Friday 29 March

Cringila Lions vs Tarrawanna Blueys @ Crehan Park - 8 pm

Cringila suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat to Wollongong Olympic, however, Zivko Jovanovski will take some solace with the 2-2 second half.

Tarrawanna beat South Coast United 1-0 in round one before thumping North Sydney United 7-0 in the FFA Cup third round. In the last week, the Blueys have picked up former Sutherland Sharks fullback Keisuke Hayashi who terrorised the North Sydney with two cracking goals and some dangerous crosses.

This is the only Friday night match scheduled for 2019 and coincidentally, these sides met on a Friday night six weeks ago where a last gasp Jared Fish header sealed a 2-1 Fraternity Club Cup win.

Prediction - Tarrawanna Blueys

Saturday 30 March

Coniston vs Wollongong Olympic @ JJ Kelly Park - 2.30 pm

Coniston were down 4-0 against Wollongong United inside the opening hour of their return to the Premier League with a couple of late consolation goals adding some respectability to the result.

Wollongong Olympic began their season with a league and FFA Cup doubleheader which included 5-2 and 5-3 wins over Cringila and Randwick City respectively. A few questions will be asked about the five goals conceded over the two matches but goals aren’t a concern for goal ace Yusuke Ueda who netted three against the Lions.

An understrength Coniston lost 1-0 to Olympic in the preseason cup but it will be a big ask from them to better that on the weekend.

Wollongong Olympic

Woonona Sharks vs Bulli @ Ocean Park

The Sharks opened their season with a 3-2 away win over Fernhill and now they face another local rival in Bulli at Ocean Park.

Bulli’s round one match against Corrimal was washed out and it will go ahead next Wednesday, however, they did visit Pluim Park on Wednesday evening where they beat Central Coast side Wyoming 5-1 in the FFA Cup third round.

Woonona were also in FFA Cup action midweek beating Blacktown Workers 3-1 at H E Laybutt Reserve.

Bulli will be the favourites but the Sharks are in a good place at the moment and could snatch a result.

Draw

South Coast United vs Fernhill Foxes @ Ian McLennan Park - 6.30 pm

South Coast United return to Ian McLennan Park for their first competitive match in nearly eleven months and they will be taking on the Foxes at the new 6.30 pm kick off time.

United had a 1-0 defeat on the road to Tarrawanna last weekend while Fernhill went down 3-2 to Woonona before losing 2-1 to South Coast Flame in the FFA Cup on Wednesday night despite leading in the 90th minute.

United will hope to eke out some sort of advantage via the new synthetic pitch, however, Fernhill trained at the ground last week and the match against Flame was also at the venue.

Draw

Sunday 31 March

Corrimal Rangers vs Port Kembla @ Memorial Park - 3 pm

Corrimal had a first-up wash out against Bulli with that match set to be played three days after Sunday’s match.

Port, on the other hand, kicked off their season with a gritty 1-0 home win over Albion Park White Eagles. Brad Acev’s early strike was enough to get the biscuits though Steven Dimitrievski will be somewhat annoyed his side didn’t score two or three more due to a combination of wasteful finishing and poor decision making.

Corrimal indicated they are a step up from Albion Park in the preseason cup final so I expect them to secure the points here.

Corrimal Rangers

Albion Park White Eagles vs Wollongong United @ Terry Reserve - 3 pm

It has been a rough couple of weeks for Albion Park White Eagles with the defeat in the Fraternity Club Cup final followed by an opening day loss to Port before tumbling out of the FFA Cup with a 3-2 defeat on the Central Coast against Killarney District.

The opposite is true of Wollongong United who travel to Terry Reserve on the back of beating Coniston 4-2 in round one before thumping Old Barker 5-0 in the FFA Cup.

White Eagles edged United 2-1 at the same ground in preseason though form has trended in United’s favour ever since.

Wollongong United

Preview by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

Photo by JC Sports Photography