Aaron Niyonkuru scores hat-trick as Weston Bears breeze past Newcastle Olympic

A first-half hat-trick from Weston's Aaron Niyonkuru set the tone against seventh-placed Olympic at Darling Street Oval.

The Bears attacker hit the back of the net in the 31st, 43rd and 46th minutes to put the game out of Olympic's reach.

Niyonkuru is the Bears leading scorer this season with eight goals and will look to take his goal-scoring form into the home clash against Maitland.

After a slow start to the season, the Magpies are four points behind Weston in fourth and have won their last five games.

Maitland assistant coach Gavin Woolfe knows his side will be tested when they travel to Rockwell Automation Park.

"If I think back over the last couple of years I think Weston have had the wood on us," he said.

"We'll be up for it, we're obviously on this run where we have been winning quite a few games, Weston are leading the comp along with Azzuri...we certainly won't need any motivation to get up for the game."

A key reason for Weston's rise up the ladder this season has been the arrival of attacking midfielder Yuto Konagaya.

The Japanese livewire has been an integral part of the Bears' rise from eighth last season to premiership contenders this year under coach and former Dutch international Kew Jaliens.

The 29-year-old midfielder has scored four times in the league and set up many more goals among Weston's 34 in 15 games. They scored 32 in 20 last season.

Last year Konagaya was playing in Greece with second-division APS Zakynthos. A financial dispute and call from teammate Connor Evans brought him to Weston.

"Connor literally called me and said 'do you want to play with me?'" Konagaya said.

Konagaya is no stranger to Australian football. After four years with the Waseda University team in Tokyo, Konagaya played at St George in Sydney in 2016 before stints with Bunbury, Blacktown and Port Melbourne.

"Hopefully we can continue the run, and obviously we can improve a lot more I feel. But it's feeling good, the boys are understanding each other and how we want to play," Konagaya said.

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