Wollongong Olympic looked to continue to put the pressure on Bulli with a win over Port Kembla on Sunday afternoon at the PCYC. Undefeated in 13, Olympic were aiming to keep the momentum going. Port Kembla would be a tough proposition to face however and if the home side didn’t turn up mentally in this fixture, they would almost certainly be punished.

This was  the case in the opening stages of the match. Port Kembla started the sharper and just five minutes in they had the opener. Cameron Morgan lined up a free kick and his driven strike deflected off Marko Ishihara and sent Olympic keeper Hayden Durose the wrong way.

It wasn’t the type of game to sit back and defend, however. The Olympic midfield trio of Lukas Stergiou, Vaughan Patterson, and Brendan Fordham began to lift their intensity, which enabled Olympic to be a greater threat up top.

In the 14th minute, the home side were level. John Martinoski whipped in a dangerous left-footed cross into a crowded Port Kembla penalty area. Patterson was first to the ball as he leaped the highest, only for his header to hit the crossbar. The ball bounced back to Patterson from here and he had the simple task of placing the ball into a relatively empty net.

Just four minutes later the game was completely turned on its head. This time the ball was crossed in by winger Jack Balmforth and Patterson was quickest to react once more as he headed the ball into the roof of the net.

Bradley Jardine was called into action on the half-hour mark to prevent more damage for Port Kembla. Yusuke Ueda held the ball up with great strength and managed to play in Martinoski who quickly became one-on-one with Jardine. The keeper held strong and saved the shot.

It was not long before Olympic had their third. A ball into the penalty area once again proved too difficult to handle for Port Kembla. Fordham finished with a low, hard header across goals for Ueda to finish from half a metre out. Ueda had his shot cleared off the line in the attack just proceeding his goal. It was reward his hard work in the first half as he continuously played his teammates in for chances.

The second half commenced and Port Kembla still had hope that they could get something from a game that seemed like anything could happen. On the 48th minute Olympic did stretch their lead even further. Martinoski struck a left-footed volley after the ball had been headed clear at the back for Port Kembla. His shot was deflected on the way through and it sent Jardine the wrong way.

Just when Olympic seemed to be cruising towards victory a spanner was thrown in the works. John Martinoksi was given a second yellow and Olympic would have to play almost 40 minutes a man down.

Port Kembla enjoyed the advantage as they managed to get their foot on the ball and were able to find their range of passes a little bit more effectively.

Olympic still managed to create chances as the game wore on. In the 61st minute right-back Kojiro Hori broke through Port’s defence with ease and placed his shot just wide of the left post.

In the 76th minute, it was Olympic’s left-back that caused Port Kembla trouble. In what seemed to be a relatively unthreatening piece of play, Shun Tokuno hit a left-footed strike with the outside of his boot which bent the ball and forced Jardine into a smart save.

Port Kembla had a chance in the dying stages of the contest. Fabian Iacovelli broke through on the left flank and was just about to unleash a shot on goal before the ever-present Jack Keating blocked his shot.

The final chance of the match came in injury time and went to the home side. It was once again Tokuno who found himself in the attacking third. Ueda passed the ball off to Tokuno who hit the ball ever so sweetly. The strike was just too heavy however and rose over the crossbar.

The win for Olympic sees them go back to second after falling into third for 24 hours after the Albion Park White Eagles beat Woonona. Olympic now turn their attention to the Final of the Bert Bampton Cup where they face Corrimal who they drew nil-all with earlier in the season. Interestingly enough, their next League fixture is also against the Rangers.

As for Port Kembla, they have a week off due to the Cup Final before taking on last season's Grand Final rivals Bulli at Balls Paddock. They lost 4-0 to Bulli earlier in the season so Noel Spencer's side will be aiming to avenge that result and reignite the title hopes of Olympic and the White Eagles

Sunday 22 July 2018 @ PCYC

Wollongong Olympic – 4 (PATTERSON 14’ 18’, UEDA 35’, MARTINOSKI 48’)

 

Port Kembla – 1 (ISHIHARA 5’)

Wollongong Olympic – Hayden DUROSE, Kojiro HORI, Jack KEATING, Jake DUCZYNSKI, Shun TOKUNO, Vaughan PATTERSON, Lukas STERGIOU, Brendan FORDHAM, Jack BALMFORTH, John MARTINOSKI, Yusuke UEDA

 

Subs – Luke FOSTER (on for STERGIOU), Julian MINUTILLO (on for BALMFORTH), Haydyn LLOYD (on for HORI), Christian PRETTO

Coach – George ANTONIOU

Port Kembla – Bradley Jardine, Nobuaki MOCHIZUKI, William MOBBS, Nathan BELSITO, Carlo STELLA, Jason PEREZ, Cameron MORGAN, Justin CARIO, Marko ISHIHARA, Joseph LAVALLE, Fabian IACOVELLI

Subs – Kyle SENIOR (on for CARIO), Sandy LOWCOCK (on for MORGAN), Naruyuki KATO (on for LAVALLE), Brooklan FRKOVIC, Daniel FARINA

Coach – Noel SPENCER

Referee – Andrew NAYLOR

Assistant Referees – Gareth JENKINS, Tristan JAMES

Report by Jordan Warren, on Twitter @jwarren0817

 

Photo by illawarrapremierleague.com