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 32nd 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 14th minute to a goal by Nicolas Gismero and another by Kayden Soper in the 37th minute. Two yellow cards in the 28th and 30th 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
George Tsamouras Football Journey 