By Peter Kambounias

Sydney Olympic exacted revenge over the West Sydney Berries in Round 12 of the TeleChoice Premier League with a 1-0 win at a sunny but chilly Belmore Sports Ground.

The win keeps Olympic in fifth spot on 20 points, four points clear of sixth placed APIA Leichhardt and with a game in hand and six points behind leaders Sutherland Sharks.

The sole goal came courtesy of a well directed header from Anthony Hartshorn in the fifth minute of the second half.  The goal was a mighty relief for Olympic and the fans who had a pretty tough time of it with a rather inept display in the first half.

Olympic coach Milan Blagojevic had the same starting eleven for the first time this season as the side went looking for it's fourth straight win, but at half time many of the fans who had watched the courageous win at Sydney United wondered if the same side was playing at Belmore in the first half.

"We were more at fault for our own poor performance this time around against the Berries. We lacked urgency and started slow, we looked lethargic which might be a response to an easier week at training due to the heavy week last week.  Having said that the boys responded in the second half and we should have killed the game in the first twenty five minutes of the second half.  We made a number of opportunities and we only scored one which was unfortunate", Blagojevic said after the game.

Former Olympic player Josh Sama gave the home team a scare in the 3rd minute with a free header that sailed over the bar.  The slow and casual start by Olympic was sensed by the less-fancied Berries.  It was a replication of the opening game of the season.

Wide left flanker Iain Ramsay hit a great corner in the 11th that found Hartshorn who chested down, turned and shot but low and lacking power thus enabling easy work for Berries keeper Hamish McLean to gather.

The best chance of the first half fell to Olympic in the 25th.  Anthony Doumanis' nice attacking run ended in a corner that was subsequently met with a flat powerful header by Emmanuel Zunino.  The ball thumped against the crossbar and was cleared by the Berries defence.

During the first half several Olympic players tried to get things going in terms of excitement.  Doumanis was first, followed by Zunino, with Milorad Simonovic and Chris Triantis working overtime in the middle.

Olympic immediately came out firing in the second half.  Just two minutes in and Hartshorn glanced a header aimed at the left post that beat McLean only for ex Olympic favourite and Berries coach Scott Baillie to dive and clear the ball off the line.

In the 49th Zunino fired in a cross from the left that sailed over the posse of players in the box and onto the head of the smallest player on the park Doumanis who headed straight at McLean.

It was third header lucky in the 50th.  Ramsay sent in a cross from the left again and this one was met by Hartshorn's well directed header at the far post that beat McLean to his left.

The goal finally unleashed the shackles for the home side and the chances started to come thick and fast for the sealer, and the release of pressure allowed for some enterprising play to take place.

One such move in the 71st involved a series of one touch passes that ended with Doumanis shooting over the bar from reasonably close range.  The move drew warm applause from the crowd who had been starved of creative play.

Four minutes later Simonovic gathered the ball just outside his box and launched a perfect long ball upfield for substitute Siraj Al Tall but he squandered another golden chance for the game-killer - by electing to shoot rather than use free players to his right.  Seconds later Triantis went on one of those familiar runs by slaloming past up to six Berries players and shooting at goal only for McLean to stop the soft shot.

In the 76th substitute Matthew Mayora put Paul Wither clear through with a no-look deft glance. Wither ran towards goal but shot low and across the face of goal.

The Berries didn't give up and had an attempt cleared off the line by Michael Cindric in the 82nd minute.  It was the last time the Berries would seriously threaten to wrench a point from the game.

Once full time was blown the Olympic boys celebrated a win that kept up the team's momentum and confidence, with a tricky game coming up away at the improved Wollongong Wolves outfit. 

There are a group of players who are about to knock on the door for first team consideration. Shannon Cole, Peter Zorbas, Roger Galayini and Emmanuel Giannaros amongst them, giving Blagojevic a 'good problem':

"It's a situation I've been looking forward to.  I've only had this situation in pre-season.  The fact that these boys are coming back just puts some pressure on the players and this brings the best out of the squad."

"We want to set our own milestones.  It's not about who we play but how we play.  We wanted to get three consecutive wins under our belt and build on that."  Blagojevic said after the game.

SYDNEY OLYMPIC 1 (Hartshorn 50') defeated WEST SYDNEY BERRIES 0 at Belmore Sports Ground.

SYDNEY OLYMPIC: Michael Herbet, Emmanuel Zunino, Nathan Sherlock, Mirko Jurilj, Michael Cindric, Milorad Simonovic, Chris Triantis, Anthony Doumanis (87' Marino Musumeci), Anthony Hartshorn (74' Matthew Mayora), Iain Ramsay (65' Siraj Al Tall), Paul Wither.