By Peter Kambounias

Playing at the opponents home ground, having a man sent off and playing without any recognised strikers; These obstacles, as well as the in-form Sutherland Sharks, were all overcome by a gallant Sydney Olympic in a tense and enthralling 2-1 extra time win to claim the first silverware of the 2008 season.

Both sides were facing the gloomy prospect of a penalty shoot-out until man-of-the-match Chris Triantis went on an incredible solo run and slotted home a low strike to put Olympic ahead with just two minutes left of extra time.  The goal sparked wild celebrations amongst the Olympic players and the good sized vocal contingent of Olympic fans at Seymour Shaw Park.

The full time whistle of referee Kristian Griffith-Jones ended a long lean spell for Olympic - it's last honour was the NSL minor premiership in the 2002/03 season!!

Chris Triantis was given his man-of-the-match award during the post-match presentation, followed by the runners up medals handed to Sutherland Sharks.

Olympic captain Mirko Jurilj then thanked Sutherland, thanked the Olympic supporters and congratulated his side, the coaching staff and the club's board for the cup success, and then each Olympic player was called up to collect their winner's medal, with each name announced being received with loud cheering from Olympic's fans.

The crowning moment was, of course, the presentation of the Johnny Warren Cup to Jurilj who was quickly surrounded by his joyous teammates who broke out into loud chants of 'O-LYM-PIC O-LYM-PIC O-LYM-PIC'.

Smiles all round on the faces of the players, coaches and supporters on what was truly a night that showed the NSW Premier League that Sydney Olympic was a force to be reckoned with in 2008.

Sydney Olympic's starting line-up: Rear: Matthew Mayora, Emmanuel Giannaros, Michael Cindric, Michael Herbet, Mirko Jurilj. Front: Shannon Cole, Marino Musumeci, Anthony Doumanis, Roger Galayini, Iain Ramsay, Chris Triantis.

Things didn't start too well for Olympic.  Paul Wither was unavailable, as well as James Kovas, while new signing Siraj Al-Tall was yet to receive clearance from Jordan and therefore was ineligible to play.  Coach Milan Blagojevic was forced to play Matthew Mayora up front.  It was a position that looked un-natural to Mayora but he did make a good fist of the job with his never-ending battles that eventually led to a serious head clash later in the game - forcing him from the field.

Sutherland coach Brian Brown had obviously done his homework on Olympic and set out his troops to stifle Olympic's fast free flowing play by stacking the midfield and defence and shutting down all space. 

The 'home side' took the lead in the 6th minute thanks to Brendan Gan poking a dangerous cross past a hesitant Michael Herbet in the Olympic goals.

Sutherland had not only taken the lead but they started the game in an overall better state.  Olympic coach Milan Blagojevic admitted after the game that his side didn't start as planned.

"I thought we started a bit slow, but it's not like they over-ran us.  The boys fell behind and we showed character and lifted a gear", Blagojevic said.

Olympic looked uncomfortable and nervous.  Passes and moves that were a feature of their last two games were hard to come by against Sutherland who were determined to not let Olympic get a look in.  Olympic's speedy and lethal left side combination of Shannon Cole and Iain Ramsay was well contained by the Sharks, and it took all of thirty minutes for Olympic's first shot at goal to take place, and it was Triantis from long range that sprayed his shot well wide.

In the 35th Triantis fired in a low cross from the right but Marino Musumeci was caught off guard by the pace of the ball in front of goal.

Throughout the first half there were several fouls that were not adequately punished by referee Griffith-Jones.  The lack of control allowed unnecessary tension to creep into the game and things boiled over in the 43rd minute when a crude tackle on Ramsay was eventually punished but not before an all-in scuffle eventuated.  Once order was restored Cole stepped up and fired his free kick only centimetres above the bar.

The second half saw a change of momentum take place.  Olympic assumed control quickly and began to move the ball around in a quick and effective manner.  It was their lethal left side that set up Olympic's equaliser seven minutes into the half.  Cole launched a perfect cross for impressive youngster Emmanuel Giannaros to glance his header past the outstretched arms of Sutherland keeper Phillip Zabaks and square up the game at 1-1.

