Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Olympia drive to success at last against old rivals



Photos (Top to Bottom): Olympia's Peter Tsakiris looks on as team-mate Aaron Percy is tackled by Zebras' Henry Fagg; Zevras' Ricky Self gets in a cross despite the attentions of Olympia's Jayden Wiggins (left) and Ben Phillips [PlessPix]


Premier League Section Summer Cup (Group A, South Hobart, Sunday, 28 February 2010)


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Olympia Warriors 2 (E Tsakiris 6 pen, J Wiggins 21)

Tilford Zebras 1 (R Self 5)


HT: 2-1 Att: 100 Ref: B Kopra


Olympia Warriors: Farrugia - Lebski, P Tsakiris, Percy, J Hey - Richardson, Powell, Wiggins, Meredith - Phillips, E Tsakiris [Interchange: Nester, Mason, Kunwar, Tracy] [Coach: Chris Hey]


Tilford Zebras: Voss - Fagg, Telega, Smith, K Engels - Hall, Self, Crosswell, L Engels - Welch, Young [Interchange: Fisher, Thorpe, D Cox, Walsh] [Coach: Romeo Frediani]


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Tilford Zebras failed to qualify for the Summer Cup final for the first time in four years.


They lost this final group match 2-1 to Olympia Warriors, but their fate was in the hands of other teams even before the start of the match.


Then again, they were in a similar position last year and yet made the final. This time, their luck ran out.


Olympia finally started to put some things together and managed to win their first match of the tournament against their traditional rivals.


The situation looked bleak for Olympia when Ricky Self put the Zebras in front with an excellent shot from range in the 5th minute.


But, Olympia were level within a minute when Zebras goalkeeper Jason Voss brought down Emmanuel Tsakiris as he threatened to zoom past him inside the box.


Emmanuel Tsakiris stepped up and struck home the penalty, but he had sustained a calf injury which saw him leave the field and not return.


Ben Crosswell almost restored the Zebras’ lead in the 12th minute with a header, but the ball was cleared off the line as Olympia packed their defence.


Justin Farrugia did well to deny Self in the 20th minute by diving to his left and turning the ball wide.


Adam Powell, who was making his comeback for Olympia after a facial injury, almost conceded a penalty when he tangled with Self in the 21st minute, but the referee waved play on.


Foolishly, Powell continued to jostle with Self and was fortunate not to be reprimanded.


Seconds later, Olympia counter-attacked and new signing Jayden Wiggins put Olympia ahead once more with a fine volley from 20 metres.


Farrugia was again called on to save from Self before the half ended.


Neither side was able to add to its tally in the second half and the game petered out in a narrow win for Olympia.


Olympia Warriors will announce a new sponsorship deal on Friday with Performance Automobiles at a function at the motor dealer's show rooms in Argyle Street.


A function at Hellenic House will be held afterwards.


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· Olympia Warriors coach, Chris Hey, said:


“A bit scrappy there in the second half.


“We tried to work on a little bit better possession and I think we did that.


“We tried to work on penetration down the flanks, which we hadn’t been doing. I think we did that today.


“And, I think the team unity was there. There was certainly a lot of talking out there.


“A couple of times we lost our shape - probably the last five minutes of the first half - we started getting our midfield line sitting back on our backs, but generally, you know, an improved performance certainly on last week.


“I thought last week, you know, we were disappointed, but this week we worked on a lot of things and they started to happen.”


· Tilford Zebras coach, Romeo Frediani, said:


“It was okay, but I was a bit disappointed at the scoreline.


“Two-one was not a scoreline I would have liked, but, yeah, we’ll work on that over the next two weeks before the season starts.


“Yeah, not too disappointed, but there are things we need to work on.”

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watched this game and although Olympia did come away with the win, they appeared to have a huge hole in the middle of the park and were under pressure for large periods of the game. This did change when Lee Mason came on to the field, he had that extra bit of experience to know how to play the holding role. Young BP will be a good player but still a little bit green to be playing in the middle, maybe should start out wide. It could be a good season for Olympia, they will have two very strong squads, Chris Hey just needs to find the right formulas.

