Bulli came from behind to beat Port Kembla 3-1 at Balls Paddock. Bulli went into the game having not conceded in their last five games and were looking to get their 16th victory of the year. Port Kembla had just lost their four-game winning streak the previous week in a 4-1 defeat to 2nd placed Wollongong Olympic. They would need to put in a special performance to stop a seemingly unstoppable Bulli side.

The first real chance of the game came in the eighth minute when Dylan Lewis’ deflected cross resulted in a corner. From the corner, Lewis played a one-two with Guy Knight. Knight powered a shot towards the near post but the shot was blocked.

In the 14th minute, Sandy Lowcock cut inside onto his right foot and fired a shot wide of Yuya Kuwata’s goal. Just a minute later, Bulli had a chance of their own as Harry Callahan hit a shot from outside the box which sailed well over the bar. In the 21st minute, a ball came out to Nobuaki Mochizuki for Port Kembla on the edge of the box who attempted to volley goalwards but miss-hit it and the ball fizzed away from any danger.

At the half-hour mark, Bulli had one of the opportunities of the half when a corner from the left-hand-side came all the way to the back post where Kyle Jackson headed over the bar from inside the six-yard box.

At halftime, there was a lack of goalmouth action with both sides still feeling their way into the game.

The second half started with Port Kembla being awarded a penalty. Cameron Morgan stepped up and smashed the ball into the roof of the net. In the 55th minute, Bulli couldn’t believe they were on level terms when a corner from the right-hand-side found Ben McDonald who rose highest in the crowd and headed his effort only for it to cannon off the crossbar. Three minutes later, Bulli were back on level terms. Mitchell Del Turco taking advantage of a miss-communication at the back chipping the ball over Brad Jardine.

With Bulli pushing for a winner, gaps were left in behind for Port Kembla to exploit. This eventuated in the 62nd minute when Sandy Lowcock found Fabian Iacovelli on the left-hand-side who was able to run towards goal but a heroic block from Scott Best prevented him from retaking the lead for Port Kembla.

In the 60th minute, Dylan Lewis hit a shot wide from inside the box. Two minutes later, Bulli took the lead when Mitchell Del Turco grabbed his second after Guy Knight’s shot from just inside the box could only be parried by Brad Jardine into the path of Del Turco who tapped into the vacant net. In the 75th minute, Del Turco secured his hattrick from the penalty spot, sending Jardine the wrong way firing to the keeper’s left.

With three minutes of the game to play, Bulli had one final chance as Marcus Beattie’s shot deflected wide of the goal. The game finished with Bulli running out 3-1 winners against Port Kembla.

Bulli conceded for the first time in 450 minutes of game time but showed great character to come back and record their 16th win of the season. Mitchell Del Turco was instrumental in the victory scoring all three of Bulli’s goals taking his tally to 11 for the season. Bulli faceup to Cringila next time around who have only won two of the last five but coach Matt Bailey won’t be taking this game lightly saying ‘we know Criny (Cringila) are going to be a tough game’.

Port Kembla slumped to their second loss in as many games considering last weeks defeated to Wollongong Olympic. This continues a concerning trend for Port Kembla who have failed to beat a side above them in the league this season. They will play Fernhill next week, last time around Port Kembla walked away with all three points with a 2-0 win at Ray Robinsons Field.

 

Saturday 4^th August at Balls Paddock

Bulli – 3 (Del Turco 57’, 65’ ,75^’)

Port Kembla – 1 (Morgan 47’)

 

Bulli: Yuya KUWATA, David ABEL, Scott BEST, Guy KNIGHT, Tobin ZOOMERS, Kyle JACKSON, Sam DAVIES, Harry CALLAHAN, Mitchell DEL TURCO, Dylan LEWIS, Ben MCDONALD

Substitutes: Marcus BEATTIE (ZOOMERS), Kenji TAKAHASHI (ABEL), Ryan EMERTON, Nikolas MICESKI (MCDONALD), Braeden KLUDASS

 

Port Kembla: Bradley JARDINE, Brooklan FRKOVIC, William MOBBS, Kyle SENIOR, Nobuaki MOCHIZUKI, Jason PEREZ, Fabian IACOVELLI, Antonio MUSUMECI, Makoto ISHIHARA, Cameron MORGAN, Sandy LOWCOCK

Substitutes: Bailey FLEMING (PEREZ), Nathan BELSITO (SENIOR), Naruyuki KATO (MORGAN), Joseph LAVALLE, Daniel FARINA

 

 

Referee: Bobby MAZEVSKI

Assistant Referees: Bryce DREGHORN and Brodie MERCHANT

 

Report by: Timothy Gibson on Twitter, @Timg123_

Photo courtesy of Port Kembla FC