Ben McDonald blasted Bulli into the 2017 Illawarra Mercury Premier League Grand Final, with his eighteenth goal of the season being enough to see off a determined Kemblawarra Fury side. The Fury were denied by the woodwork, some fine saves from gloveman Yuya Kuwata and a couple of clearances off the line, but the biggest blow to Luke Maguire’s side came only twenty minutes into this tie when captain Alvin Ceccoli tore his achilles tendon and will miss the rest of the season.

The Fury now have to face off against in-form Port Kembla next weekend after the Zebras beat Wollongong Olympic in the other semi-final.

The Fury shot out of the blocks at Tarrawanna Oval, looking to pick up where they left off in last week’s 6-1 drubbing of Olympic. Midfielder Shane Murray’s influence was key in the opening exchanges.

First he forced Kyle Jackson into a hasty goalmouth clearance, then he brought out a fingertip save from Kuwata, and in only the eighth minute he curled a dipping free kick from twenty yards out towards the top corner, forcing more acrobatics out of the Bulli keeper.

In the seventeenth minute, Murray again had two thunderous shots blocked. Kuwata parried one, but Murray unleashed an even fiercer strike from the rebound, only for Kenji Takahashi to get a vital foot to the ball to clear off the line.

It was all the Fury for the opening twenty minutes, but the one-way traffic was brought to a sudden halt by two incidents, which arguably changed the game.

First came the injury to Ceccoli, which halted play for a few minutes, and forced an early change by Fury coach Luke Maguire, who brought on David Hartas to replace his injured captain. But then Murray went in too hard for a challenge, earning him a yellow card with well over an hour still to play.

Murray set up the Fury’s next chance – a header from Sam Matthews which flew just over the bar – but his dominance in the centre of the park ended with the yellow card, and with it the Fury’s one-way traffic towards the Bulli end.

Slowly Bulli began to assert themselves, Marcus Beattie looking as lively as ever down the left, his pace earning Hartas a yellow as the Fury substitute desperately tried to keep up.

With five minutes to go to half time, it was the turn of Daniel Arcaba in the Fury goal to catch the eye, as he launched himself to the right to keep out a superb strike from McDonald.

So the sides went into the sheds for the break goalless, but with the momentum shifting to the boys in blue.

The Fury survived the opening onslaught of the second stanza, with some tight defending and some scuffed shots from both Beattie and Dylan Lewis. It was backs to the wall, though, for a Fury side which left midfielder Matthews as the lone striker while the Bulli storm raged.

When Lewis sent the ball agonisingly close to the far post just before the hour mark, a goal seemed to be only a matter of time. And it came from a piece of individual brilliance just moments later.

McDonald picked the ball up on the edge of the area and for once was given just a bit too much time and space. His first touch was spot on, making room for his trusty right foot to blast the ball into the top of the net and break the deadlock.

The Fury immediately upped their own game in response.

Matthew McNab fired a bullet against the crossbar before Jordan Nikolovski forced yet another fine save from Kuwata. Then it was Lachlan O’Connor probing forward at the far post, who drilled the ball in from a tight angle, bringing out another off-the-line clearance, this time from Scott Best.

But Bulli also had chances to finish the game off. Arcaba denied Lewis and then pulled off the save of the match, flying across his goal to keep out a classic Tobin Zoomers rocket.

With five minutes to go, Maguire brought on Robbie Shields, who showed no sign of recent injury as he made an immediate impact. Matthews’ left foot shot from just inside the area might have been a candidate for goal of the season if it hadn’t been for Kuwata’s reflex save onto the bar. Then Shields set up Nikolovski whose shot was blocked again by Best. The Fury pressed into the dying moments of the match, but could not find a way through the resolute Bulli backline.

The win sends Bulli to the Grand Final for the first time since 2014, and caps off a marvellous opening season in charge for new coach Matt Bailey. Speaking after the game, he praised the work ethic of his team against ‘a quality side’. “It’s always good to make a Grand Final,” he said, “but it all comes off the back of what we’ve achieved at the club so far this season.”

For Maguire, “Bulli took their chance and they deserve to be in the Final.” His main concern now is to find a fully fit starting line-up, with Ceccoli added to the side’s injury list. But he looked forward to what should be an entertaining game against Port Kembla, who stand at one win apiece with the Fury from fixtures through the regular season.

Bulli FC – 1 (McDonald 60’)

Kemblawarra Fury – 0

Macedonia Park, Sunday 10 September 2017

Referee: Bobby Mazevski
Assistant referees: Nathan Wotton, Jarrod Thompson

Fourth Official: Ryan O’Sullivan

Bulli FC: Yuya Kuwata, Scott Best, Kyle Jackson, Kenji Takahashi, Ryan Emerton (Corey Horner 80’), Sam Davies, Guy Knight, Tobin Zoomers, Ben McDonald (Harry Callahan 84’), Dylan Lewis, Marcus Beattie (subs not used: Jayden Lewis, Nik Miceski, Andrew Gamble)

Kemblawarra Fury: Daniel Arcaba, Steven Wright (Robbie Shields 84’), Brenton Rhodes, Lachlan O’Connor, Alvin Ceccoli (David Hartas 20’), Shane Murray, Sam Matthews, Kazuto Kushida, Sam Munro, Jordan Nikolovski, Matthew McNab (Fabian Iacovelli 77’) (subs not used: David Zufic, Dean Pender)

Report by Simon Duffin

File Photo: Pedro Garcia