There are no Football South Coast teams left in this year's FFA Cup, after Wollongong Olympic were knocked out on Wednesday night.
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George Antoniou's men fell 2-1 to NSW NPL outfit Mt Druitt in their round-six contest at Emerton. Chris Price scored Olympic's sole goal, while Mitch Smith and Jack Stewart found the back of the net for the winners.
Antoniou said he was pleased with his team's fight.
"We held our own for a little while, they're obviously a classy team. And in the end, that probably showed," the Olympic coach said.
"I think on any given day, any team in the IPL can compete [with a NPL side]. But it was good, the boys stepped up and we were probably unfortunate not to get something out of it.
"I was proud of the boys, we had a lot of young boys playing because of a few injuries. Young Michael Kyriakoudes, Jason Pappas and Jordan Kizi did exceptionally well for us. It will be a good experience for them."
The result means the Wollongong Wolves are the only Illawarra side left in the nation-wide competition. They claimed an automatic spot in the round of 32 after being crowned National Premier League champions in 2019. Their ticket carried over after last year's FFA Cup was canned due to COVID.
Antoniou said he was proud that Olympic made it to the Cup's sixth round.
"I wish we could have gone a little bit further. But I think all of the IPL clubs are capable of doing something like that," he said.
"But I was very proud of what we achieved."
Olympic will look to bounce back quickly when they return to the Premier League to face Corrimal on Sunday. The side remains undefeated in 2021 after playing out a 1-1 draw with Albion Park last week.
"We were obviously all disappointed that we didn't get the result on Wednesday night," Antoniou said. "All of the boys are looking forward to this weekend and hopefully we can make a good account of ourselves."
Round nine of the IPL kicks off on Saturday with five games, including Coniston taking on Cringila at JJ Kelly Park. The Lions will be full of confidence after beating Bellambi 1-0 in a catch-up game on Wednesday night.
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
