Olds Olympia FC tuned up for the playoffs on Sunday with a 3-2 victory over Condor in Red Deer City Soccer Association play at the Community Learning Campus field. It was Olympia's last game of the regular season before the team takes to the pitch on August 25 for its first playoff matchup.
Olympia FC came out well, taking a 3-0 lead after the first half, with Condor battling back to get two goals in the second half to make the game close.
“It was a crucial game to have us maintain second place,” said Vance Markham following the game. “We knew they had three losses in a row now so we wanted to (score) a couple goals on them to break their confidence and that's what we did.”
In the second half, the game was more even, with both teams getting chances and Condor making a game of it with two goals.
“In the second half … we had a couple crossbars, a couple inside posts…. It was a good game all around,” Markham said.
Jos Van Benthem scored twice for Olds while Rolf Van Benthem added a single for Olds.
Markham noted that while FC has finished its schedule, both the first place United FC and third place Ferus Green Hornets in Tier I have three games remaining. If the Green Hornets win all three of their remaining games, they could overtake Olympia FC in the standings, affecting which team will oppose the local squad in its first playoff game.
While all the other teams still have games remaining and will be able to stay in game condition, Markham said Olympia will try to stay sharp with two or three practices.
“All of those other (teams) have games right up to playoffs, so they're going to stay in … game mode so we have to try to keep in game mode as well,” he said.
