Words: Matt Dorman/Olympic FC
Image: Alannah Pearson/Olympic FC

Brisbane Roar boss Mike Mulvey believes Wednesday night’s friendly against Olympic FC was a worthwhile measure of performance despite the lop-sided result.

The reigning Hyundai A-League Coach of the Year was pleased with the way his side operated just over a week out from their season opener.

“The scoreline is not important, it was the performance that mattered and I thought that was much improved from our last game,” Mulvey said.

“We’re very grateful to Olympic for agreeing to play the game as it was an important one for us with the season only 10 days away.”

The match drew a large crowd at Goodwin Park in raising money for the Children’s Hospital Foundation and Mulvey praised the rapport between the two clubs.

“We have a good relationship with Olympic and seem to play them towards the end of our pre-season,” he said.

“We recognise it’s a little bit difficult for them given their season finished a couple of weeks ago so we’re very grateful.

“The fact that it was a gold coin donation for charity, that’s always a good thing and we’re always happy to be involved with something like that.”

Olympic FC head coach Jim Bellas also took positives from his team’s final match of the season despite the heavy defeat.

A number of youth team players earned minutes against the Hyundai A-League champions as they look to press their case for elevation to Olympic’s senior squad.

“The young boys want to impress and that’s good,” Bellas said.

“They saw the pace of the game and got an idea of what it’s like to be a professional.”

Several regulars from Olympic’s side which reached the PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland Grand Final missed the match through injury but Bellas expects they will be fit to return for the start of pre-season.

“The majority of our first team were carrying niggling injuries so we told them to rest as it’s not long until we start training again,” he said.

“It gave us the chance to see some young kids and a few trialists and I thought we did better than last year when we started with a full-strength side so I’m happy with those that got a chance.”