MELBOURNE, October 2026 — Oakleigh Cannons beat Sydney Olympic 4–2 at Jack Edwards Reserve on Friday night, scoring twice late to win their first Australian Championship match.
Brodie Boyce restored Oakleigh’s lead in the 83rd minute, the Australian Championship said. Joseph Knowles then sealed the result with an overhead finish in stoppage time.
Michael Ruhs scored twice for Sydney Olympic, but Oakleigh Cannons still made a winning start in Group C. Marconi Stallions and Bayswater City complete the group.
Oakleigh Cannons celebrated the win on X after full time. The club described it as “a strong team performance, plenty of determination and another positive result.”
Oakleigh Cannons come from behind
Ruhs put Sydney Olympic ahead inside the first 10 minutes. However, Oakleigh captain Joseph Guest soon equalised, the Australian Championship said.
Alex Salmon then gave the hosts a 2–1 lead within the first half-hour. Oakleigh still led at half-time.
Ruhs struck again around the hour mark to make it 2–2. Late in the match, Boyce followed up a header from a Guest to put the Cannons back in front.
Knowles then added the fourth goal with his overhead finish deep in stoppage time.
Debut on the national stage
Oakleigh entered the competition as the 2026 NPL Victoria Premiers, the Australian Championship said. Friday’s match was their debut in the national second tier.
By comparison, Sydney Olympic narrowly missed out on the knockout stage in 2025, the competition said.
Sydney Olympic are one of nine former National Soccer League clubs in the competition, Greek City Times reported in September.
Referee Michael Ouliaris took charge of the 7:30pm AEDT kick-off, according to Football Australia’s match official appointments.
Next, Oakleigh travel to Marconi Stadium to face Marconi Stallions at 3 pm AEDT on Saturday 24 October. Sydney Olympic will host Bayswater City at 3 pm AEDT on Sunday 25 October, according to the official fixture list.
Photo gallery of the match
All photos are copyrighted by Kostas Deves
