Yesterday, our 13s/ 14s/ and 16s NPL Youth teams contested their SEMI- FINALS, one at Adamstown Oval, and two at Darling Street Oval, with the winners earning a spot in the 2018 Youth NPL Grand Finals which will be played next Saturday at Magic Park.
Our Under 13 kicked off first, at Adamstown Oval, and were facing Minor Premiers Lambton, who the boys hadn’t defeated during the regular season. Our 13s had snuck into 4th spot after defeating Lakes 8 nil in the last fixture of the season. The boys really fired yesterday, and came back from conceding an early goal to score 4 unanswered goals, to take a 4 to 1 nil lead midway through the second half. A couple of the goals were of high quality, with the team really spreading the ball around and playing attractive football. A Lambton free kick, followed by a last minute penalty saw the boys running out eventual winners 4 to 3, and progressing to the Under 13 decider, where they will face traditional rival, Broadmeadow Magic. A great result to the boys, and no doubt coach Reece and assistant Luke will have the boys primed for the decider next Saturday. Goal scorers on the day were Will Southcombe, Oscar Cathcart, Sam Jackson and Byron Bennett.
Our Under 14s faced off against North Coast Football at Darling Street Oval in the second match of the afternoon. After going one up early, our 14s conceded early goals to go into half time down 5 goals to 2. An early second half goal saw the score come back to 5 to 3, but a couple of missed chances saw the boys unable to add to the scoreboard. The 14s had just 13s players for a large chunk of the year, with the loss of a player to the Jets mid-year. The boys overall had a great year, but yesterday were defeated by the better team. Take the loss on the chin, boys, and come back bigger and better next year! A big thanks to Coaches Doug West and Todd Bailey and Manager Justin Woweries for their efforts during the year. Goal scores for Olympic on the day were Christian Bracco, Kierry James and Declan Hughes.
The last fixture under the lights at Darling Street saw the home team face close town rivals Lambton Jaffas in the Under 16s second v third place match. This was your typical semi- final, close, hard fought ,with both teams playing a great brand of football. After an even first half, Olympic gained the upper hand, and had the better of the chances in the second stanza. With the Paksec boys marshalling the Olympic defence, chances for the opposition were limited. A contentious second yellow card saw Olympic down to 10 players for the last 15 minutes. However, this seemed to spur the boys on, and after a period of sustained pressure, Olympic striker Jared Muller was fouled in the box, just with seven minutes remaining. Jared showed composure to step up and take the ensuing penalty, and send the Jaffas keeper the wrong way. The boys held out for the last few minutes, to make it through to the decider. Here they will face Valentine, who upset Minor Premiers the Newcastle Jets. Great effort boys, with coaches Payton Tagaroulias and Blair Newham certainly pleased with the overall performance.
source: Con Gounis
George Tsamouras Football Journey 