Send-off Proves Costly For Bulldogs Against Olympic
Image courtesy of Alan Minifie
A second half send-off soured Capalaba FC’s return to National Premier Leagues football as the Bulldogs succumbed to a 4-0 defeat to Olympic FC on Saturday.
After standing toe-to-toe with last year’s Grand Finalists for nearly an hour in the constant rain, a second yellow card to goalkeeper Michael Weier on debut opened the floodgates as the visitors netted four goals without reply.
Daniel Leck led the returns for Olympic, with his quick-fire double book-ended by further goals from Costa Psaros and substitute Kristen Waters.
After weathering a bright start from Olympic in the first half – which saw striker Frederick Yinka-Kehinde spurn several promising scoring chances - the Bulldogs closed the stanza the stronger of the sides as the attacking trio of Scot Coulson, Ryo Ono and Stuart Edgar fizzed shots wide of the target.
Samuel Langley also pushed an effort wide following the restart, before Weier was dismissed in the 52nd minute of the contest after being booked for the second time for a challenge on Yinka-Kehinde.
With their numerical advantage, the visitors sought to turn the screws immediately, but were foiled by backs-to-the-wall defending from Liam O’Bryan, Nick Robinson and skipper Jack Boxell.
The Bulldogs were also denied a potential lifeline when a strong penalty shout from Edgar in the 57th minute fell on deaf ears.
Increasingly pushed back into their own half, the pressure told on the bullish Bulldogs’ defence in the 71st minute as Psaros slotted the opener from the top of the box into the bottom corner.
Leck then wrapped up the result for the visitors with strikes in the 75th and 78th minutes, before Waters rounded out the result with a sliding finish into an empty net in the closing stages.
Despite the unflattering scoreline, Bulldogs coach David Booth believes his side more than matched their opponents until the send-off.
“I was pretty happy with our performance to be honest. One would wonder why with a 4-0 loss but until the send-off we were well in that game and even had a bit over them,” Booth said post-match.
“The result was really not indicative of the way the game went but it is what it is – that’s football.”
The outcome mirrored the result of the Bulldogs last start prior to the COVID-break, when they fell by the same margin to Lions FC.
The Bulldogs now sit in ninth position on the NPL Queensland table with five matches played.