The season has officially begun for the NPL clubs with states across Australia preparing or starting their fixtures.

Among them is Olympic FC that played their first game for the NPL of Queensland last Sunday as they welcomed Western Pride.

The home team didn’t start the game as their fans would have expected following their previous successful season. Trailing in the score just after 16 minutes when Michael Morrow put the ball past goalkeeper Cuminao.

Olympic maintained their composure after the goal, holding on to possession and creating several opportunities, yet the visitors were able to head into the break with the lead.

But it wasn’t meant to last, as just five minutes into the second half, Alex Smith levelled the game, making the most of a clever pass by Kazuya Ito.

And it only took them another four minutes to turn the game on its head, after a nice counter-attack saw the ball land on Chris Lucas’ feet.

The debutante for Olympic calmly put it past Davison for the second time in the night, scoring his first goal with his new team.

It wouldn’t be his only one that night though, as on the 77th he managed to get on the score sheet again after a nice solo effort and clever shot that went past a helpless Davison.

A minute later, the Pride managed to get back into the game thanks to a quick Parsons goal, yet it proved inconsequential, with Olympic holding on to their lead comfortably until the 90 minutes were over.

After the game, Olympic manager Ben Cahn stated that his team caused themselves more trouble than they should’ve, yet the difference in quality was made apparent in the end.

When speaking about Chris Lucas and his debut, Cahn pointed out that this was exactly the reason why Olympic had moved to add him to their roster, so that he can capitalise on the extended periods of possession that the team have throughout the games.

Now Olympic focus on this Sunday’s (24 February) home game against SWQ Thunder, where as Ben Cahn stressed his team will try to do “all the right things for even longer.”

Additionally, this weekend begins the NPL of South Australia, with the participation of two Greek clubs.

Adelaide Olympic will host South Adelaide, while West Adelaide faces the Comets away from home. Both games will be held today (Saturday 23 February.)

LINE-UPS:

OLYMPIC FC: Brandon Cuminao, Clover, Waters, Whyte, Mundy, Ito, Lucas, Smith, Lasm, James Cuminao, Lofthouse
Substitutions: 51′ Shol, 72′ Nazary, 89′ Driver

WESTERN PRIDE: Davison, Scriggins, Barratt, Crestani, Sheriff, Brown, Bird, Parsons, Norris, Anderson, Morrow
Substitutions: 56′ Izett, 62′ Lukonga, 72′ Mbarushayo