Bulli F.C have crushed the soul of the travelling 2015 NSW NPL 2 table-toppers Spirit F.C but at a potentially serious cost.

Two late first half goals was enough for Bulli to seize a 2-1 victory in Round 4 of the FFA Cup at Balls Paddock in the mid-week fixture.

Bulli Coach Ben Smith was pleased with the win but concerned about rising injury ward.

“[The win] is good obviously, but mixed emotions really because it looks like Tobin Zoomers may have gone down with a season-ending knee injury, ”Smith said.

“I probably would have preferred to lose the game and keep him in the grand scheme of things, but hopefully it’s not as bad as we think.”

The opening stages of the fixture was a true testing period, with both sides feeling out the opposition in the lively fast-paced contest.

Bulli’s defence was formidable, led by central defender Kenji Takahashi allowing Spirit F.C to only attack the goals from range.

Problem was these strikes were scarily accurate.

In the 18th minute the first attempt soared from the boot of Spirit’s Kim Chon Gyu to dangerously swirl into the crossbar from well outside the penalty area.

Buoyed by the original effort, only 3 minutes later Mark McAlpine mirrored his teammates strike into the crossbar to leave Bulli breathing a sigh of relief but well aware of the danger of the Spirit strikers from anywhere on the park.

In the 33rd minute frustrated with a lack of options and perhaps inspired by the opposition, Bulli’s Tobin Zoomers unleashed a venomous long range strike that stayed low, deflecting off the Spirit goalkeeper into the netting to net the home team a 1 nil lead.

Minutes later, Bulli took firm control of the fixture.

A corner into the centre of the penalty box drew Spirit F.C goalkeeper David Lowrey out of position and unable to clear the ball. Kenji Takahashi nearly headed it high into the goals, but it was defended away to sit up perfectly for Bulli forward Jared Fish to thunder the ball into the back of the net.

Bulli F.C carried the 2 - 0 lead into the halftime break.

Spirit F.C burst out of the sheds with a burst of energy, determined not to return to Sydney with nothing to show for their troubles.

In the 53rd minute, a gorgeous free kick by Louis Bozonie challenged Bulli goalkeeper Joao Oliveira to barely get a glove onto the ball but Spirit’s Mark McAlpine was the only one ready to swoop on the scraps and powered the ball into the netting to thrust Spirit back into the fixture.

Spirit F.C continued to press with an opportunity missed by striker Nathan Jagglemen who was unable to control an unmarked header metres from the goals, with the ball flying high above the crossbar in the 65th minute.

Bulli had a chance to lock up the game when the Spirit goalkeeper ran out of the box to head the ball away but only into the oncoming Bulli striker Lewis Clement, who was unable to win the footrace to clinch the match-winner.

The game fizzled out in the late stages with injuries to both teams and Spirit F.C giving away a number of frivolous fouls with their focus appearing to be off the ball, rather than on the game at hand.

It was a committed and pleasing victory for Bulli, with Coach Ben Smith not playing his first-string side.

“We got a competitive squad and all the players deserve a shot. It’s good that the guys that haven’t had a lot of game time, did really well,”Smith said.

“We are probably going to need these guys [through the season] considering the injuries we are racking up.”

Round 5 of the FFA Cup is on the 20th of April where Bulli F.C will have an away fixture against the winner of The Ponds FC and Inter Lions SC.

The wounded Bulli F.C play Wollongong Olympic away at 2:30pm this Saturday.

 

Bulli F.C - 2 (Zoomers 33’, Fish 38’)

 

Spirit F.C - 1 (McAlpine 53’)

 

Wednesday6 April 2016

Balls Paddock, Bulli

 

Referee: Bobby Mazevski

Assistant Referees: Nicholas Ryan & Michael Kusi-Appauh

 

Bulli F.C: Oliveira, Baker, Takahashi, Best, Knight, Kerr (Naylor 61’), Zoomers, Emerton, Fish (Davies 76’), McDonald (Lewis 61’), Clements [subs not used: Kuwata]

Spirit FC: Lowrey, Lovell, McLeod, George, Robertson, Chon Gyu (Reilly 79’), Cornwell, Bozonie (Doyle 61’), Wells, Jagglemen, McAlpine (Gibson 71’) [subs not used: Greenwood, Xenos]

 

Report by Daniel McGookin

Photo by Pedro Garcia