Wollongong Olympic made it three wins from three in the Illawarra Mercury Premier League this season as they defeated Fernhill 2-0 at Ray Robinson Field on Sunday. Olympic found themselves 1-0 up after 16 mintues when Shun Tokuno’s powerful shot was deflected by Ryan Hunter into the Foxes net, before Yusuke Ueda would pick up his fourth goal of the season with a simple yet devastating header in the 48^th minute.

Fernhill have been the surprise packet of the league in the early rounds, picking up two wins from two to sit alongside Bulli and Wollongong Olympic at the top of the table, but within the opening sixty seconds of the match, it was obvious that Fernhill would have their work cut out for them when a cross-field ball from the Olympic kick-off found the feet of Luke Foster, allowing Foster to fire off a shot at goal, but his effort was well saved by Foxes gloveman Bryce Daenell.

A strong attacking presence in the final third almost gave Olympic their first goal of the match in the 11^th minute, when pressure from Jack Balmforth saw Daenell’s kick ricochet into the Olympic player and come close to going into the net, but a wonderful punching save from Daenell kept the ball out and the scores level.

However, just five minutes later, the visitors would be on the board, capping off a strong attacking start from Olympic. After a Fernhill clearance, the Olympic midfield recovered the ball on the left-hand side of the field, where a powerful shot from Shun Tokuno managed to weave its’ way into the box, before deflecting off Fernhill captain Ryan Hunter and beating Daenell at the post to give Olympic their opening goal.

After the initial goal, Fernhill found themselves slowly coming into the match, but the Foxes were unable to create any real chances up front as of yet, but for Olympic they had no such issues and would come close to doubling their lead in the 36^th minute when a good tackle from Vaghan Patterson allowed him to recover the ball and fire off a shot from distance, forcing Fernhill keeper Bryce Daenell to making a leaping save to tip the ball over the bar and keep his side in the contest.

Fernhill would finally have their first real chance of the match four minutes from the half-time break when a cross from out the right-hand side of the field found Yusuke Maruyama in the box, but his effort was denied by a good save from Olympic keeper Hayden Durose, who pushed the ball out for a corner. Maruyama’s subsequent corner would be perfectly placed to meet the head of Ryan Hunter, but his effort sailed just to the right of the post, ensuring the Foxes would enter the half-time break 1-0 down.

The second-half saw Olympic come out swinging and within three minutes of the kick-off, they had their second goal. A good run from Jack Balmforth on the right-hand side allowed him to swing in a perfectly-weighted ball to Olympic dangerman Yusuke Ueda, who managed to simply head the ball past Daenell with relative ease and put Olympic 2-0 up.

With Fernhill slowly trying to push the ball forward and create some chances, it was Olympic who continued to press their advantage and they almost had their third when a free-kick from substitute John Martinoski forced Fernhill keeper Bryce Daenell into making a strong save to tip the ball out for a corner. Daenell would be called into action yet again in the 65^th minute when a strong Yusuke Ueda shot off a Brendan Fordham cross would force the Foxes keeper into making a wonderful reflex save to stop Olympic from running away with the match.

Fernhill would have their best chance of the match just seconds later, when pressure from sub Shinsei Tanaka would force keeper Hayden Durose to push out to claim the ball, only for it to fall to Yusuke Maruyama, who attempted to chip the Olympic gloveman from distance, but his shot – despite beating Durose – went to the left of the goal. Shinsei Tanaka would have a good chance of his own two minutes later when he made a fantastically timed run to put himself in a one-on-one with Durose, but his effort went well across the goalmouth and out.

Both sides managed to tighten up in the final twenty minutes, but Yusuke Ueda managed to come close in the 84^th minute with a headed effort off a Lukas Stergiou cross, but his effort went just wide of the Fernhill goal. Ueda would again be involved in the final chance of the match in the 88^th minute when his cross found the head of John Martinoski, but Daenell again proved the hero, making an athletic save to tip the shot out of play and ensure that Fernhill could hold their head high despite going down 2-0.

The loss for Fernhill is their first of their league campaign, but the side will be holding their head high after a solid performance. The Foxes next task will be a clash against South Coast United at Ray Robinson Field, the Foxes looking to pick up some more points against a South Coast side who has shipped nine goals in their opening three matches. For Olympic, their perfect start to the season continues, the side now having won all three of their opening matches. However, their next match will be their biggest challenge yet when they take on Bulli at PCYC. Bulli have also picked up three wins from three to start their season off, but Olympic will be hoping Bulli’s FFA Cup clash against Coniston on Wednesday will tire them enough to grab a good result.

Sunday 8 April 2018 at Ray Robinson Field.

Fernhill FC – 0

Wollongong Olympic FC – 2 (Hunter OG 16’, Ueda 48’)

Fernhill FC: Bryce DAENELL, Lachlan CALDER, Dean MOROSIN, Maurice ALOEGNINOU, Michael MACGRAW, Ryan HUNTER, Ben SCHMID, Jordan HUGHES, Kyle DEL, Mitchell TURNER, Yusuke MARUYAMA

Subs: Shinsei TANAKA (DEL 55’), Rodney LEWIN (MACGRAW 62’), Ryan LAPPIN (SCHMID 78’), Alexander ROOKE, Daniel SAAD, Brad HUNTER

Wollongong Olympic FC: Hayden DUROSE, David HARTAS, Jake DUCZYNSKI, Haydyn LLOYD, Shun TOKUNO, Brendan FORDHAM, Luke FOSTER, Vaughan PATTERSON, Kojiro HORI, Yusuke UEDA, Jack BALMFORTH

Subs: John MARTINOSKI (BALMFORTH 54’), Robbie GUADIOSI (FOSTER 90’), Christian PRETTO, Lukas STERGIOU (FORDHAM 70’)

Referee – Steve BOZIC

Assistant Referees – Nathan ALTERATOR and Stuart DERBRIDGE

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt
Photo courtesy of Noel Wynn