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In the blue and white, there was Sydney Olympic, led by the experienced defender, Richie Luksic. In the red and white there was Sydney United with Ivo Bosnar in charge of his troops. The field of battle was Belmore Sports Ground and with close to 10,000 spectators for this clash of the titans, this was not just football, this was so much more.
Sydney Olympic have been the side to beat all year, sitting comfortably at the top of the ladder. Their coach, Peter Tsekenis knew half way through the season that they had a good chance of claiming the championship when the time came.
“When we were playing away from home and were top of the table, it was really in our hands. Once I saw everyone gelling and what each player could bring to the team, I sort of just knew it.”
Sydney United, considered by many, were one of the only sides in the competition who would be capable of defeating Olympic.
With the tactical mastermind John-Paul de Marigny having vanquished the dark-horses of the competition Blacktown City FC, JP as he is commonly known wanted to send off veterans of the game Ufuk Talay and Mark Rudan as champions.
After a 35 minute delay to allow the spectators who were kept outside to enter the ground, Sydney Olympic got the ball moving at a frantic pace.
With just one minute and thirty seconds on the clock, Olympic were awarded a corner, waiting patiently on the edge of the 18 yard box was none other than A-League hopeful Alex Smith. As the ball sailed past United’s defensive line, Smith provided a volley which flew straight past the ‘keeper and hit the back of the net. The roar from the crowd could be heard from a mile away.
The old saying of “you’re always at you’re most vulnerable after you’ve just scored” almost came true as Olympic’s goalkeeper Paul Henderson was forced into two outstanding saves proving why he has been arguably the best ‘keeper in the Premier League this season.
If anything was going to beat Henderson today, it was going to be something special. That moment didn’t happen in the first half.
The half time whistle came at completely the wrong time for JP’s men. United were just started to pass the ball beautifully and were challenging Olympic’s defensive line. United might have come close to getting an equaliser before the tea and scones break, but they weren’t close enough.
Sydney Olympic were the happier side being 1-0 up and in a fixture of this level, consistency was always going to be the difference.
Just seven minutes after the start of the second half, Sydney Olympic were gifted another set piece opportunity as the ball was cleared away for a corner. Mr. Set Piece also known as Chris Triantis stepped up for the corner.
The ball was perfectly weighted, gliding through the air like a candy wrapper caught in an up draft. Richie Luksic, club captain and all round legend of the game out jumped United’s defence and headed the ball into the back of the net. There was no one more happier that Olympic was now 2-0 in front than the goal scorer himself.
With over half an hour left of football to play, United became frustrated and panicking in front of goal with over five attempts on goal hitting the side netting and zero of strikes on target or really challenging the former North Queensland Fury and Central Coast Mariner, Henderson.
Just like Olympic’s defence, United’s supporter group were active for 90 minutes through the thick and the thin of the action. Some pundits might have said the atmosphere felt ‘old soccer’-esque, but there is no doubt that the fan base for the NSW Premier League is there and is waiting for the A-League to welcome them with open arms.
United were given one last chance to pull a goal back at the end of the match, pushing Mark Rudan further up the field. As the clock hit the 90th minute, Elsid Barhousir’s header which went wide of the match summed up United’s attacking play for the entire match – close but not close enough.
As the final whistle was blown, the match might have been over but the celebrations for Olympic began. There were hand shakes, hugs and even the cliché bucket of water over the coach in joy.
As the celebrations died down, The Football Sack caught up with Tsekenis to get his views on the fixture as well as his overall view on the season “We got here. We deserved to be here. We were Minor Premiers. Now we’re Champions.”
“We held strong, showed desperation at the right times, Henderson made the saves when he had to and Richie [Luksic] got a goal to win us the game. Wasn’t the best performance, but in the final all you have to do is win.”
“It probably hasn’t sunk in yet, but very satisfying to win.”
Despite having lost the final, United’s key figure, JP was clearly frustrated to have lost the game, but at the same time was proud of his side, “I was really happy with how we performed in the first half. But we got done by two set plays again. The football we played was excellent. At half time we said just continue playing the same way and hopefully we’ll get that goal we need.”
“I thought Henderson was superb for them, making important saves. But they’ll played well all year. Unfortunately we couldn’t get that goal we needed.”
“We set our goals early in the year, obviously making the final was our goal. The boys responded well during the year, the boys did well through the year. I’m proud of my team. The club should be too.”
In his final game of professional football, Mark Rudan was unlucky to be on the losing side but is ready to move into the next phase of his footballing career; “I still want to be involved in football, whether it’s in the media or whatever it is, as long as it’s footballing related, I’m happy. It is my life, and it’s the only thing I know. It’s where my passion is.”
Belmore Sports Ground wasn’t just entertained by the main game, but also saw the Under 18s saw Sydney Olympic get a 1-0 win over Manly United whilst in the Under 20s, APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Blacktown City FC were locked at 1-1 at full time, APIA winning on penalties 5-4.
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