The following is a match report of the local derby between UTS Olympic and Marconi played on Sunday 13th April 1997 at Belmore Oval.
Marconi had yet to better UTS Olympic in seven years in games played on Blues' territory, and perhaps tonight it was the home team that unwittingly forfeited such a notable record against one of the country's premier teams when they decided to forego their usual home strip as part of their 21st birthday celebrations. Indeed, whilst it was their 21st birthday as Olympic, more significant perhaps, was the fact that the club chose to honour their forebears, Pan-Hellenic who were created 40 years ago, by playing in the original blue and white (vertically) striped garb seen almost half a century ago.
Whilst totally comprehensible for mine, it is the exception rather than the norm for a club to formally acknowledge and even then, embrace previous incarnations of its existence. Even the fans and statistitians amongst us seem to sternly refuse to concatenate the histories of what is essentially the same club (same home ground, many of the same players, typically many of the same administration etc.) if the presence of that team in the premier competition is broken in some way. Most notable of such teams is Canberra City, nee Arrows, nee ....., nee Cosmos, but this is not to pass over the "spotty" histories of Newcastle or Brisbane for example. All this in these politically correct times of "de-ethnicisation" seemed at least to be a proud statement of heritage....even if I couldn't understand a bar of it. :)
This all to one side, I can almost guarantee that UTS would have traded it all for the victory tonight; their hopes for finals football depended on it.
Thanks to two volleys from Craig Foster in the second half, the Stallions secured a 2-0 victory away from home that ensures that they will be playing football beyond next week's final preliminary round. Whilst never to suggest that "winning isn't everything", Manfred Schaefer must have been particularly chuffed that his side didn't concede a goal after last week's caning at the hands/feet of the Breakers (who by some accounts "walk on water" :)).
Whilst I would be hard-pressed to concede that the better side lost on the night, it must be said that Olympic had the better of the first half and (as usual) had their opportunities to score. As early as the 5th minute, David Mitchell looped a header over the advancing Catlin, when both converged to the top of the penalty area to meet the bouncing bomb delivered by Beetle Ballie from within his own half. Yeah, it's always easy from the side line and twice so in retrospect, but given that Mitchell was under the gaurd of Souris it seemed a wreckless choice that Catlin should come for a ball that was bouncing so high so far away from the goal. Ultimately, Mitch looped the ball over Catlin but wide of the right-hand upright, although even then both Souris and Holst had it covered.
In the 21st minute, Traja cannoned a flying volley into the body of Andy Harper (who had been assigned to man-mark the former) after an accurate cross from Emerton on the right, which itself was preceded by some nice footwork by Poimer who shows himself to be deceptively skilled for the big boy that he is (not to mention that he was once at the crossroads of choosing either soccer or rugby league as his preferred sport!).
Half chances then fell to Zoric and Robertson in the 24th and 25th minutes, the latter despatching a wicked shot from 20 yards out that scorched the side netting.
Francis "Gumby" Awaritefe was then presented with the best opportunity thus far in the match when he was put through on goal with a clear (albeit angled) run to the keeper. With Babic streaming down the centre and only the one intervening defender, Francis crumbled and really offered little trouble to the keeper in scuffing a shot into the keeper's arms. In the next counter raid, Trajanovski again came close when he skillfully contrived to head the ball goal-ward, when in reality it had all but gone over the by-line well beyond the far post. I'm sure it was out of surprise that Catlin was beaten by the returned header, although it was hardly surprising that the striker's (although he was playing in midfield) effort was cleared off the line by the ever-alert Holst - a defence would have felt well "ripped-off" if they were to concede a headed goal from that position.
I thought that I would have to wait a long time (and frankly, I have) to witness an Ericsson Cup match that yielded no cards. That it would occur in a derby match and on a weekend where there couldn't have been a more determined opponent than Olympic at home is an event that would command very long odds. With deserved credit to referee Mark Shields, I'm very pleased to report that tonight's match never declined into a scrap nor into a contest of inflicting bruising whenever a player could not win the ball instead. How cultured!
Harps went *very* close however, to spoiling the clean sheet when in the 35th minute of the half he clumsily/cynically(?) brought Peter Tsekenis down from behind when not really in reach of the ball. It took some quick sweet-talking to prevent Shields reaching for his top pocket but to his credit, Harper swung it. Again, to the ref's eternal credit, he showed restraint and the player rightly respected that for the rest of the match. Good cricket boys. Not just a pretty head that Harper :).
