Oak Flats Falcons showed their attacking quality in a 4-0 win over Balgownie Rangers on Tuesday night at Judy Masters Oval.
The Falcons were ruthless in taking the opportunities they had in the first half. Shotaro Iwamoto scored twice before Jamie Wakeling added a third as the team went into the sheds with a dominant lead. Bojan Caric added his name to the scoresheet before the hour mark to round out the victory.
Balgownie started the match brightly and created three chances inside the first 10 minutes.
Four minutes in, Toby Drain worked hard to make it to the right byline before cutting it back to Lace Condello in a great position, but his effort cleared the bar.
The Rangers had another shot a couple of minutes later, but Trent Worthington’s header went straight at Falcon’s goalkeeper Claude D’Alessio.
Despite the hosts’ strong start, they went behind in the 20th minute.
Oak Flats capitalised on a giveaway for Iwamoto to blast the ball in the top left corner from inside the area.
Balgownie then had their best chance of the night so far in the 34th minute when a left-sided delivery fell to Muhammet Ali Tektas at the far post. But the fullback was denied from a tight angle at close quarters.
Another big opportunity fell the way of the home side four minutes later. Ali Tektas drilled a superb right-sided cross that picked out Worthington in plenty of space in the box, however, he skied his effort.
Oak Flats doubled their advantage just seconds later. A persistent Brodey Jelliffe nicked the ball in the right channel, and his subsequent cutback deflected into Iwamoto’s path, who sent an accurate finish past Joel Monteleone in the Balgownie goal.
The visitors added another goal in the 42nd minute when Wakeling picked out the top right corner from the edge of the box.
The side could have had a fourth in stoppage time. Caric got around Monteleone one-on-one, but a retreating Anthony Oliver did brilliantly to slide in and scoop the ball away from the goal line.
In a match where Balgownie had created ample chances to be in the contest, they found themselves three down following a clinical first-half display from the Falcons.
Oak Flats carried on at the beginning of the second half the way they finished, with the left-hand side proving an outlet.
In the 54th minute, Caric received the ball in the left of the box and played it centrally for Tomoya Komazaki, whose shot was comfortably caught by Monteleone.
The Falcons continued to exploit the left side and grabbed their fourth goal four minutes later.
Iwamoto breezed past Ali Tektas in the box and shifted the ball across for Caric for the forward to launch into the roof of the net from very close in.
Komazaki nearly put the visitors five up 67 minutes in as he picked up the ball in the left of the box and powered a shot narrowly past the near post.
With 10 regular minutes to play, Wakeling looked to inflict more damage on Balgownie, taking on a dipping volley from just outside the area that dropped over the bar.
Six minutes later, Oak Flats defender Boden Allport dribbled through the middle of the pitch and found Wakeling centrally, whose low effort was well-saved by Monteleone.
The team played out the remaining minutes to secure another win, keeping them top of the Illawarra District League.
Oak Flats host Warilla Wanderers this Saturday while Balgownie travel to University at the same time.
Report and photo by Tim Gibson
