On Monday afternoon Sydney Olympic beat Sydney United in the grand final of the Football NSW Premier League and won the double, after winning the Minor Premiership two weeks ago and now celebrated the Championship at their home ground.
The fans of the two former NSL Clubs created an electric atmosphere that any club in Australia would be jealous of and all players would love to experience in their career. More than 12.000 people packed Belmore Sports Ground, breaking another record not only for the most people at Belmore in the past decade but also the most fans attending a Football NSW game since it was formed.
People from all calibres of the society were present from politicians, players and coaches from a number of clubs and even people that travelled all the way from Melbourne and Canberra to watch the game. The queues formed to enter the ground blocked the entire Edison lane and delayed the kick off of the game but everyone was happy to wait in the line and talk about the new era of Australian football that was being shaped after the record attendance of the 2011 Premier League Grand Final.
When the game finally kicked off the excitement from the fans was passed on to the players and Sydney Olympic took the opportunity and breached the defensive line of Sydney United in the 2nd minute as Alex Smith converted a fabulous snap-shot effort. Chris Triantis’ corner delivery from the right was partially cleared by the Reds as Smith finished with style past Vedran Janjetovic and had the whole stadium on their feet and the O-L-Y-M-P-I-C roar was heard all over the Canterbury area.
Sydney United’s response arrived 2’ minutes later down the right flank as Glavas’ centre picked out Vidaic, though the striker’s acrobatic effort was poorly executed as Paul Henderson made a routine save.
David Gullo, who was able to offer his services even though he was injured in the major semi final two weeks ago, showed his class with a mazy run down the left-flank. The young winger combined nicely with playmaker Robbie Mileski, though the Blues forward foray was brought to a halt by Rudan.
On the half hour, Sydney Olympic threatened the Reds goal from distance. Alex Smith’s neat header into the path of Chris Triantis allowed the midfielder time to line up his shot, though from an acute angle, Chris Triantis skewed his effort wide of Janjetovic’s goal.
Peter Triantis displayed his engine capabilities with a tireless performance throughout the 90’ minutes. The young midfielder was immense alongside Phil Makrys in breaking down the Reds forward movements, and equally as impressive on the ball.
Following the re-start, Sydney Olympic carved out the opening chance. A sensational goal kick by Henderson picked out Chris Triantis in the attacking third. The Blues number 8 showed his skill and finesse to draw his marker and cut onto his left foot before driving his effort over the crossbar.
The Blues doubled their advantage in the 52’ as captain Richard Luksic made the most of some slack marking at the back post. Gullo’s centre crossed the entire penalty-area and into the path of the tall defender who had the easiest of tasks to head home into an empty net.
Sydney United coach Jean-Paul De Marigny added further firepower to his attacking third with the introduction of Elsid Barkhousir on the hour, though the well marshalled Blues defensive line were unyielding in their performance.
For the remaining of the game, Sydney United was trying to score but the defensive line of Sydney Olympic was compact and the reds were unable to score a goal that would put them back to the game. All the supporters at Belmore acknowledged the superiority of the blues and the Olympic fans celebrated a moment that they were anticipating since for nearly 10 years.
Peter Tsekenis mentioned to the Football NSW media staff after the end of the game: “There isn’t much I can say, very happy with the result, even though I don’t think it has actually sunk in yet, we made the grand-final after a great season, and we’ve managed to win it – and I feel we did it very well today with a great performance.
Sydney United did come at us after conceding the goal, though we knew how to handle it. ‘Hendo’ made a great save and we fought hard, we knew how to suffer in that period, and then went about our game – that is what grand-final football is about at times. I don’t think the performance was a polished one, though for a final that is required at times and I am happy with how we performed. Grand-finals are won when everyone pulls their weight, and today all the boys did this so the club is very pleased”.
You can view photos of the Grand Final by clicking HERE. If you have any photos, please email them to admin@sydneyolympicfc.com and we will publish them on our website.