Wollongong Olympic have taken the top spot in the Illawarra Mercury Premier League after a 2-0 win over fellow title-chasers Tarrawanna Blueys at PCYC on Saturday afternoon. Two first half goals courtesy of Yusuke Ueda and John Martinoski was more than enough to secure the result for Wollongong Olympic, with the side overtaking the Blueys on the ladder as a result of the victory.

Wollongong Olympic claimed victory in both matches against Tarrawanna in the league last season and from the get-go it appeared that Olympic could once again claim bragging rights, with the side coming close to opening the scoring in the 5^th minute after a quick break down the right flank by Julian Minutillo allowed the Olympic player to spin a ball across the Tarrawanna box. Fortunately for the Blueys however, Wollongong Olympic’s Yusuke Ueda was unable to get a foot to the ball, with his sliding attempt falling just short and keeping the score deadlocked.

Tarrawanna were able to create a number of chances in the opening exchanges of the match but unfortunately for the Blueys these chances were mostly limited to long-range efforts directed at Olympic custodian Hayden Durose, with Sam Munro’s effort in the 11^th minute coming the closest to opening the scoring for the Blueys after his long-range strike just shot over the top of the Wollongong Olympic crossbar.

Despite both sides looking like they could break the deadlock, it was Wollongong Olympic who managed to get their side on the scoresheet first in the 24^th minute, with a quick break arising from the Olympic defence finding John Martinoski in the middle of the Tarrawanna half. Martinoski acted quickly to pull the ball out wide before sliding the ball into Yusuke Ueda, who was then able to direct an effort at the bottom-right corner, beating Blueys shot-stopper Adam Rodriguez and handing the hosts the lead.

Wollongong Olympic had a golden chance to double their lead in the 31^st minute when another quick break down the field found the head of Ueda on the edge of the Tarrawanna box. Ueda was able to apply a feather touch to the ball and push the ball into the path of a rushing Kojiro Hori, but the Olympic defender was unable to garner full control of the loose ball, mis-hitting his shot and sending the effort wide of goal.

The hosts were able to double their advantage three minutes later after an Ikumi Saito corner forced the Blueys defence to clear the ball out of the box, however their clearance only went as far as Olympic’s John Martinoski, who was sitting on the edge of the Tarrawanna box. Martinoski showed great composure to control the ball and craft a curling effort that flew into the top-right corner and ensured that Wollongong Olympic entered the half-time break with a handy two-goal buffer.

With their work now cut out for them, Tarrawanna came out firing in the second half as the Blueys attempted to pull themselves back into the match and the visitors came close to finding the back of the net in the 48^th minute after a short Rick Goodchild corner found Cody Waller. Waller quickly relayed the ball back to Goodchild who fired off a pinpoint cross into the Wollongong Olympic box, finding the head of Benjamin Spruce. However, Spruce was unable to correctly connect with Goodchild’s cross, nodding the ball just over the cross bar and keeping Olympic two goals ahead.

The Blueys had another golden chance to pull a goal back in the 63^rd minute after Keisuke Hayashi took a quick corner directed at nearby Rick Goodchild, who was then able to make a run into the box and fire a powerful effort goalward. Goodchild’s shot managed to beat Wollongong Olympic custodian Hayden Durose but was unable to find the back of the net, rocketing into the left post and rebounding back into play.

Tarrawanna continued to press in search of a goal to potentially bring them back into the match and the side again came agonizingly close to scoring in the 74^th minute when Cody Waller managed to receive the ball in the Olympic box, with the Tarrawanna forward pulling back and firing a powerful effort at the left-hand side of the goal. However, the Blueys were denied by a fantastic save from Olympic’s Hayden Durose which was able to push the ball back away from the Olympic goal-mouth and towards Tarrawanna substitute Yusuke Maruyama. But Maruyama was unable to latch onto the loose ball, with his sliding attempt flying high and out of play.

As the clock wound down, Wollongong Olympic began to prod the aggressively pushing Blueys for another opening, with attacks down the left and right flank continuing to cause Tarrawanna’s defence troubles in the final moments of the match, but neither side was able to add to the pair of first half strikes, with Wollongong Olympic holding on to run out 2-0 winners.

The result means Olympic move into top spot on the Premier League ladder, with Tarrawanna falling just behind George Antoniou’s side. Wollongong Olympic will be hoping to hold onto top spot when the side travels to Ray Robinson Field next Saturday to take on a Fernhill side that fell to a 6-1 defeat against Wollongong United on Saturday. Meanwhile Tarrawanna will hope to return to winning ways and attempt to reclaim the top spot when they host Coniston at Tarrawanna Oval next Saturday.

Saturday 4 May 2019 at PCYC, North Wollongong

Wollongong Olympic – 2 (Ueda 24’, Martinoski 34’)

Tarrawanna SC – 0

Wollongong Olympic: Hayden DUROSE, Kojiro HORI, Jack KEATING, Mark EVERY, Ikumi SAITO, James KERR, Brendan FORDHAM, Vaughan PATTERSON, Julian MINUTILLO, John MARTINOSKI, Yusuke UEDA

Subs: Jamie WAKELING (MINUTILLO 69’), Ekoue D’ALMEDIA, Robbie GAUDIOSI, Peter PRANDALOS (MARTINOSKI 89’), Damien BEDWELL

Tarrawanna SC: Adam RODRIGUEZ, Matthew NAYLOR, Haydyn LLOYD, Corey HORNER, Benjamin SPRUCE, Mitchell FERRARO, Keisuke HAYASHI, Sam MUNRO, Liam UNICOMB, Rick GOODCHILD, Cody WALLER

Subs: Daniel CHAPMAN, Jacob FRYDAY, Yusuke MARUYAMA (UNICOMB 72’), Nicolas TOMASIELLO, Kaydin HARRISON

Referee – Bobby MAZEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Graeme CHARKER and Jay WALPOLE

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of Noel Wynn