Olympia FC Warriors geared up for the FFA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Hobart Zebras on Friday night. In a largely uninspiring game, it was a first half tap in from Lucas Hill that deflected off Jayden Hey and into the back of the net that put the Warriors ahead before Jakob Cole made 2 huge second half saves to keep them a goal to the good. Thomas Bellini then made sure of the points when a deflected cross landed perfectly into his path to make sure of the win. Whilst the Warriors weren’t at their sharpest, their defensive effort was immense with Vandermey and Stevens imperious at the back.

It took 20 minutes for a shot to be fired in anger as both sides struggled to string passes together early on the defences were firmly on top. Eventually both sides looked to pull the trigger and fired some long range efforts that were of no particular concern to either goalkeeper.

The on 34 minutes the deadlock was broken, Warren Wadawu cut in from the left and skipped past Warrener before crossing back across the face of goal. He picked out Hill at the back post who made a meal of what should  have been a simple tap in, picking out Jayden Hey on the line, but it deflected off the Zebras defender and into the back of the net.

It was the only real scoring chance in very dour first half that both sides never really hit their straps in.

Early in the second half the Zebras could have been level. First Dwayne Walsh got on the end of a Sanders flick on and turned sharply in the box, but Cole got down to cover the angle and denied him at the near post.

Cole was the hero again on the hour mark, pulling off a stunning double save. First he got his right glove down to make an incredible reaction save before sprawling to his right to block Pace from blasting in the rebound from close range.

It would be as close as Zebras got as the chances remained at a premium and they struggled to find a way through the brilliant defensive pairing of Stevens and Vandermey who read the game superbly and did a brilliant job cutting off the supply to the dangerous Sanders.

Ten minutes from the end, Thomas Bellini made the points safe as Cartwright’s cross deflected perfectly into his path and from 12 yards out he made no mistake.

The Warriors came close a couple of times in the final few minutes but their would be no further addition to the scoring as the game ended with a 2-0 victory that moves them clear in second place.