Knights finally win a match by downing Olympia

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League (KGV Park, Friday, 11 June 2010)

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Glenorchy Knights 2 (A Koroma 23, C Smith 69)

Olympia Warriors 1 (A Nandan 21)

HT: 1-1 Att: 90 Ref: I Jozeljic

Glenorchy Knights: Peter - Huigsloot, Holmes, Grundy, Marsh - Barabara, Fielding, Smith (Garth 88), Clay - Hope (Nowicki 65), Koroma [Substitutes not used: Grainger, Roberts] [Coach: Nick Harrison]

Olympia Warriors: Nester - Hey, Richardson, Hedge, Mohamad - Phillips, Mason, Tracy (Wakefield 74), Nandan - Grillas, Cronk (Howell 77) [Substitutes not used: Farrugia, Meredith] [Coach: Chris Hey]

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Glenorchy Knights ended their run of seven games without a win by beating Olympia 2-1 and moving back into second place on the ladder.

For Olympia, it was yet another defeat and they remain anchored to the foot of the table.

Knights had a legitimate claim for a penalty early on when Adam Hedge upended Amadu Koroma, but Mr Jozeljic waved play on. Later, the ball appeared to hit Hedge on the arm and there were some appeals for a penalty, but again these were ignored.

Olympia took the lead in the 21st minute when Anthony Grundy’s weak back-pass to his goalkeeper allowed Alex Nandan to nip in and get to the ball. His shot rebounded off goalkeeper Ben Peter, but Nandan tucked the loose ball away.

Knights were level two minutes later when they won a free-kick just outside the left of the box for Hugh Richardson’s foul on Corey Smith. Smith’s free-kick flew over the wall, but Olympia could only clear it out as far as Jade Clay, whose shot was deflected to Koroma and he advanced on goal and slotted the ball inside the far post.

It took a brilliant save by Dmitri Nester in the 26th minute to deny James Hope’s header from Clay’s deep cross from the left, the keeper tipping the ball over the bar for a corner.

Hope had a tame shot in the 37th minute that presented Nester with no problems.

The winner came in the 69th minute when Smith controlled a ball just outside the box on the left and was allowed to turn and volley over Nester and into the roof of the net.

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· Glenorchy Knights coach, Nick Harrison, said:

“The last game we won was against Olympia in the first round. I don’t think we played as well tonight as we did in the second half against Zebras, to be fair, but I think we’ll all take a win.

“That’s the most important thing, to get a win, and, hopefully, we can now move on against Taroona.

“It’s the first win we’ve had in six or seven games and we’ve back in second place so it’s not all doom and gloom and we’ll move on and see what happens.”

· Olympia Warriors coach, Chris Hey, said:

“I think from our perspective it was the best performance of the year. They worked well for one another. They wanted to work well for another and I think that sort of atmosphere out on the park holds the team in good stead.

“It took a good goal to break the deadlock.

“I think, tonight, in goal, Dmitri Nester was superb. I thought he played the sweeping role brilliantly and he pulled off a couple of crucial saves.

“From my perspective, I thought it was a good entertaining game. Yeah, it’s another loss, but we’re getting there. We’ll see what happens Monday. We’ll regroup then for the final round. I’m expecting big things for the final round. We’ve just got to keep our spirits up and I think the way the guys played tonight it showed the spirit is still within the club.”