The Wollongong Wolves surged clear at the top of the NSW NPL with an emphatic 3-0 road victory over APIA Leichhardt Tigers at Lambert Park on Sunday evening.
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New striker Thomas James ran riot as the talented Englishman fired home a hat-trick to help the Wolves remain unbeaten through the first two rounds.
Wollongong are the only side in the competition to win both of their first two matches, with new coach Luke Wilkshire also maintaining his perfect record in charge at the club.
"All the plaudits will obviously go to Thomas, and that's well deserved, but the whole team was great," Wilkshire said.
"We showed great creativity, attacked with pace and defended and scrambled well. The centre backs Nick Littler and Nikola Djordjevic were fantastic. We showed great desire."
James - who scored on his top flight debut in last week's win over Manly United - had his first in the 20th minute before bagging a second half double to seal a rare win in Leichhardt.
James was cool under pressure to finish off a quick counter attack to open the scoring in the first half before doubling his tally 11 minutes after half time.
The former Canberra FC star pounced on some complacent Tigers defending to double the Wolves lead in the 56th minute.
He sealed the victory with another expertly taken finish following some superb link-up play with Japanese attacker Takeru Okada.
Wollongong face another tough away trip again next weekend when they meet Sydney United 58.