A howling first-half wind at OKI Jubilee Oval didn't help matters but certainly didn't factor in the amount of missed chances in the last ever NSL meeting between these two traditional rivals.
Olympic had by far the better opportunities and should have been ahead before the 12th minute fiasco that almost produced an opening goal. Hiroyuki Ishida, lethal down the left, sent over a long cross that Zenon Caravella pulled back for Predrag Bojic. His poor effort came back off a defender and fell for Troy Halpin who, showing terrific vision, attempted to chip the keeper but with the ball, for once, holding up in the wind it was an easy take for Eugene Galekovic between the sticks for South.
A minute later and Olympic once again should have taken the lead. Caravella this time sent his shot, again from an Ishida cross on the left, against the legs of Galekovic and with the ball bouncing fortuitously back to him he miss-hit another attempt whilst on the ground and the lead went begging.
Iain Fyfe was next to show but another Ishida cross, he cut South apart down the left wing channel in the opening 40-minutes, saw his header go high and wide before the visitors had their first worthwhile attempt at goal themselves when Vince Lia broke through the middle from a Kristian Sarkies pass only to see his well placed shot go agonizingly inches wide of Brett Hughes right-hand upright.
From then on it was more a catalogue of squandered chances with shots ballooning over the bar or being hit straight at either custodian with some of the efforts not being out of place on Australia's Funniest Home Videos show.
Both coach's were open and honest about the performance after the game;
Olympic: The wind played a minor factor in the opening minutes but the players adjusted to it and there can be no excuses. We should have won at both Marconi and Power but that's football. A draw at either game and a win today, which we again deserved, I feel, would have seen us in the Top Six play-offs. We certainly played far better in the 2nd Round matches but our poor start to the season has seen us play the price. I'm proud of what the boys have done in the last 10-weeks and we really should have made the Top Six. We are all bitterly disappointed.
South: It was far more important for us to break our run of four losses than to pick up three points today. We wanted to keep a clean sheet and we have managed that. The wind wasn't a factor in the chances we wasted that is down to the players. We have lost three defenders in recent weeks and that is a major blow because we don't have a big squad but the guys stuck to the plan today and with better finishing could have come away with the win. I left Vaughan Coveny out today as he is sitting on 3-yellow cards and I didn't want to risk him picking up another and missing games in the final's because of it. All said and done, we're happy to be playing at Marconi next week and we'll see what happens from there.