Bulli and Woonona met in a local derby on Sunday to finish off the Regular Season under beautiful sunny conditions at Ocean Park.
After a scoreless opening 45 minutes the disparity between the two sides on the points table became evident in the second stanza as Bulli ran away with the points in an emphatic four goals to one victory.

Woonona began the brighter of the two sides as they almost scored in the first five minutes as two efforts on goal were blocked with scrambling defence in a 'pin ball' episode inside the Bulli penalty area.

Shortly, afterwards the Sharkies, Brendan Pattman picked up the ball just inside the Bulli half and with quick feet skipped past both Corey Horner and Scott Best in a short space and set sail towards the Bulli goal. With no other defender attempting to close him down, Pattman unleashed a terrific drive from 25 metres and only a great save from the Bulli keeper, Yuya Kuwata, prevented the ball from finding the back of the net.

After a bit of a shaky start, the away side started to find their feet and settle into their possession based game in an efoort to find the opening goal. On 17 minutes,  Dylan Lewis picked up the ball inside his own half and after running for about twenty metres, the tall striker, unleashed a superb 30 metre crossfield pass which fell nicely into the path of leading scorer Ben McDonald who had a clear run to goal. Unfortunately, when defensive pressure was applied, McDonald was unable to muster a decent effort on target and the danger was cleared all too easily.

With the visitors starting to assert their authority, raids on the Woonona goal started to become more frequent whilst the Sharkies attacking movements were more sporadic as they tried to catch Bulli on the break with a more direct approach.

The best chances in the rest of the half did fall to Bulli, with Julian Minutillo heading just wide at the near post from a Guy Knight corner on 24 minutes and in a five minute period just before the break, Knight, playing in mid-field today, blazed over the bar from distance whilst Minutillo skewed his final shot wide of the mark after a neat build up involving Sam Davies, McDonald and then Minutillo with the effort on goal.

Goal-less at the break but it didn't remain that way for long as Bulli coach, Ben Smith 'tweaked' with his line up at the interval which paid immediate dividends.

In the first attack of the half, Bulli forced a corner at the northern end of the ground. With the ball swung in by Knight, the ball fell to Scott Best who was able to fire home through a sea of bodies from 14 metres.

Three minutes later, Woonona were almost back on level terms, as the Sharkies stalwart, Cameron Banks got the better of Kenji Takahashi in a one on one situation on the Bulli by-line but Bank's cross into the visitors six yard box was scrambled clear and the danger averted.

That blemish by Takahashi was a collector's item as the defender has been a rock at the back for Bulli all season and has been their standout player by a long shot.

That was as good as it got for the home side for a long period in the second half as Bulli began to turn the screws as they looked dangerous every time they pushed forward.

The second goal came on the hour mark, as McDonald found space on the right and as he moved into the Sharkies penalty area he squared the ball across to the on-rushing Minutillo and his low drive from just inside the penalty area found it's way into the bottom corner of the net.

On 75 minutes, Bulli added a third after another neat build up. James Kerr, back in the side after suspension, unleashed a powerful volley from the edge of the Woonona penalty area which the Sharkies keeper, Bradley Jardine could only parry with a full length diving save resulting in the ball falling invitingly to McDonald who was able to pick up the crumbs and tap the ball home into the unguarded net.

The screws were being turned now and four minutes later the score blew out further with the goal of the match. Knight picked up the ball in centrefield 30 metres from goal and after running a few steps, he unleashed a peach of a strike which flew into the top corner giving Jardine no chance.

Woonona did score a consolation goal late on to make the score a little more respectable but there was an element of luck about it. Caleb Russell gained possession of the ball some 30 metres from the Bulli goal and travelled a little further with it. On reaching the edge of the penalty area he tried his luck on goal with the ball striking one of his team-mates, a short distance away in the backside. With the Bulli defence, including the keeper wrongfooted, the deflection of the ball fell invitingly back into the path of Russell who was able to slot home into the empty net from 12yds.

Given Woonona's recent form under the guidance of 'new' Coach Rob Bemi, the Sharkies would be disappointed to finish the season on this note but content in the fact that they retained their spot in the Premier League for Season 2017.

From Bulli's point of view, they will see this campiagn as a missed opportunity to win another Premier League Title. After being in pole position for much of the season, dropped points to South Coast Utd, Port Kembla and Cringila Lions late on lead to a summation of 'the one that got away'.

They do have the Final Series to look forward to and could this be the Year that Bulli is able to shed the 'Bridesmaid's' tag when it comes to playing in Grand Finals - time will tell

 

Match Stats

Woonona 1 (Caleb Russell 86')

Bulli 4 (Scott Best 46', Julian Minutillo 60', Ben McDonald 75', Guy Knight 79')

 

Ocean Park, Woonona

Referee: Blake Herbert

Assistant Referees: Ryan O'Sullivan & Max Vercoe

 

Woonona: Bradley Jardine, Joshua Hatton, Cameron Besgrove, Lachlan Fetterplace, Christopher Gibson, Scott Curran(Valentin Merxhushi 64'), Trent Worthington, Hayden Nicol, Cameron Banks (Ben Ellul 86'), Caleb Russell, Brendan Pattman (Joel Beattie 79').

Subs not Used: Aiden Breslin, Kyle Booth.

Yellow Cards: Nil

 

Bulli: Yuya Kuwata, Kenji Takahashi, Corey Horner, Scott Best, Aaron Baker, Guy Knight, James Kerr, (Lewis Clements 79'), Sam Davies (Matthew Naylor 45'), Ben McDonald, Dylan Lewis (Ryan Emerton 45'), Julian Minutillo.

Subs not Used: Joao Oliveira

Yellow Card: Nil.

 

Report by David Naylor

Photo courtesy of Pedro Garcia (libary image)