A great individual effort by Parramatta¹s Matt Thompson, late in the game, prevented Olympic getting the draw they at least deserved tonight. Just as it ended any hope they could make the finals. And just as it secured Parramatta second place and a semi finals series against Perth Glory.
It was hot. Driving over to Parramatta Stadium it was 31 degrees. It was even hotter in the beer queue. A cunning plot, someone behind me said, to make us buy more beer.
Power needed a point. Olympic wanted three.
I was sitting with a noisy mob of Olympic fans to my left. And across the aisle was a mob of Power fans.
I noted that two members of the Wolves team of recent glory years ‹ Alvin Ceccoli and George Souris ‹ were facing off as captains tonight.
Power, without Socceroos Simon Colosimo and Ahmad Elrich, kicked off and a family of their supporters took up seats around me. And the Olympic fans around them let off a mighty roar in response to the on-field action.
Paul Kohler hit long looking for Predrag Bojic. Bojic switched to Jim Nikas and Travis Dodd cleared. (With Ante Juric missing, Kohler was in the centre of defence, Souris was left and Iain Fyfe was right.)
No such luck at 2.39 into the match. Troy Halpin dummied left and hit with his right a long chip into the Power penalty area for Zenon Caravella who controlled with his chest and slotted home.
Fifty seconds later, while I was still trying to confirm that it was Caravella who scored, Fernando Rech, almost under the crossbar, headed in a cross from the right for Parramatta.
The Olympic fans who were so jubilant one moment started bad mouthing some of the Power players the next. The woman in front of me asked them to cease and desist. They requested that she do the same. The woman, who I was beginning to think had suicidal tendencies and who I was wishing was sitting further afield, repeated her initial request. The Olympic fans did not comply and the guy next to me consoled her with the information that the Olympic fans were not pronouncing properly the name of a Power player they thought had a head like a male appendage.
Travis Dodd was very good turning under pressure and pushing up the line to Andre Gumprecht. Michael Beauchamp was very good blocking a shot from Jim Bakis.
Souris was good playing down the line for Nikas but Dodd stopped him.
The Power fans on the concourse below us were also getting noisy. The Olympic fans, who earlier were chanting, resorted to swearing and booing.
With Lucas Pantelis down, Ante Milicic miss-hit a shot left of the Olympic goal.
Beauchamp caught Bakis napping and Ceccoli cut out a poor ball from Bakis and ran on to take a return pass and shoot ‹ Brett Hughes saved on the ground.
Sasho Petrovski and Milicic had some silky moments controlling and offloading the ball, Caravella won a corner against Pantelis, who had just hit a Power corner too far, but Power headed clear.
Petrovski slipped through three players on the edge of the Olympic box and just got a toe poke through and onto the left post while Hughes was wrong-footed.
Halpin was not moving the best, but his delivery was delightful (or frightening if you were a Power player). He hit a lovely ball for Hiroyuki Ishida who jumped what would have been a foul tackle and was making his way to goal until his shirt was pulled. Halpin hit the free kick a touch too long to Clint Bolton.
Milicic ³fell² in the Olympic box chasing a good head down from Petrovski.
The ground announcer said if people were caught blowing whistles they would be escorted from the ground!
Halpin tried to repeat the set-up for Olympic¹s first goal but hit it just too far to the right for Bojic to gather easily. Bojic could only manage to hit a bomb towards Bolton.
Apart from their vulnerability (in the first half) to Halpin¹s lobs over their heads, the Power defence looked quite steady.
Paul O¹Grady blocked a shot from Halpin after another good move initiated by Halpin.
Olympic won a corner, taken by Halpin, that Bolton dropped but regathered in time.
Dodd found Gumprecht down the line. Gumprecht crossed and Kohler blocked.
Ceccoli cut out a cross from the right heading for Bakis and conceded a corner. It was a poor corner by Nikas but Dodd¹s headed clearance went to Halpin who shot way high.
Gumprecht broke free from a scrimmage and fed Milicic in an awkward position. Milicic nevertheless rounded two defenders and shot just over the bar.
