Record-breaker Liam Boland spoke of his pride as Olympic Kingsway went down with all guns blazing in the Australia Cup tonight.
More than 1,800 fans watched the new NPLWA champions slug it out with A-League Adelaide United before falling just short of taking the Round of 16 tie to extra-time.
In the end, the three-time cup winners did enough to win 3-2 and progress to the quarter-final.
Boland became the record scorer at the national stage of the competition with a brace that took his overall tally to 13.
And the Kingsway striker came agonisingly close to extending that figure and completing a famous hat-trick, only for his last-gasp header to drop the wrong side of the bar.
Boland said: “It was one of those difficult ones, the ball’s a bit behind you and I had to generate all the power. I did think I had the keeper beat … I think everyone in the ground thought I had him beat. It was so disappointing it didn’t drop in. But I’m super proud of the lads for taking it to the end against a very good team.”
Adelaide showed their class from the start at Kingsway Reserve and were in front on 10 minutes. The outstanding Panashe Madanha got behind the Olympic defence and although his cross was turned away by keeper Adrian Sinagra, the ball eventually fell for Austin Ayoubi to fire home.
Olympic, aiming to become the first Football West side to reach the last eight, struggled to get a foothold in the game. But then Joe Knowles cracked a shot that flew just wide while Sasa Njegic saw an effort hit the United post. And on 37 minutes the hosts levelled. Knowles worked the ball onto his left foot and swung over a cross which Boland met with a magnificent backwards header that gave James Delianov no chance.
It was 1-1 at the break and all to play for. Unfortunately for Olympic, within three minutes of the restart they were behind again and it was a goal out of nothing. A deep cross from the left looked to pose no danger, only for Calum O’Connell to head the ball into his own net.
That seemed to rock Olympic and Adelaide went further ahead 20 minutes from time as Luka Jovanovic headed Zach Clough’s cross low beyond Sinagra.
At that stage, there was a worry the score could blow out, but Olympic had other ideas. They pulled one back when Delianov upended Knowles and Boland stuck away the penalty that took him beyond A-League great Besart Berisha as the Australia Cup's all-time top scorer from the Round of 32.
Then twice in stoppage time Olympic almost forced extra-time. First Knowles saw his low shot turned around the post by Delianov. Then Boland had the header which many inside Kingsway Reserve celebrated before realising it was not to be.
“To be honest, I don’t think we were at our best. But we had our periods where we showed character and we didn’t roll over at 3-1 and cop five," Boland said.
“The boys looked after me [in getting the record]. Knowlesy would normally have taken that pen. But he said all week if we get a pen you’re taking it, so I really appreciate it. I’m proud and as a personal achievement it’s nice to have until someone takes it off me.”
Amid the pride, it was also a night of sadness for the Green Machine. Hours before kick-off, the club announced that head coach David Tough would miss the game as he had returned to Scotland where his mother had passed away.
Assistant Ross Edwards took the team and the players wore black armbands as a mark of respect.
“It’s a pretty emotional one,” Boland said. “He absolutely breathes football, but obviously it’s family first. We know how much his family means to him and we know how much this means to him. We really put in a shift for him.
“We send our love to Toughy and when he’s back I’m sure we’ll wrap our arms around him. We are all thinking of him.”
Olympic’s league season concludes this Saturday with a home game against Armadale, after which they will receive the NPL league title. The following week they face Perth RedStar in the State Cup final, then the sides meet again in the Top Four Cup.
Boland said: “The weekend just gone, we won the championship for the first time in 44 years as a club and this week we’ll get to celebrate with the people behind the scenes who put in a lot of hard work. Then it’s the State Cup final, which I’ve been told the club has never won, and after that the Top Four Cup.
“There is still plenty to look forward to.”
Adelaide assistant coach and former Socceroos World Cup star Mark Milligan said: "I think it's excellent for our boys to experience this atmosphere.
"Olympic put up a fantastic fight and gave us a little bit of a scare late on. They [Olympic] have done very well in the league and we knew it was going to be tough.
"It was hard for us as it was only our second competitive match, but our boys need to experience nights like this and have different pressures they have to deal with."
