University FC has won a crucial away clash against a struggling Helensburgh Thistle outfit, courtesy of a Evan Fitzsimmons hat-trick at Rex Jackson Park on Saturday afternoon.

The scars of a 6-2 Round 1 defeat to Helensburgh have been removed with ‘The Students’ reversing the tables, overcoming an early goal to seal victory.

It is a result that pleases coach Brendon Fotheringham who is confident that the team will continue to accrue points and march up the table.

“We never genuinely felt relegation was an option,” said Fotheringham.

“We always believed that we had points in us, it was just getting it all together out on the field.”

It was all Helensburgh Thistle in the opening minutes, with their speed and skill in attack sending shockwaves through the opposition.

Bystanders walking through the oval would have assumed they had a 5 goal lead with the ease they were knocking the ball through the field and frequency of their shots.

In the 10th minute, Thistle striker Luke Van Zyl got the ball well-marked outside the penalty area with his back to goal, but a sharp turn, shimmy and quick feet got the ball to the left allowing a powerful left foot strike that whistled over the head of the goalkeeper for a pearler of an opening goal.

Helensburgh got excited in attack, with the ball breezing down the midfield with men charging upfield in every attack in hope they can get there name on the score sheet.

Brad Watts haunted the left wing with darting runs and threatening crosses relentless during the opening stanza.

Slowly but surely, University began to feel there way into the clash beginning to take momentum after the 30th minute,

The pressure paid off in the 41st minute, with University’s Dane Hamilton threading a ball to Evan Fitzsimmons hulking in the box, with a sharp turn to beat the defender allowing a strong strike which the goalkeeper could not stop.

The scoreline at half time was 1-1, with both teams confident they could earn all three points on offer.

In the 53rd minute, Evan Fitzsimmons continued his fine form with a powerful horizontal run across the top of the penalty box bulldozing through three defenders before toeing the ball in heavy traffic into the netting to take the lead.

The Thistles restructured their attack with substitute Jason Wellings up front, who in the 62nd minute beat his defender to power a left foot strike exploding through the goalkeeper’s hands, perilously close to an equaliser as it rolled into the right post.

In the 70th minute, a golden opportunity went begging for Helensburgh to equalise with Jason Wellings toeing the ball past the charging goalkeeper, but was unable to work the angles at the open goal with the ball sailing well over.

In the 85th minute, a University attack initiated by a Michael Pitt chip found Evan Fitzsimmons whose launched a venomous strike which thundered into the crossbar. Abdulsamiu Lawal regained possession for ‘The Students’ and his quick feet triggered a reckless challenge from Helensburgh in the box earning a penalty which Fitzsimmons hammered low into the netting for his hat trick.

The fixture ended in a dominant 3-1 scoreline, a crucial victory for University now accruing 7 points from their last three clashes.

Unfortunately it is the reverse for Helensburgh as they will face some hard truths during the week as they have not been able to earn a solitary point since Round 5 against Thirroul.

Helensburgh Thistle will seek to shift momentum with an important fixture against cellar dwellers Bellambi FC away at Elizabeth Park on Saturday, while University will look to continue momentum returning to Koolobong Oval to battle Oak Flats Falcons.

 

Saturday 11 June, 2016

 

Helensburgh Thistle1 (Van Zyl 10’)

University FC 3 (Fitzsimmons 41’, 55’, 89’)

 

 

Helensburgh Thistle:

Ryan Kendrigan, Andy Garcia (Luke Falkiner 83’), Mitchell Buchan, Bradley Bell, Blake Charman, Andrew Paine, Luke Wyatt, Damien Warwick (Reggae Rowley 73’), Nathan Mucci, Brad Watts (Jason Wellings 45’), Luke Van Zyl

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

 

University FC:

Gabriel Murphy, Dane Hamilton,Lochlain Ryan, David Pitt, Alex Purvis, Craig Hood, Andrew Christie, Alex Coetzer (Ryan Kurtz 73’), Michael Pitt, Evan Fitzsimmons, Abdulsamiu Lawal

Yellow Cards: Abdulsamiu Lawal 50’

Red Cards: Nil

 

 

Report by Daniel McGookin

Twitter: @mcgoookin93

Photo: Pedro Garcia (archive)