Souris blocked a Power shot with his bottom but, behind play, Pablo Cardozo fouled Peter Zorbas. Ceccoli took the free kick and it was a shocker. But it skipped along the ground and surprised its way through many legs until it arrived at the feet of Milicic who struggled to control but still put it away from close range.
Power had their confidence up. Ceccoli and then Gumprecht both unsuccessfully tried to take on the whole Olympic team, running at goal.
The Olympic fans were very quiet. I thought Cardozo was being less than effective.
A great chance for Olympic was denied when Ceccoli wrestled Bakis down in the box while chasing a through ball ‹ referee Mark Shield waved play on.
Beauchamp was good at the back of Bakis on a cross from the right.
Recovering from the shock of Power¹s second goal, Olympic were playing better.
Petrovski ran onto a fortunate deflection into the Olympic box. His first touch was bad but he recovered sufficiently to win a corner off Hughes.
Beauchamp fouled Bakis and got a good, long talking to from Shield.
In the 44th minute, Halpin with a free kick found Cardozo running into the Power penalty area. Ceccoli tried but didn¹t succeed in wrestling Cardozo to the ground and the Olympic striker scored.
The Olympic fans found their voices again.
Halpin again played into the Power box and found Ishida who was just offside acrobatically volleying to Bolton.
Coming back from the beer van at half time ‹ where the beer guy remembered me Š I like that in a beer van guy ‹ I discovered that the Power fans sitting near me were related to a member of the youth team. The food queue was nonexistent: was that because it was too hot to eat or because the delicacies on offer were overpriced and nasty?
The Olympic team came out well before the home team. Nick Theodorakopoulos must have been giving his boys an earful. Something with reference to ³underachieving² possibly?
Olympic replaced Nikas with Joseph Schirripa. (Someone told me last week that NSL clubs pay the same fine as my district club does for team sheets filled in incorrectly; let me tell you, dear reader, that mistakes are made on NSL team sheets; and that I hope Olympic handed over some money this week.)
Pantelis had half a break and shot into Ishida.
It was so ³warm² that three minutes into the second half, while Pantelis was down getting attention, a dozen water bottles were thrown onto the pitch.
A young blonde with improbably Lara Croft-like features walked up and down the aisle and out of the stand. Two-thirds of the crowd missed several minutes of action on the park. A Power fan immediately across the aisle to my right yelled to someone down in front of me that they should ³relax². Remember this guy.
Petrovski had a long run from the centre circle to the penalty circle. Milicic was free to his left. With his mind back on the game the guy to my right shouted, ³This way, this way.² I joined in, ³Look left!² (Embarrassing, I know, but if one of the top strikers in the land clearly needs my help, I feel obliged to offer it.)
Petrovski heeded our call, but far too late.
Milicic showed how it should be done (and then regretted it), coming forward himself and passing left to Pantelis who crossed poorly. Milicic, unable to get to the return, jumped and stamped in frustration.
Bojic, free on the right for Olympic, with Ishida behind him, lashed wildly wide. Ishida threw his hands in the air in frustration.
Petrovski hit a very ambitious ball for Gumprecht. Someone behind me said it was ³f****** stupid².
Bakis got free in the Power box and a guy behind me said, ³They get caught square at the back all the time.² Bakis swung at it ‹ a poor shot deflected for a corner.
Milicic almost got a good touch in the Olympic box, Kohler got in a great tackle on Rech ‹ so hard the Power players wanted a free kick ‹ and Bakis was replaced by Scott Baillie. I think that meant Fyfe had more responsibility in midfield; in any case he became more noticeable.
The Power backs were proving too tall for Olympic¹s crosses and Halpin¹s free kicks from the sides.
Petrovski was replaced by Matt Thompson.
Zorbas couldn¹t shoot from the edge of the Olympic area so he cut across to Rech who shot high.
Olympic seemed to be playing better. Their fans called to Power, ³Where are your supporters?² But just then Hughes had to make a great save from Zorbas.
Caravella was offside after he and Souris and Ishida did great work on the edge of the Power box.
Kohler did a clever backheel under pressure to get the ball away with Baillie.
