The fifth round of the FFA Cup was a tough one for the sides of the Illawarra. Only one side was able to progress to the next stage of the competition, as four other sides bowed out in a round full of tense matches and late drama.

Arguably the most high-profile fixture saw Wollongong Olympic – currently 2nd in the Illawarra Mercury Premier League – take on NSW NPL leaders APIA Leichhardt Tigers at Macedonia Park. The Tigers have been one of the highest scoring teams so far this season and within the opening minute they showed some of what they had to offer when a blistering run from former Illawarra local Jordan Murray sent him through onto goal, forcing Olympic keeper Hayden Durose to pull out a sprawling save to ensure the visitors did not get off to a bright start.

Olympic would have a strong chance to take the lead in the 9th minute when Yusuke Ueda got the ball in the box after a miskick from Leichhardt defender Paul Galimi. Instead of choosing to fire off a shot, Ueda laid the ball off to an incoming Brendan Fordham, whose shot was denied by a strong save from Ivan Necevski.

The deadlock would finally be broken in the 29th minute when APIA would take the lead through a curling shot from Joshua Symons, which worked its way to the left of a diving Durose and into the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Olympic would have a great chance to equalize just three minutes from half-time when a long-range effort from Shun Tokuno spilled out of Necevski’s hands, but before Yusuke Ueda could reach the loose ball, the ball was cleared by the APIA defence.

Despite the strong start from Olympic, the side would slowly fade away from the match as the second-half wore on, while APIA found themselves becoming more comfortable on the ball. The Tigers would grab their second goal in the 60th minute after Tasuku Sekiya showed fantastic skill to control a cross from Sean Symons and fire home an effort.

Sekiya would pick up his second 13 minutes later when Sean Symons released a fantastic through ball to the forward, who delightfully chipped the ball over Hayden Durose and into the net before Brendan Fordham could clear the shot off the line.

A hat-trick clinching goal for Sekiya would come in the 87th minute after Joshua Symons fired off a high ball over the heads of the Olympic defence and into the path of Sekiya, who simply tapped the ball home to secure the match as a 4-0 win for APIA - the NPL leaders marching into the sixth round of the Cup.

The match at Balls Paddock pitted Illawarra Premier League leaders Bulli up against St George Saints FC who sit third in the NPL 2. The compelling subplot to this match was the return of Wally Savor to the region after leaving Cringila for the Saints job last Tuesday.

As for the match, there was little between the two sides with either outfit only managing to create a couple of half chances in regulation time. As the match spilt over into extra time, Bulli began to feel the pinch of the three-day turnaround with a handful of players cramping up. Both goalkeepers pulled off an acrobatic save during extra time and penalties looked to be on the cards.

However, in the 120th minute, a limping Bulli were caught out by David Ilic who managed to scramble home what would be the winner. Bulli nearly netted a miraculous equaliser in the 125th minute but Kyle Jackson couldn't get a strong enough touch on a ball that blazed across the six-yard box.

The final local fixture saw Illawarra Premier League side Tarrawanna take on high-flying NSW State League side University of New South Wales - a side who has won all six of their league fixtures this season – at Memorial Park.

While Tarrawanna have had a slower start to the season then many would have expected, the side found themselves in the lead after 39 minutes through an effort from new signing Kouryo Kubota.

But their lead would be pegged back midway through the second half as UNSW levelled the scoring, Tarrawanna’s task compounded even more by the dismissal of Corey Horner for a handball in the lead up to the University goal. But Tarrawanna stepped up their play towards the end of the match and almost found themselves on the scoresheet once more in the final moments, but neither side could break the deadlock and thus extra-time was required.

While University attempted to book their place in the next round, Tarrawanna held firm and forced a penalty shootout, which the Blueys were able to fire their way past the Students and into the next round, running out 4-3 winners in the shootout after a 1-1 draw.

For Albion Park White Eagles, their fifth-round clash against the sixth-placed SD Raiders of NSW NPL 3 saw them travel up to Ernie Smith Reserve in Moorebank and their quest to make the sixth round got off to a poor start, going down 1-0 in the opening minute of play.

But the Eagles would fight back, and the side did so in style, netting four goals courtesy of Chris Gomez, Kody Maude, Shannon Fielding and Hikaru Kawasakiya to ensure Albion Park would take a big lead going into the break, and not even a second Raiders goal just before the half-time break could stop the Eagles from having a foot in the next round.

But a poor second-half effort from Albion Park would see the scores slide back to 4-4 and force extra-time, where again the Raiders would show their rapid response at the start, netting in the 92nd minute to give the hosts a 5-4 lead. But as Albion Park pushed for a late equalizer, there was a rather interesting scene developing as four minutes from full-time the lights at Ernie Smith Reserve went out, forcing a premature end to the match, albeit one where the 5-4 score stands, sending the Eagles out of the cup.

Tarrawanna will find out their sixth-round opponent when the draw is made on Friday 11 May, with the match due to be played on Wednesday 16 May.

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt