Round 6 Preview

Round 6 sees the second of our feature games as curtain-raisers for the Wollongong Wolves at the WIN Stadium. This time Cringila and Picton take the stage on Sunday.

We’re only five rounds into this year’s Illawarra Mercury Premier League and there is already a 13 point gap between first and last in the ladder, and these two just happen to be playing each other this weekend in Round 6. Bulli and Kemblawarra Fury lead the pack and both remain unbeaten, but Tarrawanna Blueys are hot on their heels after last weekend’s fine win at Wollongong United. At the foot of the ladder, South Coast United’s misery continued, with them still to register a point after five matches.

Match of the round

Tarrawanna Blueys v Albion Park White Eagles @ Tarrawanna Oval – kick-off 2.30pm, Saturday 30 April

Third take on fifth in what will surely be an entertaining and highly competitive match at Tarrawanna Oval.

The Blueys’ great start to 2016 continued last weekend with an impressive victory 3-0 away at 2015 Champions Wollongong United. They just might have laid to rest their tendency to drop points against other top teams, a tendency that saw them lose twice to Albion Park White Eagles in 2015.

But the White Eagles are also playing even better football this season than they did last term. They may have lost at home to the Fury last week, but that was surely one of the games of the season and they only went down 3-4.

There’s lots of goalscoring talent in these two teams, with Shohei Okuna on six goals for the White Eagles and both Rick Goodchild and Darren Stone on five apiece for the Blueys.

There are surely more goals to come in this tie. Who will win it? Well, I reckon it’s too tight to call and may well end a draw between two in-form teams.

Other games on Saturday 30 April

Bulli FC v South Coast United @ Balls Paddock - kick-off 2.30pm

It’s top v bottom at Balls Paddock on Saturday, so it’s hard to see anything but three points for Bulli in this one.

Having said that, Bulli were flying high when they played South Coast last season and only took one point from the two ties they played in 2015, coming from 0-2 down to snatch a draw in this equivalent fixture.

Liam Unicomb scored in both those games in 2015, and the United top marksman in 2015 got his scoring boots back on for 2016 last weekend, putting his side ahead at Port Kembla before their second half collapse.

United’s biggest concern has to be their leaky defence, letting in 20 goals in just five matches so far. It’s hard to see how they’ll cope with the likes of Ben McDonald, Dylan Lewis and Julian Minutillo bearing down on them.

I expect United acting coach Greg Valic to have instilled a bit of backbone in the defence after last week’s drubbing at Port Kembla, so although I go with three points for Bulli, I don’t expect such a wide margin of victory as United suffered last time out.

 

Wollongong United v Port Kembla FC @ Macedonia Park – kick-off 2.30pm

It’s an intriguing time for these two sides to meet up.

After a reasonable start to the season, backed up by a fabulous FFA Cup win over NPL Premier League opposition, United crumbled last weekend at home to Tarrawanna.

After a pretty disastrous start to the 2016 IPL season, Port Kembla sprung to life last weekend with a 7-1 annihilation of South Coast United. Scoring goals had been Port’s main problem with only one in 360 minutes of football. But teenager Sandy Lowcock popped up last week with four goals, and Takao Teramoto got a brace. So suddenly Port Kembla have rediscovered where the net is in 2016.

Port have re-signed Nuno Pires, who scored twice against United in 2015. Let’s see if he gets a game, or whether Port coach Stuart Beedie sticks with a winning side.

United will be all the more difficult to beat, though, after going down to Tarrawanna. And we all know they are capable of beating anyone in this league on their day.

I’m predicting three points for the home side, but a much tighter game than I might have predicted if this had been in Round 5!

 

Woonona FC v Shell Cove FC @ Ocean Park– kick-off 2.30pm

Woonona’s early season promise has not come through in results on the pitch, with only one win out of five so far. They sit just one place off the bottom of the ladder after four consecutive defeats.

They can take heart from the fact that those defeats were all against teams challenging for Top Five spots, and when they came up against another side nearer the bottom, they won comfortably. Woonona need to make Ocean Park their fortress against teams like Shell Cove, if they are to climb away from the foot of the ladder.

A good start to the season for the visitors here has left them just goal difference off a Top Five place, though. Newcomers like Daniel Vellonio and Jordan Hassiem have been exciting to watch, though there may be some doubt over Vellonio’s fitness after he was stretchered off in last weekend’s win over Cringila.

Some may expect a Shell Cove win here and they have the talent to take the three points, but I fancy Woonona to hold on for a draw on their own turf.

Sunday 1 May

Cringila Lions v Picton Rangers @ WIN Stadium – kick-off 1.00pm

If either side starts with a bit of an advantage, it is surely Picton. This is not only because of their strong start to the 2016 season which sees them riding high in fourth spot in the IPL ladder. But coach Brett Morley has stayed faithful to many of his District League winning squad, and they of course know what it means to win on the WIN Stadium turf with their Grand Final victory in 2015.

District League favourites like Mitch Hall and Daniel Goodhew have shown they are also good enough to get past some of the best Premier League defences too, so Cringila will need to be on their guard this weekend.

The Lions may have lost tamely last time out, but they have been playing some good football this season, and I expect players like Esali Ali and Mikal Awad to rise to the occasion at the big stadium alongside the likes of Joel Craig and Daniel Atkins.

This will be a tight game, but I think Cringila might just nick it by a single goal.

Kemblawarra Fury v Wollongong Olympic @ Albert Butler Memorial Park – kick-off 2.30pm

The Fury juggernaut is back on the road, with a fourth IPL win on the bounce last week at Albion Park, and Matthew McNab is back in lethal form, with a hat-trick last week and six goals to his name for the IPL season so far.

The last time the Fury played at home, though, they had to wait till the 92^nd minute to find the winner against Cringila. But that was a Fury side that was still in first gear, with a lot of players not yet at peak fitness.

I think they’ll be a tough team to beat now in the Premier League.

But Wollongong Olympic are one of those unpredictable teams that could just cause an upset. They almost beat Wollongong United in Round 1 and have notched up easy wins over Port Kembla and Woonona. The Fury defence will have to watch out for Yusuke Ueda and Wandi Jajaw, so if those two get sight of the target, this could be a high-scoring game like last Saturday’s thriller at Albion Park.

I do expect the Fury to take the three points, but Olympic will not be a pushover.

 

By Simon Duffin