Also-rans, also champs Hellenic pride carries day Greek gusto as Blues bring down Reds brings out the best of rich rivalry
HELLENIC salvaged some silverware from a 2016 NorZone season dominated by the red shirts of Olympic when they beat their arch rivals 3-1 in last night’s grand final.
Handed the tag of also-rans in the race for the league title, the Blues created several scoring chances to come back from an early deficit in emphatic style to score the last three goals of the game.
Helio Carvalho had the first scoring chance, just failing to get a boot to a parried shot from Paddy McGuire that Olympic goalkeeper Kane McAdam got two hands to.
Daniel Barlow fired wide three minutes later when Olympic went forward and Jesse Pinto went close for the Blues.
Pinto and the league’s top scorer Sulav Maskey brought the best out of McAdam midway through the first half when a long-range blast from Pinto was blocked and went to Maskey who fired wide.
Barlow was on hand again after 26 minutes when he hit the left upright and Carvalho’s volley from a Maskey cross a minute later was wide.
Reds veteran Mitch Amidy broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when he ran on to a well timed cross from Dane Turner to right foot the ball into the net.
But in the tradition of Greek derbies, the Blues came back, Pinto scoring from close range in the 41st minute to level the scores with a well taken strike from the right side of the penalty area.
Four minutes into the second half and Hellenic were in front.
Irishman Paddy McGuire’s drive toward goal was intercepted by Reds defender Ross Tsounias in a tackle deemed illegal by the referee.
Robbie George stepped up to the penalty box with a minimum of fuss, sending McAdam the wrong way to score in the right corner and give the Blues a 2-1 lead.
McGuire could have sealed the result in the 67th minute when he ran on to a long ball, but his right foot shot was blocked by McAdam.
Tsounias was red carded in the 69th minute when he lashed out at Pinto and was sent off after collecting his second yellow.
McGuire did score in the 84th minute, rounding McAdam with some clever footwork to sidefoot his shot into an empty net. WHEN two Greek football clubs clash, you know there will be fireworks, especially when a championship is on the line.
It was no different at Darwin Football Stadium last night when Darwin Olympic played Hellenic in the men’s NorZone Premier League grand final.
With one side of the grandstand filled with blue and the other with red, there was a cracking atmosphere both sets of players warmed to.
There is something about a derby that brings a sense of occasion.
Spice is certainly added to a contest and the challenges don’t always come clean.
This was the case when Olympic’s Throssos Tsounias tackled Paddy McGuire right in front of the Hellenic bench early on in the second half.
The challenge was powerful and a split second late which led to the Blues’ hierarchy giving Tsounias an almighty spray from the technical box.
A yellow card was shown to Tsounias but he didn’t learn his lesson.
The Hellenic fans were overjoyed when the right back once again was late on McGuire only minutes later, this time in the penalty box.
The referee pointed to the spot and the Blues went crazy when Robbie George slotted the spot kick into the back of the net.
George ran straight to the Olympic bench to give it to the Reds substitutes and coaching staff in smart-alec fashion.
The words fired back from the bench certainly weren’t subtle.
You’ve got to love a derby.