Wollongong Olympic put themselves right back into contention after a hard fought 1-0 win over third placed Tarrawanna. An early Yuseke Ueda goal was the difference in a game with few clear chances played mainly between the two penalty areas.

Wollongong Olympic had the chance to go ahead after just 5 minutes when a long ball over the top was only partially cleared (headed) by Tarrawanna goalkeeper David Hamilton. The ball fell nicely to Yuseke Ueda from about 30 yards and with the goalkeeper stranded and an empty net, his lob shot bounced agonisingly wide.

Ueda though made amends just a minute later when Chris Jackson found space just outside the corner of the penalty areas and placed a perfect cross to the far post where an unmarked Ueda was able to head back over Hamilton to put the visitors one up.

Tarrawanna looked a little shocked by the early opener and it wasn’t till the 17^th minute when they mustered their first real chance. It was Matthew Mazevski who won possession in the midfield, advancing the ball and letting loose with a shot from 28 yards out that dipped and swerved forcing Hayden Durose into a flying save.

Just two minutes later, Isaac Lee played a neat ball over the top to Ueda who with the keeper to beat just failed to control it well enough.

On 26 minutes, Tarrawanna won a free kick near the sideline deep inside the Olympic half. After a short pass, Mazevski whipped in a dangerous ball to the far post where Mitchell Young just couldn’t quite get enough on it as an equaliser beckoned.

It was Young though that did extremely well to defuse an Olympic attacking raid just before half time. Brendan Fordham found space and only needed to square the ball for two waiting attackers only to be denied by a desperate sliding tackle by Young.

Both teams had work to do as Olympic headed into the half time break 1-0 up.

Isaac Lee was working hard in midfield and his wizardry carved out an opportunity for himself where he unleashed with a 25 yard shot that looked good but narrowly missed leaving Hamilton only to look on in hope.

As the game progressed, Tarrawanna started to get a little more desperate. In the 62^nd minute, a short corner was worked back to the edge of the penalty area where Mazevski fired a low shot that was going wide however Sam Isabella tried valiantly to get a toe to it on the far post as the Olympic players watched on.

Just ten minutes later, a swift counter attack started by Lee found Ueda who passed on to an unmarked Jackson in the penalty area however his shot was unable to hit the target.

A minute later, some slick passing through the midfield between Stone, Isabella and Mazevski saw the latter fire a well hit shot just wide.

Tarrawanna were not about to give up as they made changes in the last 10 minutes and threw players forward to try and grab an equaliser. With just 7 minutes left, Sam Chapple put in a dangerous ball that found an unmarked Jacob Fryday just 6 yards out but he was unable to deflect his header on target.

With players pushed forward, Olympic nearly doubled their lead in injury time when substitute Kyle Hazebroek-Southgate broke down the left and ran all the way into the penalty area before shooting for the near post. David Hamilton pulled off a wonderful save to keep the home side in it however as the minutes ticked away, they could not muster up a late goal.

Saturday 14 May 2016 – Round 8
Tarrawanna Oval

 

Tarrawanna Blueys         – 0

Wollongong Olympic     – 1 (Ueda 6’)

 

Referee: Blake Herbert
Assistants: Nick Ryan and Thomas Kentta

 

Tarrawanna: David Hamilton; Daniel Champan; Bryce Dolinscak; Mitchell Young; Jake Morlano; Sam Chapple; Darren Stone; Matthew Mazevski (Junior Mushaba); Sam Onana Awano (Jacob Fryday); Rick Goodchild; Sam Isabella (Allister Carrigan);
Unused Substitutes: Joshua Chapple; Christian Pretto

Wollongong Olympic: Hayden Durose; Hayden Lloyd; Jack Keating; Jake Duczynski; Sam Gordon; Harvey Rodriguez; Brendon Fordham; Isaac Lee (Wandi Jajaw); Chris Jackson; Yuseke Ueda (Kyle Hazebroek-Southgate); Ja Kon Yu (Harrison Brown);
Unused Substitutes: Andre Gasesa; Declan Baker

 

By FSC Amateur Match Reporter

Photos by Pedro Garcia