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Kekeris takes out NPL Dash at Bankwest

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APIA Leichhardt Tigers may have won the major NPL NSW Men’s prize for 2019 but Sydney Olympic’s high flying attacker grabbed the headlines for being the fastest man in the competition taking out Football NSW’s ‘NPL Dash’ during half-time of the big finale on Saturday evening at Bankwest Stadium.

Collecting a cool $2500 kindly donated by TAFE NSW for destroying the rest of the pack, Kekeris stood tall in what was an otherwise impressive lineup of runners albeit minus the early running favourite, Manly United’s Charles Mendy who pulled out a day prior to the event.

Marconi Stallions’ James Andrew and Blacktown City’s Leroy Jennings were seen as next stars to take out the Dash but it was the ‘pocket rocket’ Kekeris who reigned supreme in the 60 metre challenge with a time of 8.48 seconds.

Thank you to every participant that took part and thank you to all the NPL NSW Men’s clubs that threw its support behind this activation.

NPL Dash Runners 2019

APIA Leichhardt Tigers – Zander Regan

Blacktown City – Leroy Jennings

Hakoah – Amaury Gauthier

Marconi – James Andrew

Mt Druitt Town Rangers – Shane Prasad

Manly United – Jack Berte

Rockdale City Suns – Alec Duckinoski

Sydney Olympic – Peter Kekeris

Sydney FC – Joe Roddy

Sydney United 58 – Anthony Pedavoli

Sutherland Sharks – Jay McGowan

Wollongong Wolves – Bul Juach

Palapanis named Sydney Olympic head coach

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Sydney Olympic Football Club have announced the appointment of Terry Palapanis to the role of Men’s 1st Grade Coach for the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season  in 2020.

Palapanis will not only coach the Men’s 1st Grade squad but also have responsibility and oversight of our Under 20’s squad as part of the Club’s Senior program.

Club CEO John Boulous stated.

“After the resignation of Abbas Saad, the Club needed to move quickly to ensure we were able to continue our planning, retention and recruitment ahead of the new season.

“Terry brings an extensive knowledge of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition and its players and we feel this is a great advantage in our quest to continue to build a senior program that is able to develop our existing players and attract the best young talent to our club to ensure all players reach their potential, whether at Olympic or at the next level.

“Terry was extremely impressive in our discussions and in the plan he presented to us.

“We are confident Terry will develop and implement a football program for senior players that brings success to our Club and its fans.”

Palapanis was excited by his appointment saying.

“It’s an honour to be given the opportunity to coach at such a historical and prestigious club like Sydney Olympic, a club in which I supported as a child.

“We will endeavour to play a style of football that will entertain, but also importantly bring the results to achieve our aim of winning silverware in 2020”.

Palapanis will work closely with Club Technical Director Ante Juric and will commence in the role immediately where the main priority will be to confirm the playing squad and pre-season football program ahead of the 2020 season.

Abbas Saad resigns as head coach of Sydney Olympic

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Sydney Olympic Football Club has announced that Abbas Saad has resigned from his position of 1st Grade Men’s Head Coach.

Abbas is Hall of Fame legend of the Club and took over as Head Coach a week prior to the commencement of the 2018 season on his return from Malaysia.

Under his guidance the squad won both a Premiership and Championship in 2018 and this season missed out on a finals spot on goal difference.

“It was an honour to Coach at Olympic, a club I won premierships as a player and now as a coach is something I am very proud of”. Saad commented;

“I feel I have taken this squad as far as I can and I am seeking a new challenge and opportunity in my coaching career. I wish nothing but the best for the players and Club. Saad added.

Sydney Olympic Football Club CEO John Boulous stated.

“Abbas is a popular and engaging figure throughout the Club and its fans and has made a positive difference since returning to the Club, Abbas made an immediate impact on taking over and instilled great belief, confidence and passion throughout the playing group, contributing to their immediate success”.

“Abbas will be missed and we wish him the best of luck for his future endeavours, being a Hall of Fame Legend he will always remain a friend and very welcome at our Club”. Boulous added.

Boulous added – “The Club will commence its search for a new coach immediately and are hopeful to complete this process as soon as possible to continue the appropriate planning for next season”.

