Adelaide Olympic has won the FFA Cup South Australia Qualifying Final, formerly known as the Federation Cup, overcoming Adelaide City 3-2 in front of 3793 at Coopers Stadium today.
This was Olympic’s first win over Adelaide City in fourteen years, and it was certainly worth the wait. The game started in a frantic fashion, with Olympic’s captain Ricardo Da Silva striking home after just three minutes.
Adelaide City responded through new signing Fabio Ferreira, showing his class with a slick header on 20mins to level up the tie heading into half time.
Drama ensued shortly after the break, Ferriera brought down whilst charging into the box, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Marcos Flores stepped up to take the penalty only to be denied by the outstretched hand of Daniel Vaughan.
Then just 5 minutes later, City was awarded another penalty, this time Fabio Ferriera stepping up and calmly slotting his second for the day to the delight of the black and white cheer squad.
Olympic quickly responded through Christos Pounendis, gliding the ball home on sixty-eight minutes to level the tie at 2-2.
Then with twelve minutes left, substitute Jacob Butler-Bowdon wrote himself into Olympic folk law by hammering home to send Olympic into the Round of 32 draw for the first time in their illustrious history.
Ex-Adelaide City defender Matthew Halliday, in his new colours for Olympic, was named player of the match to cap off a fairytale day for the blues. Adelaide Olympic will now progress to the National Round of 32 alongside fellow NPL SA side Campbelltown City, where a potential clash with Hyundai A-League opposition awaits.
The Round of 32 draw will take place on Wednesday 26 June live of Fox Sports. Earlier in the day, MetroStars overcame Raiders 2-0 in the Under 18 Federation Cup Final, while Croydon Kings defeated Adelaide Comets in a mouth-watering 4-3 win after extra time to claim the Reserves Federation Cup.