Parramatta were wasting possession as their fans around me were calling out, ³Easy, easy.²
Power sat back as Olympic built and built. And then they countered quickly. But Pantelis fell while shooting wide left.
Power broke again but Kohler beat Gumprecht.
Richard Cardozo came on for Bojic, who was having an off game.
Dodd fought well and got a good long ball wide left to Milicic who was all alone. Milicic held up well but even when the troops arrived no-one would shoot. ³Don¹t they want to win!²
Mark Bridge came on for Milicic.
But it was the other substitute, Matt Thompson, who did the damage. In the 85th minute he won the ball with a great tackle deep in his own half and proceeded full steam ahead. He had the ball soon in Olympic¹s half, won his way into the penalty area and scored. Great run. Wonderful goal.
People from seats to my right rushed over and congratulated the guy sitting next to me: Thompson¹s very proud Dad.
Jack Sobczyk replaced Pantelis and Bridge did some good work to get Beauchamp into the Olympic penalty area and win a corner.
Then I realised I was in the middle of a brawl liable to erupt between a few smug Power fans to my right and a hundred very disappointed Olympic fans. I was praying that the guy across the aisle from me would stop inviting the Olympic fans over so they could repeat their insults at close range.
Schirripa executed a clever turn in the left side of the Power box and hit the right upright.
Last chance to equalise. But even equalising would never be enough. Farewell Olympic, you honoured yourselves, your fans and your history in the NSL. You didn¹t make the top six, but played quality football to the end and proved you were as deserving of a finals berth as anyone else.
But the real honour went to Power, who on March 14 will face Perth Glory at Parramatta Stadium in the first of the two-leg semi-final series.
Nick Theodorakopoulos admitted his team conceded time and space in the middle of the park, but it paid trumps with the way they countered. ³I thought we were powerful coming through in the last 20 minutes.² He said they had talked about full-time training being advantageous, and showing up some time in each half.
He said Olympic were outstanding in certain areas. He thought the latter part of the first half was Parramatta¹s but Olympic got the goal (Beauchamp not screening correctly and Ceccoli dropping too deep in the box) and that Power needed some cool heads at half time.
Peter Papanikitas said his team had developed some cohesion and that the second round was better than the first round. They were more able to compete against really good teams. He thought in many areas they had matched Parramatta.
He said Power¹s unusual second goal put Olympic back a bit but his team came back well.
He partially accepted Olympic had trouble at the front but said it was difficult to score when the opposition had eight or nine players behind the ball. He said overall the crowd saw a very good match and he was proud of his boys: ³They put in. There¹s a lot of boys carrying injuries. I think we missed Ante Juric and we had to make some changes, but overall I think at least we deserved a draw.²
Theodorakopoulos said that, for the size of the competition, Power had equalled the NSL record for going forward, and could break it next week. ³And that¹s just fantastic.²
Papanikitas and Theodorakopoulos both thought Caravella was outstanding. Papanikitas said in the second round he had been magic and should have given Australian coach Frank Farina a wake up call. ³He¹s played against some really good players in the last seven weeks and he¹s taken the piss.²
Theodorakopoulos said, regardless that Caravella was a relative of Farina¹s, he should play for Australia at the age group he suited. Papanikitas said having Halpin, one of the best midfielders in the country, with him had helped Caravella quite a bit.
Asked to compare Power with the championship Wollongong side he coached, Theodorakopoulos said the Power team was frightening going forward. He later said the Wollongong team had a confidence in itself that came with time, but that ³My boys have the belief that, going forward, they can destroy anyone, and they are beginning to work a lot better as a unit. Some of the problems we have defensively I have to take responsibility for; the routine at training and the cavalierish approach at times does hurt us, but when you weigh up the good and the bad, we¹re running second, we¹ve scored 56 goals, and we¹ve conceded five more than we should have.²
Papanikitas said he was privileged to have coached Olympic this year, especially considering how small was the percentage of coaches in Australia who coached in the NSL and, as Theodorakopoulos added, who kept their jobs.
He said Olympic fans could look forward to seeing a very competitive side in the final round.