Cole had his 53rd minute free kick blocked by a defensive wall only for the rebound to be struck by Triantis over the bar.  In the 61st Blagojevic made his first substitution by taking off the relatively quiet Anthony Doumanis and injecting Peter Zorbas.  Doumanis did a lot of work in the first half but found himself double marked by the swarming Sutherland defence.

By this stage it was all Sydney Olympic and the second goal looked like a matter of not if, but when.

Robust midfielder Roger Galayini was given a well deserved break in the 75th with Milorad Simonovic taking his place, as the game balanced up between the combatants.

Musumeci made way for Jin Kim in the 81st in a move designed to get the front line working more effectively.  Musumeci had a very quiet second half.

Mayora's tenacious terrier-like workrate got him involved in many bustling encounters throughout the game but his head-clash in the 91st saw him leave the field and Galayini returned to the battleground.

Olympic could have snatched a fairytale winner in the 94th minute had Ramsay's effort not been tipped by Zabaks onto the crossbar and out for a corner.

The stalemate after 94 minutes meant that extra time was needed to try to separate the two sides.

Olympic prepares for extra time.  

Extra time started extremely tense for both sides.  Olympic and Sutherland opened up and the game took on an end-to end feel.  Goalscorer Giannaros was subbed in the 99th by new recruit Nathan Sherlock, but a minute later Olympic gave itself another obstacle to victory.

Galayini had been booked during his first stint on the park and earned a correctly given second yellow for a silly foul outside the Olympic box, leaving his side with just 10 men and a Sutherland side ready to take advantage of their numerical supremacy.  But Olympic had other ideas.

"When we went a man down our character shone again", Blagojevic reflected after the game.  His comments were mirrored by captain Jurilj.

"Once we scored in the second half we stepped up, and even when Roger got sent off the boys stepped up again", Jurilj said.

Zorbas became a hero for Olympic by stopping a certain goal with a goal-saving tackle in the 103rd minute, and he followed up with a goal-line clearance just after the extra time intermission.

The second half of extra time was all end-to-end as both teams slugged it out.  Olympic were knocking on the door, but so too were Sutherland.  Sutherland missed the chance of the game in the 113th but the opportunity in front of goal was wasted.  Many Olympic fans assumed it was a certain goal, but it wasn't.

In the 117th Kim laid a nice ball for Simonovic who turned and shot just wide of goal.  Time was running out and penalties were becoming a realistic scenario to decide the game.

That was the case until the moment that gave Olympic the win.  A delicate slot by Triantis saw the ball roll past Zabaks and just inside the right upright, sending Olympic into glory.

Full time celebrations.  The Cup is ours.

It was a fitting end to a courageous performance full of determination and a steely resolve from a team that will go places in 2008.

"The boys were pumping eachother up and we saw that the Sutherland players were fatigued and we knew we'd get on top of them.  We deserved the win", Jurilj said after the game.

"Our never say die attitude is both as a result of our fitness and the great team camaraderie in the dressing room.  They're fighting for eachother and working for eachother", Blagojevic stated.

"We have build ourselves a platform and we want to build on it.  We will go into our next game (against West Sydney Berries) with momentum now that we are the Johnny Warren Cup winners and we hope that we will instill some fear in the other clubs", Blagojevic continued.

Milan Blagojevic, Mirko Jurilj and the Johnny Warren Cup.  

So, Olympic fans at the game have enjoyed a happy achievement in the club's history and word will spread even wider that Sydney Olympic is again a great team to watch, something that the die hard fans have had too long to wait for.

Congratulations to all the players and coaching staff for a sterling achievement.

Sydney Olympic - Johnny Warren Cup Winners for 2008.

SYDNEY OLYMPIC 2 (Giannaros 52' Triantis 118') defeated SUTHERLAND SHARKS 1 (Gan 6') after extra time at Seymour Shaw Park.

SYDNEY OLYMPIC: Michael Herbet, Emmanuel Giannaros (99' Nathan Sherlock), Michael Cindric, Mirko Jurilj, Shannon Cole, Iain Ramsay (109' Reuben Lagos), Roger Galayini (75' Milorad Simonovic), Marino Musumeci (81' Jin Kim), Chris Triantis, Anthony Doumanis (61' Peter Zorbas), Matthew Mayora (91' Roger Galayini)