The opening match of Round 3 of the FFA Cup was an all-District League affair with Coniston taking on Helensburgh just three days after their Preseason Cup final epic which the Thistle won 3-1. An impressive midweek crowd packed into JJ Kelly Park and the home supporters had something to cheer about when Chris Stevanovski gave Coniston the lead - a thunderous free-kick into the bottom right corner. Coniston would have a two-goal advantage going into the break after Hiroaki Kohinoki scrambled the ball over the line in the 37th minute.

Luke van Zyl pulled a goal back for the Burgh thanks to a 54th-minute penalty but from there it was one-way traffic with Stevanovski getting his second before strikes from Christian Plakias and Dinko Terzic secured a 5-1 win.

Two Premier League clubs were in action on Saturday with Albion Park White Eagles travelling to Cromer Park to face Brookvale FC while Wollongong Olympic hosted Bass Hill at Elizabeth Park. Ferres Aoun was the star man for the White Eagles scoring a double in a 4-0 win, the other goals came through new signings Chris Gomez and Sean Kennedy. As for Wollongong Olympic, they followed up their 13-0 win in round two with an 11-0 win over Bass Hill. Yusuke Ueda bagged his sixth and seventh goals of the tournament while Vaughan Patterson, Jack Balmforth and Kojiro Hori all netted braces.

South Coast Flame FC were also involved on Saturday night, competing in their first competitive match against West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook at Pennant Hills Park. Julio Mushaba scored a stunning opener in the 39th minute before Bojan Caric made it 2-0 three minutes later. West Pennant Hills rallied back to make it 2-2 with 12 minutes to go but another two goals from Mushaba secured a maiden victory.

Tarrawanna were scheduled to play Sydney North West at 3 pm on Sunday at Valentine Park but the excessive heat pushed kick off back to 6.30pm - though temperatures were still in the mid-30s. Despite this, the Blueys made light work of North West with goals from Liam Unicomb, Jake Morlando and Brad Acev giving them a 3-1 lead at halftime. In the second half, Acev netted another and while Matt Naylor also got on the scoresheet to secure passage to the fourth round with a 5-1 win.

On a wet and wild Tuesday night, Bulli played NPL 3 outfit Inter Lions at Ray Robinson Field. Guy Knight put the defacto home side ahead in the second minute via a free kick which Robert Fanella had no hope of saving in the torrential rain. Over the next hour, Bulli bombed a number of chances with Fanella making a handful of inspirational stops while Marcus Beattie and Harry Callahan each missed an open goal from close range. Mitch Del Turco would get Bulli’s second in the 67th minute and from there the floodgates opened. Knight scored another free-kick and substitute Ben McDonald netted a hattrick in a tick over twenty minutes. Hezio Silva Neto found the back of the net for the Lions but his side were no match for the IPL giants, losing 6-1.

Port Kembla travelled to Hensley Athletic Field on Wednesday to face off with Dunbar Rovers who coincidentally played Inter Lions last weekend, with the Rovers winning 2-1. Like the night before, the weather conditions were less than ideal with the ball skidding across the artificial surface. Port found themselves two goals behind in the space of 90 seconds with Yoel Silvestre scoring in the 10th and 11th minute. On the half-hour mark, Brooklyn Frkovic played a horror back pass to keeper Brad Jardine which was intercepted by Ryan Shaughnessy who tucked the ball into the bottom corner. The reigning Premier League champions simply could not find a way back into the match with the final scoring remaining 3-0.

The draw for Round 4 will take place on Wednesday 28 March.

Note - NPL 1 and 2 sides enter in Round 4.

Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

Photo by Kiah Hufton (Soccer Shots Illawarra)