Sydney Rival’s Clash at Belmore

ARCH Rivals Sydney Olympic and West Sydney Berries go head to head at Belmore Sports Ground on Friday 23rd May. This time for charity not for competition points, Berries for Kids Cup will help raise some much needed funds for Westmead Children’s Hospital.

West Sydney CEO Laki Konistis will be hoping for a bumper crowd with plenty of fans through the gates with Sydney Olympic President Jim Kospetas donating a percentage from the gate to the cause. Also attending will be John Mangos who is the official patron for Berries for Kids but may well be sitting on the fence at game time as he is also a board member for Sydney Olympic.

Supporters and sponsors are lining up to get into the act with Bankstown Sports Club already signed as the Charity’s Gold Sponsor and The Bank of Cyprus has also contributed a huge donation as well. Not wanting to be outdone Managing Director of Sportplus, George Aliferis has pledged to donate $100 for every goal scored by these two clubs throughout the Telechoice Premier League.

Both clubs will no doubt be treating this game as more than just a run in the park to raise dollars, with Sydney Olympic keen to square the ledger after losing to the Berries 3-1 at home in round one.

Coach Scott Baillie will once again need his experienced backline Angelo Patratos , Jack Sobczyk to put their hands up in defence.

Despite the early setback against the berries Sydney Olympics young guns have propelled Olympic into fourth position on the Telechoice ladder after some impressive wins against Wollongong FC and Marconi.

Leading the way is striker Matthew Mayora who has scored three from four games this year and flankman Shannon Cole who has been given the tag of “Beckham” after some exceptional free kicks.

Rivalries aside both camps are showing some great community spirit for the game and children’s charities and here is hoping that this event becomes an annual showcase for various charitable organisations.