It is as you were in the Illawarra Premier League title race as Bulli and Wollongong Olympic played out a scoreless draw in front of a healthy crowd at Balls Paddock. The visitors controlled the territorial battle, however, Bulli had the best of the chances with goalkeeper Hayden Durose needing to pull off a top-class save late on to keep Olympic from going five points off the leaders.

Olympic controlled the match for a majority of the opening half but they were unable to carve out many clear-cut chances. Kojiro Hori had their first attempt after five minutes but his shot from just outside the area was scuffed to the left. 

The next Olympic chance came in the 15th minute and it was perhaps their best of the match. A corner was blasted low to the near post with Haydyn Lloyd bundling an effort on goal but Yuya Kuwata managed to unconvincingly block the ball out for another corner. 

Golden Boot leader Yusuke Ueda nearly sniffed out a goal on the back of a defensive mix up between Kuwata and David Abel in the 25th minute. The Bulli players got in each other’s way but Ueda weak attempt was intercepted before being cleared. Seven minutes later, Lloyd had another attempt when when he lashed at the ball from the edge of the box but it just trailed over the top left corner. 

The home side’s only half decent chance of the opening period came in the 35th minute when Ben McDonald latched on to a long ball in the right of the area but his strike under pressure soared well over the bar. Olympic had another couple of speculative attempts from distance but nothing to trouble Kuwata and the teams went into the break locked at 0-0. 

Hori - as he did in the first - had the first shot of the second half with a bicycle kick off a David Hartas cross. Despite being an acrobatic effort, it was a simple save for Kuwata as it lollied into his arms. Two minutes later Bulli had a chance through Dylan Lewis in the right of the box but his low drive was gobbled up by Durose.

In the 59th minute, Ueda had only his second shot of the match when he controlled a cross from left before turning and shooting for the bottom right corner but his fellow countryman Kuwata made a regulation save.

Bulli squandered two glorious chances to pinch the lead in the space of two minutes. In the 70th, Lewis cut the ball across the box from the right for McDonald but the striker skied his shot over the bar from just over six-yards out. A minute later, substitute Harry Callahan played through McDonald down the left channel, he turned inside before playing the ball across for Lewis who took a touch before he also scooped the ball into the terraces from close range. 

The League leaders were finishing the match as the stronger of the two sides and they would have two more chances in the final 10 minutes. In the 81st minute, Callahan cut infield before teeing up Sam Davies to hit from 18-yards out but the attempt faded to the left. With four minutes remaining, Lewis had another gilt-edged opportunity when he was one on one with Durose, he looked to guide the ball across the goalkeeper but the Olympic number 1 pulled off a stunning save to tip the ball out for a corner. 

In the dying stages of the match Olympic’s Shun Tokuno had a free kick a metre in from the Bulli byline - he played it across the six-yard box but no one could tuck it home and the match finished level. 

The result means Bulli maintain their two-point lead at the top of the table. Coach Matt Bailey was content with the result and the performance, admitting his side set up in an effort to win the match in the second half. He also commented on the cameo of Callahan who added a spark to his side’s attack. 

“We kept really sound defensively which was the most important thing today. We never looked like conceding and we created those opportunities in the second half which was good,” Bailey said.

“He [Callahan] was unlucky to miss out [on starting]. He’s a fantastic player… Credit to him, he came on and effectively changed the game. His ability to run with the ball caused all sorts of problems for Olympic and he was probably the catalyst for the two chances we had.”

As for Olympic, coach George Antoniou was frustrated not to come away with more given his side’s territorial superiority but he acknowledges his side didn’t do enough to find the back of the net. 

“At the end of the day you take a draw but it’s a bit disappointing because we probably had the better of the game. Bulli to their credit defend very very well and we just couldn’t break them down in the end,” Antoniou said.

Next up for Bulli is a trip to Ray Robinson Field to take on Fernhill who they thumped 8-0 in the reverse fixture while Olympic host Wollongong United who they beat 4-0.

 

Click here to listen to the post match interviews with the two coaches.

 

Saturday 30 June 2018 @ Balls Paddock

 

Bulli - 0

 

Wollongong Olympic - 0

 

Bulli - Yuya KUWATA, Guy KNIGHT, David ABEL, Ben MCDONALD, Sam DAVIES, Scott BEST, Dylan LEWIS, Mitchell DEL TURCO, Marcus BEATTIE, Kyle JACKSON, Tobin ZOOMERS

 

Subs - Harry CALLAHAN (on for DEL TURCO), Nikolas Miceski, Blake HEWSON, Aiden BRESLIN, Jayden LEWIS

 

Coach - Matt BAILEY

 

Wollongong Olympic - Hayden DUROSE, Haydyn LLOYD, Jack KEATING,  Jake DUCZYNSKI, Shun TOKUNO, David HARTAS, Vaughan PATTERSON, Brendan FORDHAM, Kojiro HORI, Yusuke UEDA, John MARTINOSKI

 

Subs - Lukas STERGIOU, Jack BALMFORTH (on for HORI), Luke FOSTER (on for HARTAS), Christian CABO, Christian PRETTO

 

Coach - George ANTONIOU

 

Referee - Andrew NAYLOR

 

Assistant Referees - Reagan STRONG, Jarred MCDEAN

 

Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

 

Photo courtesy of Dana Guthrie