In a rip roaring Major Semi Final at Tarrawanna Oval yesterday, Albion Park White Eagles required extra time before overcoming Bulli in a five goal thriller to advance to a showdown with League Champions, Kemblawarra Fury next Sunday where a spot in the Grand Final is at stake.

 

From the opening whistle, the White Eagles took the game to Bulli and never gave their opponents time to settle as they forced numerous corners in a frenzied start to the game.

In what was a dominant first 30 minutes, Albion Park's Japanese trio consisting of Ricku Iwauchi, Shohei Okuno & Kotaro Higashi were virtually unplayable as there interplay smacked of telepathic motion as they created havoc in the Bulli defensive set up as the White Eagles took control early on.

They were well supported by Vaughan Patterson & Robert Delbanco in the mid field and with fullbacks Ryan Suttle and in particular Peter Prandalos bombing forward at every opportunity, Bulli were forced to work overtime defensively which required wide players, Dylan Lewis & Julian Minutillo to help out in this area. Lewis and Minutillo very rarely come back over the half way line such was the ferocity of White Eagles start to the game.

Despite their dominance, Albion Park failed to 'work' Bulli's keeper, Yuya Kuwata during this period although Okuno did hit the post on 15 minutes with a low drive from just inside the penalty area but it still came as a huge surprise to everyone in the ground when Bulli took the lead against the run of play in the 34th minute.
A long clearing kick upfield, had the Park's Mark Every chasing it down with Bulli's Ben McDonald in close pursuit. Every appeared to have the situation in control but a moment's hesitancy where he could have passed back to his Keeper, Bryce Daenell or out over the side-line, allowed McDonald to get his foot in and hook the ball goalwards from 22 metres on the angle and with Daenell off his line to lend a hand to Every, the ball found it's way into the unguarded net.

The goal seemed to unsettle the White Eagles which allowed Bulli to find their own rhythm in an effort to impose themselves on the game and has the half came towards a close they had the best chances to increase their lead.

Firstly, McDonald headed against the cross bar from a corner kick and in first half stoppage time, Bulli Full Back, Scott Best found himself in behind the Park defence and appeared to be well placed himself to test Daenell out but chose to cut the ball back towards McDonald which a defender was able to smother and clear the danger.

 

The second half was more a nip and tuck affair but the the Eagle's Asian contingent were still fairly prominent early on and their player & ball movement a sight to behold. It was no surprise when the White Eagles squared the ledger 11 minutes after the interval, with the three of them combining inside the danger zone with short passes ending with Higashi laying the ball off to Okuno who smashed the ball home from 14 metres.

 

This exciting game now became end to end with Albion Park almost taking the lead on 67 minutes when Iwauchi drew a good save from Kuwata on a tight angle but within the twinkling of an eye Bulli got their noses in front with their best move of the match.

McDonald who had his best all round game for Bulli for quite some time received the ball just inside the Albion Park half of the field with his back to the defence but was able to turn and knock a good pass into the path of wide player, Lewis, who set sail for the Park By-line whereupon he knocked a great square ball across the face of the Park goal which alluded the supporting Ryan Emerton and Daenell in goal and found Minutillo at the far post who found the back of the net from close range despite the close attention of Prandalos.

 

Ten minutes later Albion Park were back on level terms but were rather fortunate under the circumstances. A long ball had been knocked forward in the direction of McDonald in the middle of the field on the half way line. Has the tall striker rose to head the ball, Chris Nathaniel came in from behind and climbed all over McDonald with the ball dropping to the side.
It was a free-kick every day of the week but no whistle came even though the Match Official was in close proximity. Instead Every, spotted Okuno in space down the right and his pass hit the target releasing the talented goal scorer in on goal and has Kuwata advanced from goal to narrow the angle, Okuno delivered a delightful chip and despite defender Kenji Takahashi's best efforts, the ball found it's way into the back of the net for a 2-2 scoreline.

 

The frenzied attacking game continued and with six minutes left in normal time, Lewis was played through on the right and his pass found McDonald just on the edge of the penalty area but the leading goal scorer skewed his shot wide of the target.

