Wests Illawarra’s 8-1 trouncing of Bellambi on Saturday afternoon leaves last season’s District League strugglers on top of the ladder after a rain-affected Round 1. Jordan Hughes and Nic Tortorella both bagged second half hat-tricks, to add to Chris Twigg’s opener, with Nathan Puljic completing the list of names on the scoresheet at the end.

Mitch Hoswell scored Bellambi’s consolation and Matt Kocic struck the woodwork late on for the Rosellas, but this was not the performance new coach Tim Hooker had been hoping for.

There were bad omens for Bellambi even before the match kicked off. New signing centre forward Yasufumi Miyamoto was delayed on his way to the ground, forcing a late change to the Rosellas’ line-up and leaving the Japanese striker on the bench until the 60^th minute (by which time the game was already lost).

Wests had the better of a lively, but physical first half and were just about deserving of their 1-0 advantage at the break. There was no hint of the goal rush that would follow in the second stanza and one of the later hat-trick heroes – Hughes - might have been kicking himself at half time, having missed a couple of good chances early on.

Ben Levai in the Bellambi goal was certainly the busier of the two keepers, twice denying Hughes at close range and then tipping a superb long-range strike from Diego ‘Harry’ Andrade onto the bar in the 12^th minute. But his best block came midway through the first half, when Puljic spun round and sent a fierce right foot shot goalward, bringing a reflex reaction save from Levai.

The opening goal was not long in coming, though. Just past the half hour, Tortorella picked out Twigg in space in the area and the former Port Kembla striker doesn’t miss from that close in.

The Rosellas responded well with a good period of possession in the lead up to the break. The lively Keisuke Sato had their best chance, latching onto a cross from the right, but unable to get enough power behind his volley from five yards out.

The 1-0 scoreline at half time was a fair reflection of a tight first half, which saw six yellow cards, as two physical teams faced up in the slippery conditions.

Bellambi barely got a look-in after the break, though, and conceded six goals in an extraordinary half hour of football.

Tortorella started the rout by skipping past Levai and slotting home for the Wests’ second, after a lovely chip from Puljic.

Then it was Hughes who fired in a cross from the byline, finding Tortorella again for a simple tap-in at the far post. Less than a minute later, Hughes powered through the Bellambi defence and fired home a solo goal for 4-0.

At that point, Hooker made three changes in an effort to stop the rot, but still the goals came. Substitute Godfrey Franco flew past three defenders to set up Puljic, who drilled home for the fifth on 65 minutes. And Puljic should have had a second moments later, but somehow missed the target, though his team-mates were crying out for a corner, believing Levai got a touch.

In the 70^th minute, Bellambi finally got one back when Darren Carney floated the ball into the box, where Hoswell had a virtual free header and steered the ball home.

But, in extraordinary drama, Wests grabbed their sixth straight from the restart, when Hughes spotted Levai well out of his six yard area and launched an audacious lob from the half way line into the back of the net, over the head of the stranded gloveman. On 75 minutes it was 7-1, with Tortorella this time setting up Hughes for his hat-trick.

With the pressure off, and the game over, Bellambi finally began to play some decent second half football. Kocic forced a fine save out of Kyle Booth in the Wests goal, and then thundered another shot against the upright. But when Sato set up Mattias Passlack inside the box and the striker skewed the ball wide, it was just symptomatic of Bellambi’s afternoon.

And worse was to come when Hughes teed up Tortorella to volley home for his own hat-trick with two minutes remaining.

Tim Hooker expressed his frustration with his players after the match: “We just didn’t play the style we want to play. We gave away cheap possession and played too much of the long ball. At the end, we started playing some football, but only in the last 15 minutes. There’s a big learning curve ahead for these boys.”

In contrast, Wests coach Arthur Kinnas was delighted: “We’ve got an older head (Nic Tortorella) and a young head (Jordan Hughes), both keen to score, but as time goes on I think Jordan will be the one who keeps scoring.” But Kinnas was more hesitant on his team’s prospects for the season: “We did a good job today, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This is a better start than last season.”

Wests Illawarra FC – 8 (Twigg 31’, Tortorella 49’, 59’, 88’, Hughes 60’, 71’, 75’, Puljic 65’)

Bellambi FC – 1 (Hoswell 70’)

Assists: Wests: Tortorella 2, Hughes 2, Puljic, Franco; Bellambi: Carney

Saturday 25 March 2017

Unanderra Oval

Referee: John Ruscica

Assistant Referees: Jacob Kentta, Patrick Hutton

Wests Illawarra: Kyle Booth, Luke Melkerts, Alex Riddle (Dean Zugic 79’), David Cuda, Diego Andrade (Daniel Boyd 76’), Nathan Puljic, Nick Tortorella, Paul Burleigh, Jordan Hughes, Chris Twigg (Godfrey Franco 60’), Jake Bailey (sub not used: Jordan Timpano)

Bellambi FC: Ben Levai, Daniel Harrington, David Kiss, Gary Newell, Blake Ross (Michael Jennings 60’), Matt Kocic, Darren Carney, Liam Ross (Mitch Hoswell 60’), Giancarlo Cevenini (Yasufumi Miyamoto 60’), Mattias Passlack, Keisuke Sato (subs not used: Robin Marschell-Whythes, Jack McNamara)

Report by Simon Duffin

Photo: Pedro Garcia (Library Photo)