table, 6 points behind second last, Charlestown Azzurri! In the previous round they were on the receiving end of a 11-1 thumping at the hands of Cooks Hill and have conceded 41 goals in 12 matches!

The difference in strength between the two teams is enormous and with a defence that leaks 3.5 goals on average, it will be difficult to see how Kahibah can avoid defeat. Olympic had a brilliant start to the season with 7 wins and 1 draw before they lost three games in a row! They recorded a hard-fought win against Weston since then and a brutal 0-0 draw against Adamstown prior to this game. A win in this match is of paramount importance to keep the pressure on Valentine and reclaim their throne on the points table.

The match kicks off very early, 9:00am on Sunday 14^th June at Darling St Oval.

Newcastle Olympic First Grade have undergone some changes since their match against Adamstown in Round 15 of the competition. Their coach Michael Bolch has left the club and been replaced by interim coach Alex Tagaroulias.

Kahibah are at the bottom of the table on 10 points while Olympic are just 3 points above them! Indeed, there are six clubs with only 4 points between them and all six will be battling to move away from the relegation zone!

Olympic will have worked very hard over the past two weeks to put the poor results behind them and make a fresh start on Sunday. A win will give them confidence and 3 points to move mid table and away from the danger zone.

Belief in their ability to fight and win will be the objective at Darling St Oval on Sunday.

The match kicks off at the very early time of 11:00am on Sunday 14^th June at Darling St Oval.

Source: Tom Tsamouras

Newcastle Olympic was held to a scoreless 0-0 draw by Adamstown Rosebud at the LMRFF in Speers Point on Saturday night while First Grade lost 2-0 and is now flirting with relegation at the opposite end of the points table!

On a cold night at Speers Point, the few spectators who braved the conditions were treated to a high intensity match with few goal scoring opportunities at either end. Just like the Round 3 fixture at Darling St Oval, the match was physical and sometimes even brutal! Unlike the 10 yellow and 2 red cards that were shown by the referee in the first game, there was only one yellow shown in this match! This occurred in the 32^nd minute when Thomas Rooke of Adamstown took out Olympic midfielder George Tsamouras in a heavy tackle which should have been a straight red!

Olympic dominated possession throughout and threatened Adamstown but was unable to create any clear-cut goal scoring opportunities. The 9-1 corner count showed how much they dominated but Adamstown’s physical approach to the match meant that they also needed to be careful of quick counter attacks.

Adamstown had done their homework on the Olympic side. This was evident very early in the match when Olympics’ midfield distribution outlets were heavily marked by the opposition to contain their offensive play. This was successful perhaps due to the marking, the physical play, and possibly due to the fact the team had not played for a fortnight due to the washed-out match against Charlestown Azzurri.

Despite this, in the last 25 minutes Olympic had Adamstown playing in their final third of the field and were using the “high-press” to the point that the Rosebuds had difficulty playing out! Spectators were left biting their nails as the Olympic forwards and midfielders swarmed the Adamstown players trying to play out in an attempt to force the error that would enable them to score.

The error didn’t come and Olympic were held to a 0-0 draw, their second draw of the season, against the same opponent! This result moved them to within 1 point off league leaders Valentine FC whose match against Cooks Hill was washed out earlier in the day.

Two hours earlier and at the same venue Newcastle Olympic First Grade took on Adamstown Rosebud and were beaten 2-0, their third successive defeat by a team equal last on the points table, going into this match!

The boys in blue fell behind in the 14^th minute to a goal by Nicolas Gismero and another by Kayden Soper in the 37^th minute. Two yellow cards in the 28^th and 30^th minutes by Jared Muller didn’t help the team, having to play with one man short for one hour of the game! Adamstown missed many opportunities during the first half and were unlucky not to have been in the lead by a bigger goal margin.

The second half didn’t produce any goals but with a two-goal cushion Adamstown was able to keep Olympic at length from their goal. The final 13-3 shots on goal ratio to Adamstown tells the story of the night! Indeed, of the 3 shots on goal by Olympic, not one was on target!

This result brings Olympic to equal third last spot on the points table on 13 points, with the two teams bellow them, Valentine on 11 and Kahibah on 10, not having played on the weekend due to the weather!

Source: Tom Tsamouras