Byrne To Shine Against Roar
NPL Queensland Grand Final winner Matt Byrne is readying for a mammoth month of football alongside his Olympic FC teammates, beginning with a friendly against his former club Brisbane Roar at the end of the month.
Olympic will use the exhibition fixture as preparation for their upcoming National Premier Leagues Finals Series match-up, where they will meet the winner of a playoff between Sydney United 58 and Canberra FC.
The game also serves as Roar’s final final pre-season hit-out before commencing their A-League campaign against Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand a fortnight later.
For Byrne, the Roar game offers a chance to line up against former teammates Luke Brattan, James Donachie and Matt Acton, who he partnered on the pitch as a member of Roar’s National Youth League squad between 2009 and 2011.
Unlike that trio, who bided their time before progressing through the Roar ranks, Byrne grasped a professional contract in European football – plying his trade with Serbian Superliga club FK Dinji Srem.
The 21 year old defender returned to his native Brisbane and signed with Olympic midway through the most recent campaign, adding defensive steel to the league’s most potent attack.
Speaking ahead of the much-anticipated fixture, Byrne said he was looking forward to seeing how the NPL Queensland Premiers and Grand Final winners fare against the state’s only A-League club.
“I am definitely looking forward to playing Roar. They are the only professional team in the city, we are the best team outside of the professional league, so it will good to pit us against them and see how we go,” Byrne explained.
“Especially going into the (NPL Finals Series) game against either Sydney or Canberra it will be setting the standard.”
With his hopes set on returning to fully-professional football in the near future, Byrne said the NPL Finals Series will bring clubs and players to wider audience.
“All the clubs will be watching and we do play against the best teams so it will be great to experience what the other leagues in Australia are like,” Byrne said.
“Everyone playing in Australia wants to be playing in the A-League, or higher even,” he continued.
“But we will just take it a step at a time and try to get a win and make the Grand Final, then we can try to win it from there.”
Now a mainstay in the Olympic back four, Byrne explained the transition to his new club was made easier by the high spirits within the Olympic dressing room.
“Playing in a winning team always helps,” Byrne said about integrating into the Goodwin Park machine.
“There is a really good atmosphere around the dressing room and winning the Grand Final was fantastic.”
Byrne continued: “It was really important to keep getting wins throughout the season, to keep chipping away at the premiership and once we did that we focused on the Grand Final.”
“It was great to win that, I was happy for everyone at the club. I have only been here for half a season but all the boys who have been here for eight or nine months have been working towards it.”
Match Details:
Olympic FC v Brisbane Roar
Sunday, 29th September 2013 – Goodwin Park
Kick-Off: 3:00pm
Olympic FC (NPL Under 16 Boys) v Brisbane Roar (W-League)
Sunday, 29th September 2013 – Goodwin Park
Kick-Off: 5:15pm
Words: Matt Dorman (Olympic FC) and Michael Flynn (Football Queensland)
Image: Nick Milton
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