Jamie

Anonymous said...

Big result all round.

Where are the Chris Hey knockers? Such a result does not make a season but there were some scathing remarks only a few weeks ago. He is an experienced coach and player and is making many eat their words and its only ticked over into March.

They are on the right track. With young Takiris and Adam Hedge coming back I can see them pushing for a top four spot.

Furigga was solid in the sticks - had many years at DOSA where he would've been worked hard.

Juve on the other hand are in early trouble. They have been up for many years but a lack of leadership is making it hard. Self has been outstanding for them though.

Yoda said...

hmmm anonymous 7.33

Juve leadership a problem is not (tex,smith,fagg,self,crosswell), olympia leadership a problem there is, 16-17 year old captain 2 weeks ago.

Their future immediate is clouded 2010 a top four they will not. Positive however is the club and management. This like i do.

Yeah Yeah said...

Well, i figure Olympia will come 5-6th by default, mainly because Taroona, Eagles, Kingo won't improve.
With the young talent at Eagle's disposal i would expect more from them but i think their coaches' ideas and theories from his many decades in the game will hamstring them. Just keep it simple and let them play i say.
I think the disappointing thing with Olympia is before last year they finished third in consecutive years and really pushed Zebras/South all the way. What went so wrong since? I agree Chris Hey has them heading slowly in the right direction but how did they have such a massive u-Turn from title contenders to the rabble they were for most of last season.
Most of the players are the same, a few familiar faces appear to have left but generally the same lot ie Tsakiris's etc, Nesters, Masons etc.
They are a long way from being title contenders again, they will be competitive and pinch the odd win here or there but long way to go before they can compete consistently with last years top 4.
There appears to be an enthusiastic vibe at the moment with that club there but can they keep it up over 2-4 years which is minimum what they will need to compete well with the big boys in a long season.
Looking at the season roster, they have home games at Sth Hobart, i dont think this will benefit them as they wont get any crowds however i guess that is out of their hands with KGV being used by others and TIS also.
They are likely to self destruct again at board level which would set them back again.
If they can find a consistent scorer then they may surprise, i dont think Porky Tsakiris and Skinny Dipindra are the answer.
Im not sure relying on Adam Hedge and young Tsakiris will fill much confidence. Has Hedge ever played more than 1-2 decent games in a season. Little Tsakiris always been in his bro's shadows, couple good moments here or there but never fulfilled his promised.
How long will Adam Powell last?
Farrugia's technique looks very ackward and is not a great mover from what ive seen, but may improve. Nester on his day as good as anyone but looks uncertain at times and is prone to big blunders ie like the South Hobart game. Olympia battled hard on Sunday but looked unorganised, captain Hugh looks a hard working player but lacks some class.Zebras appear to be blooding a lot of youth, based on last year they conceded a lot of goals with Smith and Telega at the back and with Mainella there occasionally. Crosswell on midfield is a massive hindrance to them, he seems content to get the ball and just put his foot on it and show off rather than releasing the wingers/strikers which i thought was a centre mids job.
i fear they may drop to 4th with Knights and Clarence fighting out for 2nd and 3rd behind South.

Anonymous said...

Quote from Yeah Yeah
Referring to Olympia:
"They are likely to self destruct again at board level which would set them back again."

I liked what you wrote but am wondering on what basis you write the above..please explain..... also are you in the inner sanctum of that particular club??

Anonymous said...

'yeah yeah',
What are you dribbling on about???? Im gald u think your original bagging out teams in the summer cup.
And calling players 'porky' and 'skinny'??? This coming from a real fatty poomba, i bet.
Dont lable innocent people, obviously u have nothing better to do.

Anonymous said...

Hugh Richardson - good bloke, good player, good captain - end of story.

Anonymous said...

"yeah yeah" you wouldn't happen to be the gazelle would you?

cheers

claudia