Despair for Olympic, but delight for Celtic

1 January 2019

THERE was double cup final heartache for Ballynahinch Olympic over the holiday period.

Liam Sloan’s gallant first team lost out to Crumlin Star on penalties in the Border Cup final last Thursday and 24 hours earlier the club’s second string were beaten 4-0 by Celtic Bhoys in the Bobby Dalzell Cup showdown.

The firsts were within seconds of causing a major shock in their final at Seaview against the red hot favourites.

Olympic held a 1-0 lead, virtue of a 57th minute own goal, and looked in control going into the last minute.

However, with the 90 minutes almost up, they failed to deal with a floated cross into the box and Crumlin’s Joe McNeill pounced to fire in the equaliser and send the game to extra time.

The Ballynahinch side rode their luck at times and relied on several outstanding saves from man of the match Ryan Walsh to keep them in the game. However, even he was unable to prevent McNeill from bringing the sides level.

Extra time failed to find a winner as the game went to the lottery of penalties. Just a fortnight earlier, Crumlin Star had lost out in a shoot-out to Sirocco in a Steel and Sons Cup semi-final and Olympic fancied their chances, especially given Walsh’s form on the day.

Alas, Crumlin Star’s five penalties were all faultless and when Shane Murray sent his effort sailing over the bar, the writing was on the wall for Olympic.

Although beaten, Olympic and their vociferous supporters came out of the game with credit.

They played with a refreshing 3-4-3 formation and on another day could well have taken the Border Cup back to Ballynahinch for the first time in almost 30 years after neighbours United won the competition back in 1989.

It was also a case of so near, but so far for the club’s second string when they lost out to a star-studded Celtic Bhoys at Drumaness on Boxing Day.

Managers Barry McGoran and Marty Sloan had to field without the cup-tied Darren Lyons — their top scorer — and Steven McGoran, the side’s two most influential players and their young players looked to be a bundle of nerves without their two most experienced players.

Take nothing away from Celtic. They won the Harry Clarke Cup three years ago and manager Stevie Torney used that experience as a template for last Wednesday’s win.

Celtic got the ball wide to danger men Chris Mullan and Stevie Galbraith at every opportunity and Olympic were simply unable to contain them in a ruthless display from the Downpatrick side.

The Hoops remain unbeaten this season and have targeted a Newcastle League treble as well as lifting the Junior Shield for the first time.

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