By Steven Chang (@Gixibyte)

FC Bulleen Lions edged out St Albans Saints 2-1 at Churchill Reserve on Sunday to build on its excellent start to the season.

The visitors began brightly, pushing forward in numbers and piling into the St Albans penalty area.

Bulleen’s attacking enterprise paid dividends almost immediately. Japanese midfielder Takanori Nishimoto pounced on a loose ball and blasted it home, granting the visitors a 1-0 lead after just four minutes.

The home side soon regrouped and fought back, undeterred by the visitors’ attacking brand of football.

A counter attack by St Albans saw Sean McIlroy slide the ball through to Juso Julardzija, but the opportunity was squandered when his tame shot was collected by Bulleen goalkeeper Fraser MacLaren.

St Albans resumed its assault, and Adam Nakic tried his luck with an audacious lob from the halfway line, which agonisingly fell just over the crossbar.

Nishimoto continued to threaten down the right flank, but it was a wickedly curving free kick from Davide Cardamone that came closest for Bulleen before the break.

St Albans opened the second stanza with neat interplay between Ryan McGuffie and Sean McIlroy, but MacLaren safely held onto a weak strike.

The home side continued its valiant challenge for an equaliser. McIlroy was involved again but was wasteful after being played through by a splendid Julardzija pass, attempting to square it off to Christopher Ross instead of backing himself to stroke the ball into the net.

With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Bulleen struck a killer blow when Matt Dimech let fly with a sizzling half-volley from 25 yards out to put the visitors 2-0 up in emphatic style.

Feeding on the boost of confidence garnered by its two-goal cushion, Bulleen seized the momentum, and Joseph Katebian ghosted past two defenders at pace to strike a booming shot just over the crossbar.

Desperately seeking to pull one back, St Albans unleashed a late wave of attacks to keep its hopes of a result alive. Consequently, Barry Devlin side-footed a corner home to claw back a consolation goal for the home side.

Ultimately, Bulleen’s young side deservedly walked away with all three points on a scrappy pitch, showing a level of grit which impressed head coach Fabrizio Soncin.

“I’m happy because I said we wanted to be adaptable, and we have been. I’ve never been unhappy with a win,” Soncin said.

“It was a real battle today. It’s difficult on bumpy, grassy surfaces. It’s not the way we want to play our football, but under the circumstances we have to win any way we can.”

The former Melbourne Victory W-League coach was glowing with praise for the role his youthful squad could play in the new NPL.

“[The NPL] is a fantastic idea, as long as everyone respects the vision of it,” he said.

“Our club policy is focused on developing players and playing in line with the philosophy of the club. If we can do both, fantastic.”

St Albans coach Toby Paterson was disconsolate and expressed dissatisfaction with his players’ efforts.

“I’m naturally disappointed. Didn’t get enough players actually playing today. We’ve got to put our heads up and regroup,” Paterson said.

Paterson echoed his opposite number’s thoughts on the impact of the poor state of the pitch.

“The pitch absolutely played a part. We knew the pitch was shocking, but it’s the same for both teams,” he said.

Paterson also agreed with Soncin’s long-term perspective on the NPL’s influence for Victorian football.

“I’m all for [the NPL]. I see what the Federation are trying to do. Getting the youth players through. It’s going to take us two or three years before we see the fruits of it. But I’m 100 per cent behind it,” he said.

MATCH DETAILS

FT: ST ALBANS SAINTS 1 (86’ Devlin) defeated by FC BULLEEN LIONS (4’ Nishimoto, 82’ Matt Dimech) at Churchill Reserve

ST ALBANS SAINTS: 1. Stjepan GAL (GK), 2. Ryan MCGUFFIE, 4. Barry DEVLIN, 5. Felix ROSMAN, 6. Martin MASON, 7. Juso JULARDZIJA, 8. Craig SWEENEY, 9. Sean MCILROY, 11. Ryan BALDACCHINO (13. Nicholas CULLEN 67’), 15. Konrad DOBRASZKIEWICZ (14. Christopher ROSS, 52’), 17. Adam NAKIC (10. Brodie PATERSON 73’)

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: 21. Tonio BARESIC-NIKIC, 12. Liam FRANCIS.

YELLOW CARDS: Craig SWEENEY (44’), Juso Julardzia (76’), Brodie Paterson (93’).

RED CARDS: None.

FC BULLEEN LIONS: 43. Fraser MACLAREN (GK), 2. Dean ROMAS, 4. Samual BORGHESI, 5. Lewis WADDELL, 8. Matteo BALLAN, 9. Bardhi HYSOLI, 10. Takanori NISHIMOTO, 19. Joshua SABIDOSSI (33. Joseph KATEBIAN 52’), 21. Paul HARVEY (13. Dean LORENZI 68’), 12. Matthew DIMECH, 20. Davide CARDAMONE (14. Edison DONARI 86’)

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: 44. Gian TAPIA.

YELLOW CARDS: None.

RED CARDS: None.