No finals football for Sydney Olympic

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Reigning NPL NSW Men’s champions Sydney Olympic has narrowly missed out on a place in the finals despite a final round 3-1 win against Sydney FC at Lambert Park.

Two goals to Alex Sanchez and one to Jack Stewart was enough to silence the home side in what was a thrilling Round 22 contest.

Benjamin Koop found the back of the net in the 13th minute for Sydney FC but it proved to be nothing more than a stat line as Olympic claimed all three points.

The win was not enough to secure finals football for the Olympic, as a tight battle for fourth and fifth position was won by Sydney United and Marconi Stallions respectively.

Olympic had a brilliant start to the game, scoring twice within the first 10 minutes.

Stewart opened scoring for the visitors in the 5th minute, sliding a left-foot strike into the netting from the edge of the 18-yard box.

Sanchez doubled Olympic’s lead just minutes later, working his magic to charge through Sydney FC’s defence and send his shot out of reach of Thomas Heward-Belle in the 8th minute.

Despite a five-minute period of dominance for Sydney Olympic, Sydney FC were competitive against Olympic, utilising their technical ability to counteract Olympic’s experience and physicality.

The home side worked their way back into the game in the 13th minute, with Koop breaking free from Billy Patramanis to knock in a header from a Callum Talbot cross.

The teams continued to battle it out, with both sides having their share of chances, but it was Olympic who would score again in the 68th minute through Sanchez.

The Spaniard scored his second of the match, connecting with a cross from Jinya An to head home a third for the visitors.

Olympic coach Abbas Saad expressed his disappointment that his team weren’t going to be playing finals football this year.

“We’re disappointed but obviously very, very proud of the boy’s efforts,” he explained.

“We’ve beaten ourselves this year and that’s the disappointing factor, we could have done a lot better.

“It is what it is, we’ve beaten four of those top five teams that are going to be in the semi-finals.

“We felt if we could just get into the finals maybe we could show our true colours.”

Despite the loss, Sydney FC coach Jim Van Weeren was proud of the style of football his team was executing.

“The style of football the boys played, especially in the opposition half, and the combination play between boys was really special today,” he explained.

“There’s been some big learning moments in this comp.

“There’s some quality players and they can punish you for some mistakes, especially if you give the ball away in your half, as we saw today.”

Match Stats

Sydney FC 1 (Benjamin Koop 13’)

Sydney Olympic FC 3 (Jack Stewart 5’, Alex Sanchez 8’, 68’)

Sunday, 11 August 2019.

Lambert Park, Leichhardt 

Referee: D. Stack

Assistant Referees: J. Bell and M. Staples

Fourth Official: L. Jones

Sydney FC: 1. Thomas Heward-Belle, 2. Fletcher Mcfarlane (12. Calem Nieuwenhof 45’), 3. Benjamin Van Meurs, 5. Patrick Scibilio, 6. Harry Van Der Saag (9. Hamish Lamberton 82’), 8. Joel King, 11. Luke Ivanovic, 13. Jordan Swibel, 15. Ryan Teague (16. Paolo Bonanni 82’), 17. Callum Talbot, 18. Benjamin Koop

Substitutes Not Used: 4. Mitchell Mattison, 30. Matteo Scali

Yellow Cards: Calem Nieuwenhof 90’

Red Cards: Nil

Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Paul Henderson, 3. Riley Woodcock, 6. Nikola Kuleski, 8. Jason Madonis, 9. Radovan Pavicevic (22. Michael Gaitatzis 79’), 10. Harris Gaitatzis, 11. Jinya An, 12. Zachary Mackenzie, 14. Alejandro Sanchez, 17. Jack Stewart (2. Thomas Whiteside 88’), 25. Dimi Petratos (19. Darcy Burgess 66’), 26. Billy Patramanis,

Substitutes Not Used: 20. Ezequiel Consoni, 33. Nikolas Tsattalios

Yellow Cards: Riley Woodcock 38’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings have now been hidden due to the second half of the season commencing.

