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

Olympic FC sent a message ahead of their first Westfield FFA Cup match, crushing fellow finals contenders Moreton Bay United 5-1 at Goodwin Park on Friday night.

A hat-trick from Danny Byrne kept the pressure on league leaders Palm Beach Sharks as the defending NPL Queensland champions moved into second place.

A tight opening ten minutes was brought to life by Byrne’s 11^th minute opener – the Olympic captain curling a left-footed effort inside the far top corner.

Despite a slip preventing Royce Brownlie from making the most of a shot outside the box, Moreton Bay had started to settle before an own goal doubled the deficit – Matthew Capelo’s sliding cut-out deceiving Luke Borean in the Jets goal.

The points were effectively sealed before the half hour when Byrne again delivered a sharp finish for the hosts, firing low into the bottom corner.

Jets strike partners Brownlie and Charles Mendy both had close-range chances to reduce the deficit before the break but Brandon Cuminao proved up to task.

However, the visitors pulled a goal back inside a minute of the restart.

Half time substitute Matthew Sanchez made an immediate impression on debut, latching onto a defence-splitting pass from Samuel Dickinson and beating Cuminao to reduce the margin and record his first senior goal for Jets.

Sniffing a comeback, Jets turned up the pressure and spurned a pair of chance approaching the hour by Dickinson and Mendy.

On 76 minutes, Olympic restored their three goal margin when Byrne was played in for a one-on-one and produced a cheeky dinked shot over Borean to complete his hat-trick.

Two minutes later, Reuben Way rubbed salt into the wound by wheeling away from James Fairgrieve on the left and finishing inside the near post for his 19th goal of the campaign.

The quick-fire goals wrapped up the result but there was still action aplenty in a pair of stoppage time scuffles between the two sides.

Tim Smits and Alex Henderson first came together to each earn a yellow card before Olympic defender Matt Mundy and Jets goalscorer Sanchez clashed and were both shown red - Mundy for violent conduct and Sanchez for retaliation.

The win lifts Olympic into second place, leap-frogging cross town rivals Brisbane Strikers in the battle for a home semi-final.

Jets have now lost three of their past four games and remain in fifth place, one point outside the top four finals places.

Olympic FC 5 (Danny BYRNE 11′ 28′ 76′, own goal 21’, Reuben WAY 78′)
Moreton Bay United 1 (Matthew SANCHEZ 46′)