Round 14 VS Olympic, Wellington College Turf, 8 July

Elite 2 - 6 Olympic
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Write-up by Ganes

As I arrived on time (any time before kick-off) I could see the mighty Elite were prepping for an all-out game against bitter rivals Olympic. 
 
Olympic were looking fairly standard showing off their flash individually named shirts but didn't look all that threatening. Little did we know....
 
The game started quietly only to be spiced up by "the Toff" who decided to send a place kick directly to the closest and fastest player in the opposition. Now I'm not saying he was paid off, but old money runs out and you have to heat the ancestral home somehow, so 1-0 to Olympic and everyone was back in the game.
 
We started to string a few good passes together and although there was the odd, quick counter strike, the Elite were looking to dominate the first half. A stunning run and pass into the centre by our lightning quick Shano found Decs in the box, who nicely slotted the ball past Olympic's keeper. A great piece of footy to bring us to 1-1.
 
The remaining half was spent attacking the ball and defending counter attacks which was looking fairly successful if not niggly at times, Rocky Balboa coming out for an 8th movie. Turk and Blake looked solid and had a few goes down the wing, Adam was clearing up in the centre, CJ when not being pushed in the back looked to catch the goalie out of position and the defence was resolute when not passing directly to the opposition. Things were looking good other than how quiet we were unless it was mouthing off at each other.
 
Looks are deceiving however and second half things went pear shaped... We lost a lot of the momentum from the first half, our shape fell apart and Olympic came out firing. A defensive blunder by yours truly left a ball to the opposition who slotted an easy opportunity, sorry lads not my best work. 2-1 Olympic but the Elite were not down and out just yet.
 
On came fearless leader Lady Thighs who calmly took control from the middle and having enough of this running business, struck the ball high and true for what had to be one of the best goals of the season. Followed by a Chrispy-esque "I'm bigger then Jesus (read hey-zeus), he could only walk on water" celebration. Fair play though, 2-2.
 
The next 15-20 minutes were a blur. Olympic really took up the pace after that goal or we in our old age, slowed down with the centre 4 struggling to keep pace with the through balls and Speedy Gonzales coming through who proceeded to score a hattrick. Henry did well to keep on him as best he could (and much better than myself I'll add) but I think we can all agree, the goal he scored at pace, bringing the ball down from the air and speeding through our line in a blink of an eye was class.
 
There was a lot we could have done better as Olympic moved the ball around from wing to wing with too much free time, us not clearing the ball in the air and misjuding the through balls but it is what it is and it cost us dearly. Rocky and Jas brought some stablity into the backline towards the end but it was too little too late with the Elite going down 6-2 or 7-2? 
 
Trying to rally from the scathing attack Gav saw a golden opportunity to score only to be met with a cracking save from the goalie. Olympic clearly still feeling the pressure from the mighty Elite who played on regardless of the result decided it was last man standing, their goalie throwing himself at Decs without even trying to look like he was going for the ball. 
 
Free kick over, Decs having enough did his best Bill Paxton impression and told the ref to blow the whistle already. 

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​Points
Bit of a spread for this one, a lot of people tried to put a big effort in to get us back in the game and did well regardless of the result.
 
Adam 2
Decs 1
Shane 1
Damo 1
Jas 1