After an unbeaten start to the new season Olympic found themselves up against Hindle Arms on Pitch 2 at Pleasington. It was an unfancied Tuesday night game in blustery conditions but Olympic had a strong squad and with only a few senior players out.
Chris Mason replaced the absent Tamas Barath in goal and Olympic welcomed back long serving centre back Rob Plummer for his first game of the season in place of Will Sharples. Richard Sholicar was also unavailable so Andy McCari was handed a start upfront. Stu Clarke kept his place at centre half after a commanding performance against Rishton and Chris Tomlinson recovered from the ankle injury which kept him out of Saturday's game.
Olympic captain Tomlinson opted to kick into the storm in the first half and Olympic knew they would have to work exceptionally well and keep the ball. That is exactly what they did and shocked the opposition in a first half which should have really belonged to them. It was a half of not many chances as Rob Plummer & Stu Clarke won every ball in the air and on the floor and the two full backs Phil Scott and Stu Brown where solid in the tackle to prevent the opposition from getting close. However it was the wind and the flag happy linesman that was hindering Olympic's attacks but that changed as Ste Round picked up the ball on the left and slotted a beautifully weighted through ball through to Tomlinson. Tomlinson made sure this time by giving the defenders a few yards but still managed to race clear into the wind. The goalkeeper stayed on his line and Tomlinson opted to shoot from the edge of the box instead of carrying further which baffled the Olympic players but the shot had great power and technique and even though the keeper got a hand to it it wasn't enough to prevent the goal... 1-0 to Olympic unbelievable teckers.
Black and Grundy were handling the oppositions 3 central midfielder's but a lapse in concentration allowed a long range effort which flew into the top corner leaving Mason helpless 1-1. It was a bitter blow for Olympic who had worked so hard but neverless they went in at half time knowing they had done the hard work.
Into the second half and the opposition got off to a good start much to the dismay of the Olympic players who were struggling to adapt to now having the wind on their side but the long ball was just to tempting and kept coming back despite Andy McCari's best efforts upfront.
Olympic got hold of the game and started to dictate. Lee Grundy put a number of dangerous corners into the box and Carl Black headed, well shouldered the best chance of the half so far over the bar from close range. From the resulting goalkick Olympic were gifted a goal when the keeper took a short goalkick, Tomlinson was switched on and robbed the ball of the defender before rounding the keeper and rolling the ball into an empty net. Great individual goal and Olympic lead 2-1.
The flood gates then opened and the opposition had all but gave up hope playing into the wind. Olympic's third came from a great ball from centre half Stu Clarke. Clarke picked up the ball near the half way line and fired a teasing ball in the gap between the back line and the keeper. With the goalkeeper glued to his line and the quality of the ball in all it needed was somebody to get on the end of it. It was the man of the moment Tomlinson who read the pass and nodded home his 4th goal in 2 games.
All Olympic had to do was see out the remaining minutes but a rare run from one of the opposition attackers needed stopping and Stu Clarke nailed him in a tackle that John Fenton would have been proud of just outside the box. Olympic pulled everyone back however confusion between the wall and the goalkeeper allowed the taker to fire the ball in to an unguarded corner to make in 3-2.
Squeeky bum time for Olympic but they managed to hold on the ball and claim the victory thanks to a superb hattrick from Chris Tomlinson. Great work from Andy McCari upfront and another solid 90 minutes from Stu Brown. Stu Clarke seemed to enjoy playing at the back with Rob Plummer and manager Dave Lloyd will be left with a selection headache next week with the likes of Andy Eastwood, Will Sharples, Richard Sholicar and Tamas Barath all returning. 7 points from a possible 9 and with a home game against Feni & Pleasy to come next week you have to fancy their unbeaten run to continue. Ste Round aggrivated a knee injury but with a bit of luck will be ok for Saturday.
On a final note as we all know it's someones birthday today and all the Olympic players and staff would like to wish Amy Winehouse a happy birthday xx
