Olympic Move Step Closer To Second Round of 32 Appearance

Photo: ©Ray Gardner.

Redlands Utd 1 (Warrilow 90’ ) Olympic FC 4 (Bow 32’, Heath 58’, Psaros 75’, Slaney 89’)

HT 0-1 Played at: Cleveland Showgrounds

Olympic went into the game as favourites and moved one step closer to their second appearance in the Westfield FFA Round of 32 with a dominant 4-1 victory over Redlands United at Cleveland Showgrounds on Tuesday night. The away side opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when Scott Bow met a low cross and fired past Denver Crickmore in goal for Redlands. It was less than they deserved going into the break at halftime but gave the Red Devils a sniff which was extinguished when substitute Matt Heath got onto the end of a nice passing move and made it 2-0. Costa Psaros and Charlie Slaney scored late in the game ensuring it was all but over by the time Alex Warrilow dragged one back for the visitors with a strike from the edge of the penalty area. Olympic were deserved winners on the night despite missing a host of chances which had coach Terry Kirkham pulling his hair out on the sideline. But Redlands had opportunities to score, none more so than when Graham Fyfe hit the post shortly after halftime, yet were their own worst enemy at times, repeatedly turning the ball over in dangerous positions when momentum turned their way. The ability to quickly turn defence into attack was the hallmark of Olympic’s play tonight with Andrew Coyne getting plenty of ball out wide in the early stages, before he was substituted for injury just before halftime, and Heath taking up the mantle off the bench. Noticeably, Redlands had their best period of the game when they were able to get some control in the midfield where they struggled, particularly in the first half, ensuring talisman Graham Fyfe was unable to get on the ball in meaningful positions up front. Olympic head into the showdown against Moreton Bay United at Goodwin Park with the upper hand and a big crowd will be expecting another great result, particularly if they can dominate possession as they did tonight. United will be obviously disappointed with the result in a re-building season and have plenty of work ahead of them if they are to return to the top of the PS4 NPL and get back into the Round of 32 next season. With the result looking likely for most of the game, it was a subdued night by Westfield FFA Cup standards but a massive outcome for the team from Yeronga.

Coaches Remarks:

Matt Chandler - Redlands Utd: "Disappointed obviously because you don’t want to lose. I thought we had a sniff being only down 1-0 but they scored right after Fyfe hit the post. We changed our shape and went for it but we got caught on the counter attack twice at the end. I can’t fault the effort and the attitude but it just didn’t quite go their way. They were good again, very good.” Terry Kirkham - Olympic FC: “We came here to get a result because we’re playing well. We could have put more chances away in the first half which was frustrating. We have midfielders playing up front and defenders playing in midfield...it’s a good developing side. We’ll build this year and be an even stronger force next year.”

FB Media Player of the Match: Sam Cronin (Olympic FC)

Cronin was in everything for Olympic and was the perfect link man between the solid back four and the speedy front three.

FB Media Stats:

Possession: 48% - 52%

Shots on target: 3 - 16

Shots off target: 1 - 8

Shots blocked: 2 - 1

Corners: 3 - 4

Free Kicks: 12 - 15

Penalties: 0 - 0

Offside: 3 - 2

Yellow Cards: 1 - 0