By National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Madeline Riley (@madelineriley23)

 

 

Olympic keep finals alive as United 58 stumble

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Sydney Olympic have kept their finals hopes are after a stunning 2-1 victory over Sydney United 58 at Belmore Sportsground on Sunday evening.

A goal to Tariq Maia in the 26th minute had Sydney United 58 with the advantage after the first stanza, but a 10-minute block early into the second half saw the pace of the game change drastically.

A goal to Olympic substitute Jack Stewart and a well-taken penalty from Olympic skipper Jason Madonis saw the home side work their way back into the game.

Despite a massive amount of pressure from the visitors, Olympic remained resolute in defence to hold on to the lead to take a hard-fought three points from the game.

It was a crucial three points for the reigning Premiers and Champions, but their finals football hopes will now depend on a loss from Sydney United 58 next weekend, as well as a win against Sydney FC.

Both teams threatened in the opening stages of the match, creating an abundance of goal-scoring opportunities, but were neither were able to make their mark on the game.

A robust defensive line for the visitors stifled Olympic’s chances while they built momentum before opening scoring in the 26th minute.

Olympic’s defence came to a halt after assuming the offside flag would be raised on Maia’s run, but as the linesman kept his hand by his side, Maia continued his run without hesitation and sent his strike out of Henderson’s reach.

The home side seemed to regroup at the half-time break, while a substitution sparked some positivity on the field.

Stewart came on in the 52nd minute in place of Billy Patramanis and scored just moments later in his first play of the game.

Henderson planted his goal-kick just outside the 18-yard box and Radovan Pavicevic sent a header through to Stewart.

Stewart then made his run, cutting in before sending a strike past Thomas Manos and into the netting to get Olympic on the scoreboard.

Olympic was awarded a penalty in the 57th minute, after Adrian Vlastelica brought down Pavicevic inside the area.

Madonis stepped up to the spot and sent Manos the wrong way to take the lead for the home side.

Neither team stopped fighting until the final whistle, but Olympic managed to maintain their one-goal advantage to finish the game 2-1.

Olympic coach Abbas Saad was very pleased with his team’s fight to come back from a one-goal deficit.

“I thought we played some good football,” he explained.

“The belief from the boys and the positivity in our play just kept us going.

“We knew if we could get one goal back, we could go on and win.

“It was fully deserved, and we showed a lot of fight.”

Sydney United 58 coach Miro Vlastelica was disappointed a penalty was the deciding factor of the game.

“It’s always tough losing on a call that could have gone either way,” he explained.

“I thought, considering we played two hours mid-week, they were probably struggling to keep up with us, so credit to my boys.

“We’re confident, next week we’ve just got to work hard and prepare for Manly.”

Match Stats

Sydney Olympic FC 2 (Jack Stewart 52’, Jason Madonis 57’ (pen))

Sydney United 58 1 (Tariq Maia 26’)

4th August, 2019

Belmore Sportsground

Referee: S. Lucas

Assistant Referees: K. Robinson & J. Park

Fourth Official: J. Crawford

Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Paul Henderson, 3. Riley Woodcock, 6. Nikola Kuleski, 8. Jason Madonis, 9. Radovan Pavicevic, 10. Harris Gaitatzis (2. Thomas Whiteside 61’), 11. Jinya An, 12. Zachary Mackenzie, 14. Alejandro Sanchez, 26. Billy Patramanis (17. Jack Stewart 52’), 33. Nikolas Tsattalios (44. Peter Kekeris 77’)

Substitutes Not Used: 20. Ezequiel Consoni, 25. Dimi Petratos

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Sydney United 58: 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 5. Anthony Tomelic, 8. Matthew Sim (18. Glen Trifiro 63’), 9. Patrick Antlemi, 12. Liam Rose, 14. Tomislav Uskok, 15. Tariq Maia, 19. Joshua Macdonald (13. Michael Ruhs 41’), 20. Cristian Gonzalez (17. Matthew Bilic 58’), 21. Thomas Manos, 22. Yianni Fragogiannis

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Daniel Sadaka, 11. Yianni Perkatis

Yellow Cards: Anthony Tomelic 29’, Adrian Vlastelica 66’

Red Cards: Nil

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Madeline Riley (@madelineriley23)