Olympic FC head coach Jim Bellas has hinted at the cruel nature of finals football, saying it would be a “shame” if the NPL Queensland premiers do not qualify for the Grand Final by beating Brisbane Strikers in Sunday’s semi-final at Goodwin Park.

Olympic twice accounted for their opponents by hefty margins in the regular season but Bellas (pictured centre) insisted his team was taking nothing for granted in the knockout stages of the competition.

“The team spoke about it, and it would be a real shame that we’d done so well all year and then lost the first semi final. The guys know that and hopefully they come switched on to play,” said Bellas.

Despite his wariness of being eliminated, Bellas said the squad were confident ahead of the clash and had benefitted from last weekend’s break from fixtures.

“At training last night it seemed like they wanted to win, so that’s a good sign. But it’s also been a long season and the players do get tired,” explained Bellas.

“Do they have the mental capacity to keep on going? There’s only two games left, so hopefully they do.”

Olympic’s attacking triumvirate of captain Danny Byrne, striker Tim Smits, and winger Jai Ingham are expected to line-up for Olympic, but Bellas said his main focus was on defensive third of the pitch.

“I would think that Matt Mundy will be an important player at the back for us,” Bellas said before also citing former Serbian Superliga defender Matt Byrne and Japanese import Kazuya Ito as also being crucial.

“All of these guys have to be at their utmost best for us to win the game,” Bellas insisted.

“We have to make sure that we don’t concede. If we concede early then it will make it even harder for us. So that’s our main focus – don’t concede and hopefully the goals should come.”

Asked why defence had been a constant headache for his side this year, Bellas replied tongue-in-cheek: “Is it because sometimes we get a couple of goals in front and then we just ease off? Maybe that’s it.”

Also boosted by home ground advantage for the match, Bellas called on a big turnout at Goodwin Park.

“It’s a Sunday night game so most of the supporters should be free that night. I really expect there’ll be a lot of people there because the Strikers have a good following as well.”

Sunday’s semi-final will be precursored by semi finals in the NPL Queensland youth divisions.

Sunshine Coast Fire will line up against Brisbane City in the Under 18s, before South West Queensland Thunder roll down the mountain to test themselves against premiers Strikers in the Under 20s.

The winners of the semi-finals qualify for their respective NPL Queensland Grand Finals to be held Sunday September 8 at a venue yet to be determined.

Match Details:

NPL Queensland Semi Final
Olympic FC v Brisbane Strikers
Sunday, 1 September 2013 – Goodwin Park, Yeronga
Kick Off – 6:00pm

NPL Queensland Under 20 Semi Final
Brisbane Strikers v SWQ Thunder
Sunday, 1 September 2013 – Goodwin Park, Yeronga
Kick Off – 3:00pm

NPL Queensland Under 18 Semi Final
Sunshine Coast Fire v Brisbane City
Sunday, 1 September 2013 – Goodwin Park, Yeronga
Kick Off – 1:00pm

 

Words: Michael Flynn (Football Queensland)
Image: Ian Judd