Bulli FC vs Albion Park White Eagles

Balls Paddock

Kick-off: Saturday, 2:30pm.

Referee: Andrew Naylor

Bulli will be in a position to wrap up the 2014 Illawarra Premier League Championship this weekend when they host Albion Park White Eagles on Saturday.

With one game remaining the Northern Suburbs club hold a three point advantage over Dapto Dandaloo and a vastly superior goal difference.

The League Championship has been Bulli’s goal all season after finishing runners up in the previous two seasons but boss Ben Smith knows there is still a job to be done.

“It’s business as usual for us,” said Smith.

“Hopefully after the game there’s a big celebration but we have to get the job done on the pitch first.

“We want a good performance and a good result heading into the finals but we also want to put an exclamation mark on the season.

“Albion Park definitely won’t be a push over, they’re a proud club with a lot of good players so it will be a tough game.”

Entry to Balls Paddock will be free this week and with a good crowd expected there could well be plenty to celebrate come the end of the game.

Albion Park have a chance to bring their season to a close on a positive note after they just missed out on a finals berth this season.

The White Eagles were inside the top five back in July but lost some key players and have struggled in recent weeks.

A silver lining to the saga was seeing some youngsters take their opportunity in first grade with 16-year-old Jacob Martin impressing in his first season.

Despite a tall task awaiting in the final game, Albion Park boss Steve Micevski is confident of taking the game to Bulli.

“We’re not going to go out there and try to make the numbers up we’re going to try to win the game,” said Micevski.

“They’ve been the most consistent side over the course of the season and they deserve to win the title, but we want to sign off with a good performance and to show that we should’ve been there this season.

“Hopefully it’s an entertaining game and we’re going to go for the win and end our season on a high.

Bulli will need just a point to make it mathematically impossible for Dapto Dandaloo to overtake them but, barring some sort of catastrophe, their 14 goal buffer will be more than enough to see them home, should they lose.

With the finals on the horizon, the Northern Suburbs club will be looking to make it through the game without any serious injuries.

Around the League

Elsewhere on Saturday, Bellambi travel to Woonona with the sole objective of picking up at least one point to stave off the prospect of relegation which would guarantee them another season in the top flight.  Tarrawanna host Cringila whilst Wollongong United travel to Wetherall Park to take on Port Kembla in a potential finals preview.

Unfortunately, as a result of the ‘Big Wet’, two games have had to be transferred to Sunday to give the grounds an extra day to dry out.

Dapto Dandaloo will host a strong-finishing Wollongong Olympic side whilst Fernhill will need to overcome finals bound South Coast United if they are to avoid relegation, provided the Rosellas fail to pick up the required point 24 hrs earlier.

Julian Keith 

FSC Reporter