Warilla Wanderers joined Corrimal and Kiama in the next stage of the Bert Bampton Cup after a convincing 4-1 victory over University on Sunday. Colin Walker bagged a hat trick for the Wanderers and could have had a few more to his name but for the heroics of University keeper Nick Lengoski who kept the scoreline respectable for his side. Chad Keating got the other Warilla goal, with substitute Luke Vandenbergh scoring a late consolation goal for University.

Warilla were on top from the start, and the result was never in doubt, even when University upped their game for the last fifteen minutes or so and managed to reduce the deficit to three.
The writing was on the wall for the University very early on, with Warilla moving the ball around far too easily, creating chances with virtually every attacking move.

In the opening minutes, Jason Goldsmith began one such move in his own area, finding Stewart Robinson on the half way line. He surged forward to the byline and picked out Walker at the near post. Nothing came of the attack but the ease with which Warilla rode the University challenges didn’t bode well for the visitors.

And sure enough, in the eighth minute Warilla took the lead. It was a nice move that saw Keating play the ball in from the left, finding Adam White who flicked a header into the path of Walker. As a line of defenders looked for an offside flag that never appeared, Walker surged forward and unleashed a right foot shot that gave Lengoski no chance.

With the Warilla back four looking solid, set-pieces were likely to be University’s best hope. In the tenth minute, they almost nicked an equaliser when Evan Fitzsimmonds curled a free kick over the wall towards goal, Bradley Hunter tipping the ball over for a corner.

But it didn’t take long for the Wanderers to double their lead. Robertson picked up a loose clearance and launched himself into the area but was felled by a clumsy challenge. Walker stepped up and drove the spot kick into the back of the net to Lengoski’s left.

With barely a quarter of an hour gone, Walker almost got his hat-trick already. Once again it was White who set him up in front of goal, with Grant Newman just getting back in time to block as Walker shaped to pull the trigger.

University were struggling at the back and in the middle of the park, with poor delivery giving little for their front pair to work with. But just before the half hour mark, they twice came close to getting back into the tie.

First Fitzsimmonds launched a corner out to the edge of the area where Tom Brown hit it first time on the volley, only for Robertson to head the ball clear off the line. Moments later another Fitzsimmonds corner found Alex Purvis at the far post, but this time his header was cleared off the line by Adrian Montalbano.

In the 32nd minute, Warilla made it 3-0, with Walker this time playing provider as he teed up Keating just outside the area. Keating drove a fierce left foot shot through a crowded area for the best goal of the match.

University heads dropped at that point and the rest of the half saw one way traffic towards their goal.
Somehow they kept the score at 3-0, with Lengoski denying Walker once again, vital challenges coming in from Purvis and captain Scott Mawby as first Walker and then Robertson peppered the goal with shots. And then right on the half time whistle, Keating forced a double save out of Lengoski.

Any potential come back from University was quickly nipped in the bud just after the break. Once again Walker burst into the box brushing away any challenges and bore down on goal, unleashing his left foot shot from ten yards out, with Lengoski very unlucky when the ball took a big deflection off Andrew Wurf’s back before cannoning into the net.

There was the occasional foray from University, with Abdul Lawal looking lively. He set up Fitzsimmonds just past the hour mark, but Hunter was good enough to take the shot at the second attempt.

University substitutes Vandenbergh and Tom Burke brought new energy to their side’s final twenty minutes. Burke was in sight of goal seconds after coming on, but Hunter got down to meet his shot.
But the visitors finally broke through the Warilla defensive line with ten minutes to go. Lawal pushed the ball back to Vandenbergh on the edge of the area and he drove a left foot cleanly into the back of the net for 4-1.

But it was all too late for University. And it actually only galvanised Warilla into further attempts on goal, with Lengoski called upon three more times to save his side’s blushes: first a fingertip save from substitute Andrew Shiaxiates; then getting down to save a Luke Greathead drive; and finally another fingertip save from a third Wanderers substitute, Luke Everingham.

So the final score remained at 4-1, though it could easily have been double that.

After the match Warilla coach Barney King said: “After a tough game yesterday, I wanted to make a few changes today to see how some of the others would do over 90 minutes and I’m pleased with the result. It shows we have depth in the squad, and as the season develops in what is a very hard league this season, it’s squad depth that could be crucial come the end of the season.”

Warilla Wanderers – 4 (Walker 8’, 14’, 48’, Keating 32’)
University of Wollongong FC – 1 (Vandenbergh 81’)

Sunday 24 April 2016
King Mickey Park

Referee: Andrew Naylor
Assistant Referees: Stuart Bell, Michael Riquelme

Warilla: Bradley Hunter, Jason Jankuloski (Luke Everingham 70’),Jordan Nolan, Jason Goldsmith, John Hagenaar, Martin Castelli, Stewart Robertson, Chad Keating (Andrew Shiaxiates 58’), Adam White, Colin Walker, Adrian Montalbano (Luke Greathead 79’)

University: Nick Lengoski, Grant Newman, Andrew Wurf, Alex Purvis, Scott Mawby (Lochlainn Ryan 45’), Ryan Kurtz (Luke Vandenbergh 71’), Michael Pitt (Tom Burke 71’), Tom Brown, Evan Fitzsimmonds, Abdul Lawal, Hazem Ahmed (sub not used: Dane Hamilton)


Report by Simon Duffin
Photo: Pedro Garcia (Library Archive)