A last gasp equaliser from last week’s hat-trick hero Ben McDonald meant the honours were even in this entertaining encounter at Balls Paddock.

 After the Last Post was sounded and a minute’s silence held to mark ANZAC Day, it was Bulli who came out all guns blazing at the start of this match which pitted the league leaders against fourth place Wollongong United.

 The game was less than a minute old when Bulli took the lead as Cameron Littler’s diving header hit the back of the net after a powerful ball into the area from Julian Minutillo on the left.

 The visitors had their backs to the wall for the next 15 minutes as Bulli rained in a string of efforts on the Wollongong goal. A McDonald shot was blocked just in time by defender Daisuke Yuzawa, headers from Minutillo and McDonald flew just over, and Littler saw another shot blocked as Wollongong struggled to cope with the inswinging corners from the right.

 United’s equaliser came out of nothing in the 19^th minute. Angelo Hajitoffi did well to win the ball down the left and made a 20 metre run before putting in a cross that was only half cleared. The ball ran loose and Yuzawa pounced, unleashing an unstoppable right foot pile-driver that flew into the net low to the keeper’s right.

 That goal settled Wollongong, allowing them to draw breath and begin to play the style of football they are comfortable with, crafting their chances with slow, passing build up, a stark contrast to the speed and directness of Bulli’s attacks.

But it was Bulli who came close to taking the lead just before the break. McDonald cut the ball back from the byline, finding Minutillo, whose shot was deflected for a corner.

 The second half began with more end-to-end action.

 Wollongong came close to copying Bulli’s opening minute goal straight from the restart, but the home team cleared and raced down the other end where Scott Curran saw his shot from three metres out bravely blocked by Zlatko Josevski in the Wollongong goal.

 Minutillo and Hayden Mowbray linked up well only for Mowbray’s goal-bound shot to be cleared. At the other end, Yuzawa went for his second from almost the same spot as he had hit his first, only this time it was through a packed penalty area and the ball flew over the bar. Then the hardworking Minutillo was back giving his defenders a hand, stepping in just in time to stop Wollongong substitute Dan Chapman from pulling the trigger.

The game hit a period of calm midway through the second half, with neither side creating any real chances.  But as the storm clouds built up on the horizon, nobody could have predicted the storm that was about to play out on the pitch.

In the 90^th minute, Wollongong won a corner down the right. Giovanni Leuzzi’s shot was only parried by Ben McGinnes in the Bulli goal. Moto Kinjo picked the ball up and fired through a packed area into the net. The celebrations were so exuberant that goalmaker from the first half Hajitoffi was injured in the ruck of United players. Clearly the visitors thought they had claimed a famous victory.

And for five minutes, that looked like being the case. But as the game entered the sixth minute of added time, Bulli managed an equaliser, which was almost a carbon copy of Wollongong’s goal minutes earlier. This time it was Minutillo whose shot was parried, but straight to the feet of McDonald and he made no mistake, ensuring the league leaders maintained their unbeaten record.

A draw was probably a fair result from two of the Premier League’s top teams. There couldn’t have been a greater contrast between the two coaches’ reactions at the final whistle, though.

For Wollongong United, Oliver Vrtkovski, was mystified at the number of minutes added on at the end of the game. “It’s heartbreaking for the lads after we dominated possession, played such good football and really saw Bulli create little after the opening few minutes.”

Bulli coach Ben Smith on the other hand said his team deserved at least a point on the basis of chances created. “Wollongong moved the ball around well, but there wasn’t much of a serious threat close in. It was a good game, and we did well to nick a goal late on.”

-Story by Simon Duffin-