Aside from Poimer snapping a half-chance high over the bar, the half closed with David Mitchell failing to convert what transpired to be Olympic's best chance of the match. Typical of the promise they showed all night, Olympic's young guns created a very skillfully manufactured opportunity for Mitchell, only to see the seasoned veteran spurn the chance. In the 42nd minute, interplay between Zelic and Emerton in and around the box had the Marconi defence in disarray which afforded the latter the space to cross the ball into the path of the fast-advancing Mitchell, only to see him sky the ball over the bar from within the 6 yard box even though Catlin had been beaten by the cross. Admittedly, Souris deserved credit for being able to follow Mitchell all the way into the goal, and in spite of him being further away from the ball when it was crossed, being able to effectively spoil Mitch's chance at the open goal.
Foster scored his and his team's first goal in the 9th minute after the break from a loose ball that he volleyed just inside Bouhoutsos's left upright. Despite being given the job of a marker, Harper was industrious at times as best exemplified by his contribution to the making of the first goal of the match. From within his own half, Harper secured a wayward off-load and promoted the ball down the right touch line, all the while under pressure from the Olympic defence. Upon breaching Olympic's defensive third Harper received a return ball from Zoric(?) which then afforded him the chance to cross (almost indiscriminately) into the box. Harper's cross was missed in the first instance by Ballie, but then only partially deflected by Barrett standing behind him such that the ball sat up nicely for Foster to patiently volley the Stallions into the lead.
It was not that Marconi then went into their shell, but the strikes on goal thereafter came mainly from the feet of the Olympic players. Significantly, however, Marconi would generally only allow Olympic to shoot from a distance although with Tome recently subbed on even this could have been fraught with danger given his shooting ability. Indeed, Olympic would have drawn to level terms had their been someone chasing Tome's long range drive in the 23rd minute which Catlin did well just to parry.
Only a minute later, (yet) again, Trajanovski was without luck as a strong build down the left was rewarded only with a near miss as his shot beat the outside of the far post - no thanks to a defensive defelection.
In the 29th minute, Emerton carried the ball apparently effortlessly past defenders from as far back as his own half right into the penalty area all the while gathering speed. With a questionable intervention from Zoric in the box, it appeared that his own speed got the better of the young attacker as Emerton fumbled for a few steps, progressively losing control of the ball before falling to the ground. Naturally, cries of "PENALTY" rang around the ground - and possibly with some justification, but my first impression was that Emerton's stumble was more of his own doing than Zoric's.
If that didn't signal that this was to be a fruitless evening for the home side, then Foster's second goal in the 78th minute was the catalyst for a bulk of the crowd to leave well before the final whistle (great fans!!). 13,724 turned up for the evening's fare - a new ground record - but I'll be stuffed if a third didn't leave after Foster's second goal!
This time it was the delicate by-play between the Marconi youngsters Robertson and Babic in particular that led to Babic's deflected shot falling into the path of Foster who again volleyed the ball, sending it crashing into the net on the rise.
Olympic's season was over. Marconi had confirmed their spot in the six.
Ardone tried his luck, but again from a distance, for that was as close as he was going to be allowed to get. The remainder of the match was an exercise in frustration for Foster who was clearly gunning for his hat-trick only to be denied it several times by the albeit not-overly selfish play of the strikers before him. A 3-on-2 opportunity that finally fell to Bosevski (who had replaced Awaritefe - having a terrible night with his distribution), should have found its way to Foster who was much better poised and in any event free of any markers for a final shot on goal.
With barely a minute to go, Babic could have again opted to allow an awaiting Foster to take the strike on goal that he hoarded for himself to limited effect.
Ultimately, it mattered little and for mine it would have over-stated Foster's contribution to the game had he secured the elusive hat-trick.
Isn't it funny how that in spite of the differing fortunes of the two combatants, both coaches are almost certainly to be replaced next season. David Mitchell, despite his great "turn-around" will almost certainly have to make way for Geoff Harcombe next season whilst Manfred Schaefer is being hounded by the strong rumours of a Matic-led charge on his own tenure over the Stallions. I just can't accept that a coach of a Top 6 team (even notwithstanding what Marconi might manage in the finals series), with all things being equal, is under such pressure to maintain his job! As for Olympic, well....what sort of record is twenty-something different coaches in twenty-something years!??!?
Cards: NIL !!!! Best: 3 pts: Emerton (UTS) - consistently displaying skill 2 pts: Zoric (Marconi) - class but subbed (???) 1 pt : Holst (Marconi) - did a strong job on Poimer Ref: Mark Shields Rating: 8/10 - wasn't conspicuous; showed good control; and restraint on Harper incident deserves commendation. Crowd: 13,724 (Biggest ever soccer crowd at Belmore) (Unconfirmed: biggest UTS home crowd since the advent of summer soccer - Andrew???). Match rating: 6/10 A sunday night well spent - not brilliant (typical derby game rating, eh? :) ) Parting shot: The state of the ground!!!! Uneven, slippery and errant League field markings all over the shop!! We need our own surfaces!!! Not ones we share with other sports (unless its hockey or lawn bowls :) !