Wollongong Olympic have become the first team to progress to the 2019 Fraternity Club Bert Bampton Cup Final after coming from a goal down to see off Tarrawanna Blueys 2-1 at Ray Robinson Field on Tuesday evening. The Blueys took the lead early in the second half through a Keisuke Hayashi strike, but goal from Yusuke Ueda and Vaughan Patterson secured the win for Olympic, with the side progressing through to their second straight Bampton Cup final.

Both sides came into the fixture hoping to make a big step towards their seasonal goals – with Olympic looking to keep track of their run at a double and Tarrawanna hoping to make their first Bampton Cup final since their 2013 success – but neither side was able to grab the reins of the match in the opening exchanges. It was Olympic who had the first real chance of the match in the 20^th minute after an Ikumi Saito corner found the head of Mark Every in the box. Every was able to direct his header past Blueys keeper Adam Rodriguez but was unable to open the scoring, with his headed effort cleared off the line by a sliding Tarrawanna defender.

Wollongong Olympic had another solid chance to take the lead in the 36^th minute after a Jack Balmforth cross from the right flank found Jamie Wakeling deep in the Tarrawanna box, but Wakeling’s header was denied by a fantastic one-hand save from Tarrawanna gloveman Adam Rodriguez – who managed to push the looping header away from goal and keep the scores level.

Despite both sides playing the ball deep into the other’s final thirds, both sides struggled to produce many meaningful chances in the opening half, with both sides heading into the break on level terms. However, the second half quickly saw the deadlock broken, with Tarrawanna firing into the lead in the 47^th minute.

The Blueys grabbed the lead after a quick Christian Cabo break down the right-hand side of the park allowed a cross to be directed at Keisuke Hayashi in the middle of the Wollongong Olympic box. Hayashi – who has only scored two league goals this season for the Blueys – made no mistake of the chance, taking advantage of an early-diving Hayden Durose to tap the ball past the Olympic custodian and into the back of the net.

However, Tarrawanna’s lead was short-lived, with Wollongong Olympic drawing level six minutes later after an Ikumi Saito corner forced the Blueys defence to scramble and clear the ball out of the box. However, their clearance only went as far as Olympic’s Yusuke Ueda on the edge of the box and Ueda was able to fire off a powerful effort that wove its way through the box and into the top right corner of the net – levelling the scores and handing Ueda his first Bampton Cup goal since the 2018 semi-final.

With neither side keen to head to extra-time, both sides began to play more dangerously in search of a match-winning goal and after a period of twenty minutes of end-to-end action, it was Wollongong Olympic who pulled ahead in the 72^nd minute after a John Martinoski cross from the right flank found Julian Minutillo in the box near the far post. Minutillo was unable to fire at goal, opting to instead draw Tarrawanna shot-stopper Adam Rodriguez before chipping the ball back towards the penalty spot, where a waiting Vaughan Patterson was able to nod the ball into an empty net.

Now needing a goal to bring the scores level, Tarrawanna continued to exploit the flanks in search of an equalizer and the side came close to pulling level in the 88^th minute after a Rick Goodchild free-kick on the left hand edge of the box forced a top-drawer save from Hayden Durose to keep Olympic ahead.

However, Olympic had a golden chance of their own to kill the match off two minutes later with an Ikumi Saito free-kick from the right-hand side of the field. But, much like Goodchild’s effort only minutes earlier, Saito’s free-kick was denied by a fantastic save from Blueys keeper Adam Rodriguez, who managed to reach Saito’s effort and ensure that the Blueys remained in the fixture.

Tarrawanna had a final chance to send the game to extra time in the third minute of stoppage time after a quick cross in from the right flank found Keisuke Hayashi in the box, but Hayashi was unable to keep his effort down, his shot powering over the crossbar and ensuring Wollongong Olympic progress to the Bert Bampton Cup Final as 2-1 winners.

Wollongong Olympic will now take on the winner of Wednesday’s semi-final at Wetherall Park between Port Kembla and Bulli in the Final as George Antoniou’s side attempts to claim their second straight Bert Bampton Cup. However, both Wollongong Olympic and Tarrawanna will face each other again this week, with the sides facing off at Tarrawanna Oval on Sunday in a Illawarra Mercury Premier League Round 18 clash – with Olympic looking to take a big step closer to the title and the Blueys aiming to remain in the top-five.

Tuesday 17 July 2019 at Ray Robinson Field, Towradgi

Tarrawanna SC – 1 (Hayashi 46’)

Wollongong Olympic – 2 (Ueda 52’, Patterson 72’)

Tarrawanna SC: Adam RODRIGUEZ, Christian CABO, Haydyn LLOYD, Michael ROBINSON, Jake MORLANDO, Mitchell FERRARO, Keisuke HAYASHI, Sam MUNRO, Stephen LLOYD, Rick GOODCHILD, Nicolas TOMASIELLO

Subs: Matthew NAYLOR (S. LLOYD 77’), Brodie PAGE (TOMASIELLO 73’), Benjamin LEARMONTH (FERRARO 82’), Caleb GRACE, Kaydin HARRISON

Wollongong Olympic: Hayden DUROSE, Ekoue D’ALMEDIA, Jack KEATING, Mark EVERY, Ikumi SAITO, Brendan FORDHAM, Peter PRANDALOS, Vaughan PATTERSON, Jamie WAKELING, Jack BALMFORTH, Yusuke UEDA

Subs: John MARTINOSKI (PRANDALOS 56’), Julian MINUTILLO (BALMFORTH 39’), Christian PRETTO, Michael KYRIAKOUDES (MARTINOSKI 90+5’)

Referee – Andrew NAYLOR

Assistant Referees – Blake HERBERT and Caleb BLANCH

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

File Photo: Wollongong Olympic