Wollongong Olympic dispatched Cringila Lions 4-0 at Crehan Park on Friday night.
A brace to Liam Wille and Jake Trew’s first goal for Olympic sent the side into halftime with a three-goal lead.
Rick Goodchild’s second-half penalty rounded off a resounding victory for Matt Bailey’s men.
The visitors had a promising start to the match nearly jagging an early goal within the first three minutes.
David Hartas’ cross from the right fell to Chris Price at the back post whose shot required Cringila goalkeeper Nikola Ristevski to bat the ball away before it was scrambled to safety.
Olympic new signing Trew turned well in the left of the box five minutes later but skewed his shot over the crossbar.
The side had another chance with 11 minutes played, this time Harry Callahan firing over the bar from outside the box.
The Lions responded to this early Olympic pressure in the 20th minute with Ben Zucco turning sharply on the halfway line and sliding Michael Mendes in behind on the right.
The winger’s cutback into the middle was deflected on its way spinning into the path of Steven Ugrinovski who could not find the target from close range.
Olympic opened the scoring half an hour in after a move on the right rolled to Wille on the right edge of the box with the forward blasting a right-footed effort into the top right corner.
The away doubled their lead 11 minutes later, with Ristevski parrying the original shot from the edge of the box to Trew who bundled the ball home from inside the box.
Wille picked up his second goal on the stroke of halftime sending a composed finish from the right of the box into a vacant net.
Two goals in the final five minutes of the half had put Wollongong Olympic in a commanding position heading into the break.
Olympic began the second period with a similar intensity to the first half with Trew receiving two chances in the first 10 minutes.
A freekick from the left within the first couple of minutes found Trew at the back post but his header fell wide of the right post.
The forward took another shot five minutes later picking up the ball following a turnover on the right edge of the box but sprayed the shot high and wide.
Seconds later, Wille had a right-footed shot from the edge of the box that bounced just past the left post.
The pressure finally told just after the hour mark with Goodchild sliding a penalty into the bottom-right corner to make it 4-0.
Tory Musumeci nearly scored the side’s fifth moments later, being played through on goal on the right, but Ristevski was equal to the attacker’s effort from inside the box.
Olympic continued to probe, pursuing further goals and in the 71st minute, Musumeci’s right-sided cross found Lowcock in the middle who volleyed wide of the right post.
Wollongong Olympic saw out the remainder of the match to secure the win.
Coach Matt Bailey was delighted with the three points and his team’s performance throughout the game.
“I think all round that was a really good performance,” he said.
“The conviction in the front third was really important for us tonight, but I think as pleasing was the performance. We kept the ball really well; our decision making was really good.
“That for me is a snippet of what this side can deliver when we get that continuity in our training, and tonight I was really pleased.”
It will be a quick turnaround for the side taking on Corrimal Rangers on Sunday at PCYC.
However, this was the Lions’ fourth defeat of the season recording just one victory in their past six games – a 3-0 win against Woonona.
Icko Atanasoski’s team will now face three away games in a row, beginning on Sunday with a trip to Tarrawanna Oval to play the Blueys.
Cringila Lions 0
Wollongong Olympic 4 (Liam Wille 30’ 45’, Jake Trew 41’, Rick Goodchild Penalty 61’)
Cringila Lions: 1. RISTEVSKI Nikola, 2. CARLI James, 6. KOTESVKI Kayne, 3. DIAS Andre, 5. RALSTON James, 7. MENDES Michael, 8. MATIAS Keegan, 16. ZUCCO Ben, 10. UGRINOVSKI Steven, 17. DIMOSKI Stefan, 9. SIMONOSKI Peter
Substitutes: 24. AKHURST Ryan (UGRINOVSKI 77’), 47. KRSTESKI Anthony (MENDES 58’), 19. PRENTOSKI Jordan (DIMOSKI 77’), 36. LEE Brandon, 20. TOOLNAY Kurtis
Yellow Cards: Michael Mendes 7’, Andre Dias 28’, Kayne Kotevski 47’
Red Cards: Nil
Wollongong Olympic: 1. PASFIELD Justin, 26. EVERY Mark, 4. O’ROURKE James, 5. PRICE Chris, 57. LAVALLE Joe, 6. HARTAS David, 10. GOODCHILD Rick, 21. CALLAHAN Harry, 37. WILLE Liam, 14. TREW Jake, 7. MUSUMECI Tory
Substitutes: 28. KIZI Jordan (EVERY 64’), 24. LOWCOCK Sandy (TREW 69’), 50. MAVRIDIS Mason (CALLAHAN 80’), 25. MARTINOSKI John, 22. FUENTEZ Cristofer
Yellow Cards: Harry Callahan 9’, Liam Wille 25’, James O’Rourke 43’
Red Cards: Nil
Date: 29 July 2022
Venue: Crehan Park, Cringila
Referee: Bobby Mazevski
Assistant Referees: Caleb Blanch and Hayden Michlmayr
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
Photos courtesy of Inner Visions Photography / Denis Ivaneza
