Round 11 action in the Illawarra Mercury Premier League was at Tarrawanna Oval as the Blueys hosted Wollongong Olympic. Both teams were in fine form in the league, Tarrawanna being four games unbeaten, with Olympic's unbeaten run at six. The sides were coming off vastly contrasting weeks though - Tarrawanna leaving Woonona with a solitary point before a hard-fought 4-0 loss in the FFA Cup midweek; whilst Olympic had the week to rest up after a demoralising 9-0 victory over Picton.

A goal late in the first half to talisman Yusuke Ueda was all that separated the sides at the break, as a barn-storming David Hartas effort was pegged back by a fine finish from Kouryo Kubota to bring the Blueys within a goal midway through the second. Substitutes Luke Foster and Jack Balmforth stung the hosts late on with a goal apiece to put a shine on the Olympic performance, which rarely got out of first gear.

In the opening stages, Wollongong Olympic were dominant over Tarrawanna; with Brendan Fordham and Ueda both going close from range; but it was the normally-reliable Adam Rodriguez in goal for the hosts who almost gifted Olympic an opener approaching the half-hour. A poor clearance fell to John Martinoski on the touchline, with the 'keeper forced to continue advancing and block the shot; an inside pass to Ueda valiantly sliced down by Daniel Goodhew.

The Blueys went close on 31 minutes, Bradley Acev half-volleying a semi-cleared corner back into traffic, Daniel Chapman deflecting it to the opposite side of goal, only to trickle wide as Hayden Durose could only watch. Moments later, a quick break ended with Takumi Machida netting for the hosts, only for the offside flag to bring play back.

Vaughan Patterson found Ueda in the area with a great ball from midfield with four minutes remaining, his shot on the turn taking a slight deflection and bouncing in over Rodriguez to open the scoring. Kojiro Hori had two chances as the half concluded, but a scuffed shot from 18 yards, and a mishit bicycle kick failed to trouble Rodriguez.

A slim Olympic lead at the break seemed a fair result at the time, as Tarrawanna had effectively dealt with all the attack that had been thrown at them, barring the late deflection. Olympic had looked comfortable at the back, with Tarrawanna only going close after set-pieces. The visitors were dominant in possession time, and field position, but were struggling to do anything with their ascendancy.

Three minutes after the break, Tarrawanna thought they had their equaliser, a lobbed through ball from Kubota to Machida, again chipping Durose in goal, only to cannon into the crossbar, and once more, be called back for a tight offside.

Olympic took it upon themselves to open up a margin as Tarrawanna continued to go close on the counter, a barn-storming David Hartas run down the right flank cutting inside and powering a low drive in at the far post to make it 2-0.

Two minutes later, it could have been 3-0, Ueda turning in the box and curling around Rodriguez, only to strike the base of the post and out.

Tarrawanna broke down the other end, Machida finding the chest of Kubota, who volleyed over the advancing Durose into the roof of the net to make it 2-1, but that was as good as it would get for the Blueys.

With just under 15 minutes to play, Olympic caught the hosts napping from a quick free kick, the deep cross finding substitute Luke Foster's head, nodding across goal and in for 3-1.Vaughan Patterson had the chance to immediately make it four, missing an open goal at the far post from a corner, in what would've put the shine on the performance.

The hosts were visibly fading as legs grew weary after a trying week. What was once a confident, compact defence, was out chasing midfielders in possession with wingers left unmarked, as the goal threat for Olympic went from one to four. Substitutes Foster and Jack Balmforth brought energy and pace up top to capitulate the issue, as the pair combined late on for an easy finish for the latter, rolling past Rodriguez to the far post for 4-1.

The visitors ran out comfortable 4-1 winners on the day, by doing what they needed to beat a sub-par Tarrawanna side offering very little going forward. The loss sees Tarrawanna stay fifth for now, with only an upset Corrimal victory over Bulli able to knock them down a peg. Next week in Round 12, they will host Fernhill at Tarrawanna Oval at 2:30pm. The Blueys will be looking to overturn the 1-0 loss the Foxes handed them in Round 1, as the pair battle it out for the last remaining finals berth.

Wollongong Olympic tentatively sit atop the ladder, with Bulli yet to play, with anything but a high-scoring draw or a Bulli win keeping the Wollongong side there for the turn of the season. Next week, Olympic will travel North to Ocean Park, visiting a Woonona side they beat 5-1 at the PCYC - a Saturday 2:30pm kickoff.

 

Saturday 2nd June - Tarrawanna Oval

Tarrawanna Blueys 1 - KUBOTA 62'

Wollongong Olympic 4 - UEDA 41', HARTAS 55', FOSTER 78', BALMFORTH 88'

 

Tarrawanna Blueys - Adam RODRIGUEZ, Matthew NAYLOR, Bradley DURRANT, Daniel CHAPMAN, Jacob FRYDAY, Daniel GOODHEW, Bradley ACEV, Samuel CHAPPLE, Kouryo KUBOTA, Rick GOODCHILD, Takumi MACHIDA

Subs - Jared FISH (on for ACEV 64'), Liam UNICOMB (on for MACHIDA 70'), Reece MCALPINE (on for KUBOTA 80'), Joshua BROWN, Bradley JONES

Wollongong Olympic - Hayden DUROSE, Haydyn LLOYD, Jack KEATING, Jake DUCZYNSKI, David HARTAS, Shun TOKUNO, Vaughan PATTERSON, Brendan FORDHAM, John MARTINOSKI, Kojiro HORI, Yusuke UEDA

Subs - Luke FOSTER (on for HORI 78'), Sam GORGAN (on for MARTINOSKI 81'), Jack BALMFORTH (on for UEDA 85'), Christian CABO, Christian PRETTO

 

Referee - Peter ILCEVSKI

Assistants - Liam WEBB, Brody MURRELL

 

Report by - David ATHERTON - Twitter @daveatho5

Photo courtesy of Graham Brown