Bulli will join Wollongong Olympic in the 2019 Fraternity Club Bert Bampton Cup Final after beating Port Kembla 4-0 at Wetherall Park on Wednesday evening. Neither side was able to control the match in the opening half, but a strong second half by Bulli saw the side secure the result – with goals from Sam Davies, Kyle Jackson, Sam Miranda and Kye Foster helping the visitors to a healthy win.

Despite both sides struggling to find consistent form in the league, both teams came into the fixture hoping to return to the Bert Bampton Cup Final after some time out – with Bulli missing the 2018 final after their 2017 success and Port Kembla last making the decider back in 2014 – and Port Kembla started the brighter of the two sides, coming close to taking an early lead in the 5^th minute after a quick break down the right flank from Kenta Hara allowed the hosts to have an early attacking chance.

Hara was able to swing the ball towards the near post, finding a waiting Sandy Lowcock but the Port Kembla forward was unable to fire the hosts into the lead – powering his shot over the crossbar.

The hosts had another solid chance to pull ahead in the 21^st minute after a long ball from Nathan Belsito in the Port Kembla backline found Brad Acev deep in Bulli territory, but while Acev was able to quickly get control of the ball with a nice turn, his attempt at goal left much to be desired, with his effort sailing well wide of the Bulli goal.

However, Port Kembla’s early strength came under challenge four minutes later after the match came to a temporary halt thanks to the Wetherall Park lights going dark at one end of the pitch. The short pause in play allowed the visitors to regroup and once the match got back underway, Bulli began to restrict Port Kembla’s attacking opportunities.

Despite an increased focus from Bulli, Port Kembla again came close to nabbing the lead in the 34^th minute after a mis-hit shot from Aden Wade made its way to Sandy Lowcock in the Bulli box, but Lowcock was unable to knock the ball past Bulli gloveman Yuya Kuwada, instead pushing the ball out past the upright.

With neither side able to grab the lead in the opening half, both teams came out for the second period of play searching for a crucial deadlock breaker and this search only took three minutes, with Bulli grabbing the lead shortly after the second half kickoff. The visitors were able to nab the lead after a deep ball into the box from the left hand side managed to beat Port Kembla keeper Chris Fuentes, with Sam Davies getting a light touch to the ball and ensuring the ball reached its destination of the back of the net.

The visitors doubled their advantage five minutes later after a Trent Sierra corner found Kyle Jackson in the box, with Jackson making the most of the scramble in the box and knocking the ball through the legs of a diving Fuentes and into the goal – handing Bulli a handy two goal lead.

With the side now desperate to pull back into the match, Port Kembla began to play more aggressively in order to find a potential goal but Bulli continued to shut down the hosts’ attacking options – limiting them to mainly shots from range.

Bulli came close to adding a third goal in the 74^th minute after a quick through ball found substitute Sam Miranda past the Port Kembla backline. Miranda was able to beat a rushing Chris Fuentes but was unable to find the back of the net, with his chipped effort just skimming wide of the right-hand post.

However, Miranda did not have to wait much longer before he picked up a goal, with Bulli netting their third goal of the evening sixty seconds later after a free-kick into the box found Luke Foster near the left-hand post. Foster was able to get control of the ball while under pressure from the Port Kembla defence and opted to lay the ball off to an unmarked Miranda, who made no mistake of the chance and blasted the ball into the back of the net.

Bulli completed their victory in the 80^th minute with a goal from substitute Kye Foster, who was able to produce a fantastic curling shot from the edge of the box with his very first possession – having come onto the field only seconds earlier. Port Kembla custodian Chris Fuentes was unable to meet Foster’s effort, with the ball sneaking past him at the left-hand post and handing Bulli a fantastic 4-0 victory.

The win means Bulli progresses to the 2019 Bert Bampton Cup Final, where they will take on the league-leading Wollongong Olympic as they try to claim their second Bert Bampton Cup title in three years. However, Port Kembla will have an early chance to avenge their loss to Bulli when they face each other on Saturday in an Illawarra Mercury Premier League Round 18 clash at Balls Paddock – with both sides attempting to push into the top five as we reach the final stretch of the 2019 campaign.

Wednesday 18 July 2019 at Wetherall Park, Primbee

Port Kembla FC – 0

Bulli FC – 4 (Davies 48’, Jackson 53’, Miranda 75’, K. Foster 80’)

Port Kembla FC: Chris FUENTES RAMIREZ, William MOBBS, Karouna MICHEAL, Nathan BELSITO, Toni MUSUMICCI, Luke BOERSMA, Bradley ACEV, Kenta HARA, Danijel DJUKIC, Sandy LOWCOCK, Aden WADE

Subs: Dylan NIKOLOVSKI, Addison GILLESPIE (MUSUMICCI 78’), Jacob CORDINA (BOERSMA 45’), Lucas KING (MOBBS 71’), Daniel FARINA

Bulli FC: Yuya KUWADA, Rui KAMADA, Kenji TAKAHASHI, Kyle JACKSON, Trent SIERRA, Ryan EMERTON, Sam DAVIES, Mitchell DEL TURCO, Luke FOSTER, Blake HEWSON, Brendan PATTMAN

Subs: Aaron BAKER (EMERTON 60’), Sam MIRANDA (HEWSON 68’), Kye FOSTER (PATTMAN 80’), Ben MCGINNES

Referee – Bobby MAZEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Patrick HUTTON and Brodie MERCHANT

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

File Photo: JC Sports Photography