It was a sorry day at the office for Dean Ugrinic at O'Connor Enclosed yesterday. His side went down 5-2 to Belconnen United despite a valiant fight-back, and the Olympic coach is now contemplating an imminent suspension after an almighty spray he directed at the referee and linesmen after the match.
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There was no disguising Ugrinic's frustration with the match officials, which could be heard by all at the ground. On reflection after the game, Ugrinic was regretful of his outburst, which is likely see him watching from the stands for a number of rounds.
He rued the calls which didn't go his team's way, but admitted ''it wasn't the referees or the linesmen that put us in that situation, it was ourselves''.
The situation was a tough one. Belconnen was up 2-0 after David Kemp scored in the first 15 seconds of the match and Dustin Wells scored from the spot in the 13th minute.
Olympic was also a man down after defender Joel Valtonen was sent off.
''I don't want to start bagging the referees - I know it's a tough job,'' Ugrinic said of his frustration.
''From my point of view, it's hard enough to play against Belconnen with 11 men, but with 10 men you really are staring down the barrel of a gun.''
Despite its predicament Olympic fought back, with Yianni Karabalis scoring in the 20th minute, and then making it a double with an equaliser early in the second half.
Belconnen coach Steve Forshaw gave credit to his opposition.
''They really put some pressure on us,'' he said. ''Even with 10 men they gave us a really good game.''
But Olympic didn't have enough left in the tank to get the result it wanted.
Taylor Beaton headed in a corner in the 78th minute to give Belconnen the lead, and when Wells scored his second in the 89th minute, despite loud pleas from Olympic players for handball and offside calls, the game went beyond their reach.
Wells made it a hat-trick in stoppage time to take the lead out to 5-2, with the win catapulting Belconnen back to the top of the ladder.
''It's been a good start to the season for us, but it's only a start,'' Forshaw said.
In other games yesterday, the Cooma Tigers drew 1-1 with Canberra FC in freezing conditions at Nijong Oval, and Woden Valley emerged triumphant from the Southside derby. Woden recovered from conceding inside the first 70 seconds to win 4-1 over Tuggeranong.
