ILLAWARRA MERCURY PREMIER LEAGUE RND 6 PREVIEW

With the weather clearing, it is good for clubs to finally get consecutive weeks of football, although there are a number of catch up games still to be played.

Week 6 action sees a number of intriguing fixtures headlined by the heavyweight battle between Dapto Dandaloo and Bulli.

Fernhill v Albion Park White Eagles – Friday 8pm at Ray Robinson Field

In a game brought forward from Saturday, Fernhill go into this match searching for their first win of the season although they have had a tough start, having faced three of the current top five in their only gates too date.
Coach, Julio Miranda would have set his charges a number of targets at the start of the season and will be hoping to kick start the season in this encounter.
Albion Park WE are another side that have only played three games but are three points better off than their opponents tonight.
The White Eagles were a bit unfortunate not to get something from their last outing against Olympic when they played the last 30 minutes with ten men due to the Tony Dulevski sending off when leading 2-1 before eventually going down 3-2 in the last ten minutes.

Bellambi v Tarrawanna Blueys – Saturday 3pm at Elizabeth Park

Newly promoted Bellambi, another side looking for their first win, are back at home for the first time this season and will be looking for a positive result first up.
Even though they have only picked up just the one point, the Rosellas have had a promising start to the season and have not been overawed at this stage by their return to the top flight.
Tarrawanna have been fortunate to have played all of their fixtures and have got six points from their five matches with just the one loss.
The Blueys were another side that would have been disappointed not to get something from their last game against the Fury in going down 3-2 after creating more than their fair share of goal scoring opportunities.

Wollongong United v South Coast United – Saturday 3pm at Macedonia Park

Wollongong United go into this game undefeated after three games with confidence high after coming from behind last week to beat Bellambi three goals to one.
‘Rookie’ Coach, Oliver Vrtkovski, would be reasonable happy with his side’s start to the season, with the most pleasing aspect being their ability to score goals having recorded six in attack so far.
By contrast, South Coast, who are looking for their first win after playing four games, are a bit ‘gun shy’ going forward having only scored just the three goals.
Their style of play is pleasing on the eye as they play from the back and I am sure that Coach, Alan Paine would have been working overtime at training looking for more penetration in the attacking third.

Woonona v Port Kembla – Saturday 3pm at Ocean Park

Just as they did in Season 2013, Woonona have started this year in confident fashion and currently sit in 3rd position on the table with eight points from four games played.
Yet to lose a game, Coach Rob Bemi has his side playing with loads of enthusiasm and well organised making them hard to beat in these early stages this time around.
On the other hand, Champions Port Kembla, have surprisingly had a mixed start to the season having accumulated just the five points from their four games.
Port are yet to hit their straps especially in attack where they have been nowhere near as fluent as last season and the Sharkies will need to be on their guard in this one to avoid a ‘backlash’ from Stuart Beedie’s men.

Wollongong Olympic v Cringila Lions – Saturday 3pm at PCYC

Olympic are another side that have played their full complement of games and will be looking to build on their steady start to the season with them currently sitting in fourth position with seven points.
Having acquired the services of Mark Picciolini in the off season, Olympic now have a lot more firepower at their disposal and should find goals a lot easier to come by. Picciolini scored a double in the win over APWE last Saturday and he will be looking to build on that as he seeks to make an impression at his new club.
Cringila are winless from their three games played and really need a positive result here to get their season underway in a more positive fashion. They will need to make a better start to the game than in their last match where they found themselves out of the contest at half time when behind by three goals against Woonona.

Dapto Dandaloo v Bulli – Sunday 1pm at Dandaloo Sportsground

Round Six concludes on Sunday with undoubtedly the Match of the Round between the Fury and Bulli which has an earlier kick off time of 1pm, having been brought forward because of the A-League Grand Final played later on in the day.

Both sides recorded good wins in the league last weekend beating Tarrawanna and Fernhill respectively which has Bulli holding down top spot on nine points and DDF in third on seven points going into this blockbuster. However, Bulli have played a game more.

The two teams both play a possession based game but at the end of the day, the result will no doubt be determined by the side that makes the most of it’s opportunities in and around the opposing penalty area.

This should be an open game of football which should be great to watch with both goalkeepers expected to see plenty of action. With 16 goals between the two sides thus far, there is no reason why this game would finish goal-less.

Both teams were involved in mid-week Cup action when DDF were gallant in defeat when beaten with the last kick of the game, after extra time, against Marconi Stallions in the fourth round of the FNSW Waratah. On the other hand, Bulli suffered an inglorious 2nd Round exit from the BloorRail Bert Bampton Cup against District league side, Berkeley Sports.

To have the best chance of winning this one, both sides will need to put those results/performance behind them as they strive to get maximum results from this top of the table clash.

 




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