“We lost that game today rather than being beaten,” said Albion Park White Eagles coach Steve Micevski, after watching his side go down to ten men with half an hour to play. Bulli made the most of their numerical advantage, scoring twice to seal victory 3-1 and thereby leap-frogging Albion Park into second spot in the ladder.

Micevski might also have been rueing his team’s missed chances in the first half, when they dominated play, but failed to score.

Albion Park was the more creative team from the start, patiently building moves with good passing play.

Their best chance early on fell to Brian Montanari who linked up well with Ricky Anane and Chris Smith before seeing his goalbound right foot shot well saved by Ben McGinnes in the Bulli goal.

Top scorer Smith also came close, once with a flicked header that flew just over the bar, and then latching onto a through ball from Anane, Smith was tackled by Bulli defender Scott Best just before he could pull the trigger. And it was Smith again whose fierce shot was blocked, this time by Corey Horner, with his second effort on the rebound flying well over.

For 40 minutes Bulli were no threat at all, giving the ball away too easily across the park, but especially in the final third. Then they fired their first warning shot as Cameron Littler drove the ball across the face of the goal and Ben McDonald’s shot was taken at the second attempt by Bryce Daenell in the Albion Park goal.

Two minutes later, Bulli took the lead. Tobin Zoomers powered through the midfield and set up McDonald on the edge of the area. The Premier League’s top scorer was given too much time and space. He picked his spot and placed his right foot shot neatly into the back of the net.

The second half began with much more energy and open football, with both sides creating chances.

For the home team, Anane went on a 15 metre run and was about to unleash his shot when Best again got back to make the crucial tackle.

At the other end, McDonald was a constant threat, first picking up a long ball, letting it bounce once before firing his shot just over, then choosing to lay the ball off to fellow striker Hayden Mowbray when just six yards out.

But ten minutes into the second half, Albion Park got the equaliser when David Polidoro’s through ball split the Bulli defence leaving Shaun McRae free in front of goal to pick his spot.

Suddenly the game was in the balance again, but just three minutes later the White Eagles found themselves down to ten men, when Mark Every received a straight red for reacting with his head to a challenge from Bulli’s Guy Knight.

Bulli regained the lead moments later, though there was a touch of luck to their second goal as Littler’s shot ricocheted over the defender and straight over the head of a stranded Darrell into the net.

From then on in, it was one-way traffic, with Daenell bringing off a series of wonderful saves to keep the score respectable. First he saved down low from yet another McDonald effort, then it was a shot from substitute Aaron Baker and then a point blank save from a Sam Davies shot after White Eagles defender Peter Prandalos had cleared the ball off the line. And still the attacks rained in on the Albion Park goal, Prandalos again getting his body in the way of another Littler shot before Daenell once again saved the day from Baker.

Bulli finally broke through the White Eagles’ defence with five minutes remaining on the clock. This time it was Zoomers who powered through to the byline and pulled the ball back for Scott Curran, whose right foot shot flew into the back of the net.

Albion Park substitute Darren Jones almost scored an own goal, sending a back pass onto his own post, but then made amends by blocking the piledriver that was heading goalwards from Zoomers on the rebound.

The home side never gave up, though, and it was Daniel Dafkovski who almost got one back in the 90^th minute, his shot just wide of the upright with the keeper beaten.

Micevski was pleased with the football his side played. “At 1-1, we were in charge of the game and it was a little bit of indiscipline that cost us.”

Bulli coach Ben Smith was pleased with the win: “That was a tough battle out there. Them going down to ten men clearly helped us, but I’d have liked to see a few more of those second half chances go in! Still, to beat a team like Albion Park who will almost certainly be challenging for the title at the end of the season is a great result.”

In other games today, Shell Cove and Woonona played out a 1-1 draw whilst Dapto Dandaloo overcame Wollongong Olympic 2-1 and South Coast United put 5 unanswered goals past Bellambi.

- Simon Duffin -