Newcastle Olympic was unable to score against Cooks Hill United in Round 17 of the 2026 NPL competition of Northern NSW Football. Reserve Grade suffered their fourth defeat of the season losing 1-0 and First Grade played out a 0-0 draw.
Newcastle Olympic Reserve Grade went into this match as league leaders against the second placed team on the ladder, Cooks Hill United. They began the match well and stroked the ball around with confidence and composure but as the game wore on, they rushed and played long balls. Their strength, crispy passing game from the midfield, was replaced by rushed balls and long passes. Their wingers rarely got round the Cooks Hill full backs to cross the ball and put them under pressure.
Despite this, it was Olympic who came close to scoring when a cross from the right found Jese Fitzgerald in the box and whose effort came back off the woodwork of the Cooks Hill goal. Cooks Hill rarely troubled the Olympic goalie but during a routine back pass in the 31st minute, Loki Marchant who was “playing down” from first grade, made a horror first touch that enabled Luke Valone to run in at the Olympic keeper and score the only game of the match! Olympics’ only clear chance to score after this was a loud appeal for a hand ball inside the box but the referee didn’t agree.
In the second half Olympic stepped up a gear. They played with greater speed and intensity forcing numerous saves by the Cooks Hill goalie. Cooks Hill tried to slow the game down and chew down the clock. They tried to catch Olympic on the break whenever the home team went forward but to no avail. Despite all efforts by Olympic the score remained 1-0 in favour of Cooks Hill which saw them drop from 1st spot on the ladder to 3rd!
They have a chance to regain their spot on Wednesday when they meet Charlestown Azzurri in a wash out game from Round 13.
Newcastle Olympic First Grade went into this game in equal last spot on the ladder and acquiring points was the order of the day. Despite a hard fought game Olympic were unable to score and managed to get 1 point which lifts them from equal last place to 10th, 1 point away from bottom two Kahibah and Charlestown Azzurri. It also makes them the team with the least wins in the season, only three!
Despite this set back a win against Charlestown on Wednesday night could propel them to 8th spot on the ladder and hopefully build enough momentum to see them finish mid table!
Source: Tom Tsamouras