Moments later down the other end, Okuno would have completed his hat-trick but for a smart intervention from Takahashi with the ball going out for a corner. From the ensuing set piece, Prandalos headed the ball over the bar from the edge of the six yard area.

 

With the last kick of regulation time, McDonald almost snatched victory for Bulli with a shot from 16 metres but he didn't quite get onto his effort which still required a smart save at full length from Daenell to keep his side in the game.

 

Extra time was now required to seperate the two teams in what had been an absorbing contest and chances continued to flow at both ends of the spectrum.

On 93 minutes, an inswinging corner from Emerton was cleared off the line from underneath his own cross bar by Patterson and then four minutes later a speculator from 20 metres by White Eagles substitute, Brian Montanari flew just wide of the post.
Shortly after,Bulli's Aaron Baker, forced a fingertip save over the bar from Daenell has Baker's long range free kick (cross come shot) almost deceived the custodian.

Not long after, the first extra period came to a close with Okuno once again not far away from claiming a hat-trick when his shot from 22 metres sizzled just over the cross bar.

 

Mid way through the second half of extra time the game's defining moment came. Albion Park had forced another couple of corners in quick succession, one of which resulted in Patterson heading over.

Shortly after, Prandalos made a terrific run down the left hand touchline and despite the attention of a couple of defenders was able to fire in a sublime cross which found 'super sub' Montanari lurking at the near post whereupon he rose high and despite Kuwata's best efforts to keep it out, the header had enough power on it for the winner. An excellent goal to win the game!

 

The Full Time whistle sounded to bring an end to what had been a very good spectacle between two fine sides. Overall, the result was probably the right one on the back of Albion Park's outstanding first 30 minutes play in which they didn't allow Bulli into the game.

The Japanese boys are a delight to watch and if they bring that sort of play to their next couple of games the White Eagles are going to very hard to keep out come Grand Final Day.

 

They provide the cutting edge that is required to win games at the business end of the season and they were the difference between the two sides today without a doubt.

 

After the game, Albion Park Coach Jeff Alport was obviously very happy with the end result and was over the moon with his team's performance. Alport reckons he has the best seat in the house watching the Japanese boys strut their stuff and they are the same at training.

The attacking policy worked a treat with the Asian contingent 'free to roam' which allows his full backs to get forward at every opportunity.

Alport gave credit to Bulli who stuck to their guns and never gave up.

Bulli Coach Ben Smith acknowleged that his side couldn't get a foot in early on but the first goal changed all that and he felt his side created more goal scoring opportunities than the opposition over the course of the game. At half time, Smith asked his players to keep the ball better when in possession in the second half to weather the storm.

 

Match Stats

 

Albion Park White Eagles 3 (Shohei Okuno 56' 78', Brian Montanari 111')

Bulli 2 ( Ben McDonald 34', Julian Minutillo 68')

 

Tarrawanna Oval, Tarrawanna

 

Referee: Tony Bosevski

Assistant Referees: Ryan O'Sullivan, Nathan Wotton & Andrew Naylor (4th Official)

 

Albion Park White Eagles: Bruce Daenell, Ryan Suttle (Djordje Uzelac 102'), Mark Every, Christopher Nathaniel, Peter Prandalos, Vaughan Patterson, Riku, Iwauchi, Robert Del Banco, Mitchell Del Turco (Brian Montanari 66'), Shohei Okuno, Kotaro Higashi (Dejan Djukic 90')

Subs not Used: Dylan Wray, Lachlan Ahling.

Yellow Cards: Riku Iwauchi 54', Mark Every 60'

 

Bulli: Yuya Kuwata, Kenji Takahashi, Corey Horner, Scott Best, Aaron Baker, Guy Knight, James Kerr, (Ryan Emerton 30'), Sam Davies, Ben McDonald, Dylan Lewis (Jared Fish 105'), Julian Minutillo (Matthew Naylor 90+2').

Subs not Used: Lewis Clements, Joao Oliveira

Yellow Card: Aaron Baker 57'.

 

Report by David Naylor

Photo courtesy of Kiah Hufton