Grom Nowy Staw vs Olimpia Elbląg

The match was played in a 4x35-minute format, a common structure for pre-season friendlies in Poland. Grom Nowy Staw opened the scoring in the first period, though the exact minute and scorer were not officially published by either club at the time of writing.

Olimpia thought they had levelled soon after, but the referee disallowed the goal for offside. The visitors kept pressing and eventually got their reward through Bartłomiej Mruk, who found the net to make it 1-1 before the end of the game.

The disallowed goal proved to be a brief setback rather than a defining blow. Olimpia maintained their shape and continued to create chances, with Mruk's eventual strike — finishing what he started from a defensive position — restoring parity. The incident showed Olimpia's resilience in a match where they controlled long spells.

• Bartłomiej Mruk (Olimpia Elbląg): The defender-turned-scorer got the crucial goal after having a previous effort ruled out for offside. His ability to get forward from the backline was a feature of Olimpia's attacking play.
• Szymon Krawczyk (Olimpia Elbląg): Active in midfield, Krawczyk had already impressed a week earlier when he scored a late free-kick equaliser against Wda Świecie on 18 July.
• Olimpia defensive unit: The back four of Kołoczek, Wierzba, Szczudliński and Mruk kept Grom at bay after the early goal, allowing the team to build pressure.

Player of the match: Bartłomiej Mruk

While detailed match statistics were not publicly available for this friendly, the flow of the game told a clear story. Olimpia, a III liga side (fourth tier of Polish football), dominated possession and territory after the opening period, responding well to falling behind. Grom Nowy Staw, competing in the Polish regional league (V liga), defended deep after their early goal but could not hold out. The 4x35-minute format meant both sides had ample time to adjust — Olimpia's deeper squad and higher division experience told in the second half of the match.

This was the fifth and final pre-season friendly for Olimpia Elbląg before the start of the 2026/27 III liga season. Their pre-season record reads: W2 D2 L1 (7 July: 0-2 vs Chojniczanka; 11 July: 4-0 vs Gedania Gdańsk; 15 July: 2-0 vs Polonia Lidzbark Warmiński; 18 July: 1-1 vs Wda Świecie; 25 July: 1-1 vs Grom Nowy Staw).

On the same day, Olimpia also played a second friendly (a separate 4x35-minute match) which ended 0-0, giving manager Karol Przybyła a chance to rotate his squad — including giving minutes to triallists and youth players such as 2009-born Klaudiusz Osowski.

Olimpia's next competitive fixture will be the opening round of the 2026/27 III liga season, with the club targeting an improvement on last season's 13th-place finish. Grom Nowy Staw continue their preparations in the Polish regional leagues.

A standard pre-season friendly that told both sides what they needed to know: Olimpia have the character to recover from setbacks, but defensive concentration remains a work in progress. Grom showed they can compete with higher-division opposition for stretches, but sustaining that level over 140 minutes remains a challenge.