Round 9 Preview

Kemblawarra Fury is looking unstoppable at the moment after picking up a seventh consecutive win last weekend. Bulli are keeping them in their sights, though, and pulled away from the rest of the pack with a useful win over Port Kembla in Round 8.

It’s getting congested in the middle of the ladder now, with only four points separating the seven teams placed from third to ninth, so we’re likely to see a few more changes to the top five slots as the season progresses.

Down at the bottom, South Coast United’s first win of the season in Round 8 saw them draw level with Woonona, only one point below Port Kembla. These three are five points adrift now of ninth.

Match of the round

Bulli v Tarrawanna Blueys @ Balls Paddock – kick-off 2.30pm, Saturday 21 May

Tarrawanna Blueys have scored at least three goals in every away fixture in the IPL this season, but this is likely to be their toughest test yet, up against the stingiest defence in the League (Bulli have conceded just eight goals in eight ties so far).

On paper Bulli has a formidable front line, too, with Dylan Lewis, Ben McDonald and Julian Minutillo scoring most of their side’s goals this season. But the Bulli goal machine has been stuttering in recent weeks, with only two to add to the goals-scored tally in the last two Rounds.

The Blueys know what they’re up against, though. Minutillo and McDonald both scored in both fixtures between these two in 2015. Tarrawanna won the corresponding match last season 2-3, and they have the firepower to repeat that in 2016 if the likes of Darren Stone, Rick Goodchild and Sam Isabella get a sniff of goal.

But Bulli need the points to keep on the heels of the Fury, so I expect the home side to prevail this time, by a single goal.

Other games on Saturday 21 May

Picton Rangers v Albion Park White Eagles @ Hume Oval - kick-off 2.30pm

Last week’s results left both these teams just outside the top five, so both will be keen to get the points this weekend to keep them in touch with the IPL frontrunners.

Picton’s last win at Hume Oval was possibly the highlight of their season so far, with a 2-1 victory over Grand Final Champions Wollongong United. But that was back in early April. The Rangers are playing well enough to beat most teams in the IPL and they were unlucky to go down so heavily last weekend away to Kemblawarra Fury. What’s most impressive is that they are achieving these results with a little-changed squad from the one that ran away with the District League last season.

Confidence will have flooded back into the White Eagles camp after last week’s thrashing of Shell Cove. Shohei Okuno might be Albion Park’s top scorer still, with his seven IPL goals this season, but his compatriots Kitaro Higashi and Riku Iwauchi joined him on the scoresheet last weekend and make a formidable Japanese trio Picton will do well to watch.

This will be a tight game and it’s too hard to pick a winner, so I’m going for the draw, which may not satisfy either team.

Shell Cove v Wollongong Olympic @ Barrack Heights Sportsfield – kick-off 2.30pm

To say Shell Cove had a bad weekend would be an understatement. Last week was disastrous for morale at a club that had been playing some beautiful football earlier in the season. Having followed up their Round 8 defeat 5-1 at Albion Park, with another five goals conceded in the Bert Bampton Cup on Sunday, something tells me Paul Carter will have been working on his team’s defensive tactics during this week.

It probably isn’t the best time for Shell Cove to come up against the IPL’s current joint top scorer. Yusuke Ueda has knocked in eight goals for Olympic in as many matches this season so far.

Olympic are the Jekyll and Hyde side of the IPL, though, constantly surprising me with their results, both good and utterly evil. They’re on a bit of a roll right now, though, with two superb wins against top three teams taking them back into fifth spot. Shell Cove can only hope that Olympic have one of their off days this weekend. Otherwise, it is likely to be three more points for the visitors.

I think it will be tight, though, and I don’t expect a winning margin of more than one.

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

Wollongong United have had their fair share of battles this season already. The comeback from 2-0 down in Round One is one where they rescued a point. But last weekend’s goal frenzy at Cringila saw the 2015 Champions go down 4-3 after an extraordinary afternoon where both sides held the lead at various points in the game.

Defeats like that can sap a team’s energy or fire them up to achieve greater things. I fully expect Oliver Vrtkovski to gear his side up for this match so they get their season back on track immediately.

And United are up against a Woonona side low in confidence after a set of results that has seen them take just one point in seven matches, and go out of the Bampton Cup last week.

It surely has to be three points for United here and they may win by a few as they seek to put other results behind them comprehensively.

Sunday 22 May

Port Kembla v Cringila Lions @ Wetherall Park – kick-off 2.30pm

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

Cringila will be on the crest of a wave after last week’s thrilling 4-3 win over Wollongong United. They’re much improved this season and playing far better than their ninth place suggests after eight rounds.

Port had a disastrous start, with only one point and one goal in their opening five matches. They may have lost last week, but have also started to work well as a unit, with ten goals in the previous two games, and keeping Bulli to just one goal at Balls Paddock was also a reasonable achievement.

For Cringila, Daniel Atkins keeps finding the net (five goals now after last weekend’s win) with Joel Craig back from suspension and Christian Cevenini back from injury making the Lions a force to be reckoned with.

At the other end, Sandy Lowcock is the discovery of the season for Port and Joe Lavalle has been doing a good job behind the front pair too.

Both fixtures between these two ended honours even last season. It could be the same again this time round.

South Coast United v Kemblawarra Fury @ Ian McLellan Park – kick-off 3.00pm

If you’ve just won your first league game of the season and followed that up with a cup win a day later, the last team you probably want to face is the league leaders looking for their eighth consecutive win.

On the other hand, when bottom plays top, everyone expects the top side to win comfortably, so in that respect, there is no pressure on South Coast ahead of this match.

Liam Unicomb has now scored in each of United’s last five games (four in the IPL) so he’ll be looking to extend that run against Fury.

Greg Valic seems to have succeeded in guiding his strikers towards goal since he took over the reins. But defence was his side’s main weakness, with 25 conceded in eight rounds.

Robbie Shields’ hat-trick last week saw him leapfrog over team mate Matthew McNab in the race for Golden Boot. And those two will be a formidable force for the home side to stand up against.

It’s hard to see anything but a win here for Fury, but there have been a lot of surprises so far this season in the Illawarra Mercury Premier League.

By Simon Duffin