A Yusuke Ueda hat-trick put him in pole position for the Illawarra Mercury Premier League Golden Boot award in 2017, but it was Stefan Dimoski’s injury time strike which left Wollongong Olympic on top of the ladder after Round 14.

Cameron Morgan’s first half goal gave Port Kembla hope, but they failed to peg back a strong Olympic side, and Chris Smith’s thunderous shot against the woodwork early on was the nearest the home side came to scoring another.

Olympic coach Rob Birkin spoke highly of his hat-trick scoring star at the end of the game, and added that he had just signed another Japanese forward who was looking forward to playing alongside Ueda in the coming weeks. He said his squad was very aware of the significance of Dimoski’s late goal confirming their place at the summit of the ladder. “They know where they stand,” he said.

The game could not have started more dramatically, with a goal inside 15 seconds.

Haydyn Lloyd picked the ball up from kick-off and sent a long punt forward to the feet of Ueda. He took one touch and sent the ball straight into the back of the net with a cool, clinical finish for his thirteenth IPL goal of the season.

By the 14^th minute, it was 2-0. This time it was Olympic captain Brendan Fordham who started the move with a fine ball down the right to find Dimoski. He drilled in a fierce cross which was cleared straight to Ueda just outside the area. The striker curled a beautiful right foot shot into the top corner.

Port also had their chances early on, with Smith twice testing Olympic gloveman Hayden Durose. One shot forced a corner, while the other struck the crossbar. And Ben Zucco almost set up Sandy Lowcock with a fine free kick from 25 yards, but the Port forward could not get any power behind his effort.

In the 25^th minute the home side showed a glimpse of the quality football they can play, with a quickfire goal to reduce the deficit. Smith sent the ball from halfway to Lowcock out on the right. He crossed towards Morgan who swivelled on the spot and sent a volley past Durose for 2-1.

But instead of capitalising on a change of momentum, Port let the game drift, with neither side seeing much sight of goal for the remainder of the half. Adam Bassuni came closest, his left foot shot flying not too far over, but the half time whistle blew with the scores still on 2-1 for Olympic.

As the wind picked up in the second stanza, it was the home side that seemed to be struggling more in the blustery conditions. Brendan Belsito used the wind to curl his corner goalwards, and it needed a goal line clearance from Brooklan Frkovic to keep his side in it.

Just before the hour mark, Olympic restored their two goal advantage. It was Dimoski who played provider again, sending a perfectly-weighted ball in from the right, allowing Ueda to use his pace to run on and slam home for his hat-trick, and 15^th goal of the season.

At the other end Smith looked the most likely to get his side back into it. He forced a reflex block from Durose as he shot from close-range, then was inches away from a tap-in at the near post as Joe Lavalle tried to outwit the Olympic defence from a set-piece, and it was Smith again who pulled the ball back from the byline to find William Mobbs pushing forward into the area, but the full-back’s shot didn’t trouble the solid Olympic backline.

With moments to go, Smith sent in a cross towards Morgan, who tried another volley to repeat his first half effort, but this time he completely miscued, basically summing up Port’s afternoon.

And just to rub it in, Olympic broke as the game entered time added on and scored that vital fourth goal to put them top.

Substitute Jamie Wakeling this time sent the ball into Dimoski’s path. He cut inside and curled a beautiful shot past Port keeper Brad Jardine for 4-1.

Speaking after the game, Port Kembla coach Noel Spencer said he was disappointed his side put themselves under pressure by conceding in the first minute, but felt that they were torn apart by ‘the best striker in the league’. “We were punished for not taking our chances and our ball retention was poor”. But he said the team would pick themselves up, starting at Picton next week, with an aim of improving on results from the first half of the season.

For Birkin, the ladder has been a ‘three-horse race’ for some time and will probably remain so for the rest of the season. So Round 15’s battle against another of the title contenders, Kemblawarra Fury, could be crucial to determining who will ultimately prevail. Olympic will be looking to repeat the victory they had in Round 4.

Port Kembla FC – 1 (Morgan 25’)

Wollongong Olympic – 4 (Ueda 1’, 14’, 59’, Dimoski 90+1’)

Assists: Port: Lowcock; Olympic: Lloyd, Dimoski 2, Fordham

Sunday 25 June 2017

Wetherall Park

Referee: Steve Bozic

Assistant Referees: Gareth Jenkins, Keelum Harrison

Port Kembla: Brad Jardine, Brooklan Frkovic, William Mobbs, Matt Werakso, Kyle Hazebroek (Carlo Stella 62’), Cameron Morgan, Ben Zucco (Mitch Scazzariello 88’),, Adam Bassuni, Chris Smith, Joe Lavalle, Sandy Lowcock (subs not used: Daniel Farina, Kyogi Mori, Tony Musumeci)

Wollongong Olympic: Hayden Durose, Haydyn Lloyd, Shun Tokuno, Jack Keating, Jake Duczynski, Brendan Belsito, Harrison Brown (Jamie Wakeling 76’), Brendan Fordham, Yusuke Ueda, Stefan Dimoski, Blake Coates (Dylan Perlowski 79’), (sub not used: Christian Cabo)

Report by Simon Duffin
Photo courtesy of Pedro Garcia (library file photo)