Round 7 of the IPL brought unbeaten league leaders Bulli to Macedonia Park to face a Wollongong United side looking to string consecutive wins together for the first time this season. An early defensive slip-up from the visitors gifted United midfielder Kazuto Kushida a free run at goal; Yuya Kuwata could only get hands to it, but the slender early lead would hold until full time, United grinding out a 1-0 victory.

Inside the first five minutes, United nearly had the opener, Matthew McNab's corner seeing Ben Brooks force a fingertip save from Kuwata to tip his header over the bar; an ominous warning of the onslaught that was to come for the next 40 minutes.

On 19 minutes, Kushida dispossessed Ryan Emerton in midfield, with a clear path to goal. His shot went through the gloves of Kuwata, bouncing in to open the scoring as Bulli shot themselves in the foot.

McNab was proving difficult for Bulli to handle down the left wing, often able to reach the by-line and get a good ball in; on 22 minutes almost picking out the unmarked far-post run of Sam Munro.

The entire first half was in favour of the hosts Wollongong United, with Bulli struggling to put forward a meaningful counter-attack. Their single chance was an in-swinging Mitch Del Turco corner which needed tipping over the bar from United gloveman Sam Nastic.

United were well in the ascendancy though; Nathan Elasi dipping a thunderous half volley just over the bar, Munro having a shot at open goal desperately blocked by Scott Best, and Kuwata forced to punch clear Mark Every's open header from a late corner.

The first half finished with Kuwata again scrambling, this time a clever Jake Leighton run through midfield and lobbed pass to Elasi saw a looping header just barely go over the crossbar.

The second period almost began as the first did, with Kuwata scuffing a clearance and Daisuke Yuzawa receiving the ball with an open goal at his mercy, however he took too much time on the ball and allowed Kyle Jackson enough time to recover and effect a last-second sliding tackle to snuff out the shot.

Around the hour mark, Bulli had still yet to breach the United backline, let alone test Nastic, and the introduction of Marcus Beattie and Tobin Zoomers almost had an immediate impact. A neat one-two down the left wing between the substitutes played Beattie in on goal, Nastic forced to advance and smother the shot, bravely diving in to claim.

A minute later and David Abel found Dylan Lewis at the near post, his first time shot at the bottom corner drawing a fine save down low from Nastic. Again, Bulli were pushing forward with urgency as the clock began to work against them, Beattie's far-post cross inches out of reach of unmarked Sam Davies .

Beattie was proving the biggest threat for United, but time and again, the covering from Every with commanding tackles was shutting down most chances before they arose. United were fading late-on after a huge first-half effort, allowing Zoomers all the time and space in midfield, however even with 5 men up front, Bulli were still unable to get into the 18-yard box.

Play was getting heated as the niggle of United started to get to the restless Bulli players. Huge challenges were flying in, yellow cards being brandished out freely, as a couple of scuffles broke out in the dying minutes.

In the last chance for the visitors, Lewis tried to find Beattie with a looping far-post cross, but Maty Brennan headed clear before the winger could get anything on the ball.

In a fixture which very much lived up to the passion and benchmark which was to be expected, United survived a tale of two halves. Absolute commanding dominance in the first period, capitalising on an error at the back, and surviving an onslaught of desperate Bulli attacks in the second period, Every marshalling his defence excellently.

The result sees Wollongong United climb intp fourth spot and just 4 points from the top. United will be away against South Coast United for Round 8, Sunday 13th May, 3pm kickoff at Dandaloo Sports Ground.

For Bulli, the loss still sees them stay at the top of the table, albeit on goal difference with Wollongong Olympic now joining them on 18 and Albion Park W.E. who seem to be going quietly about their business just a point behind. Bulli will host Cringila for Round 8, 2:30pm kickoff at Balls Paddock on Saturday 12th May.

The result from this fixture follows the 5-0 drubbing United handed Bulli in the pre-season Fraternity Cup final, and will no doubt add fuel to the fire ahead of their upcoming Bampton Cup Round of 16 clash. That tie will be held at Balls Paddock, 8pm kickoff on Tuesday May 15th.

 

Saturday 5th May - Macedonia Park

Wollongong United 1 - Kushida 19'

Bulli FC 0

 

Wollongong United - Sam NASTIC, Maty BRENNAN, Ben BROOKS, Nathan ELASI, Mark EVERY, Matt GORDON, Kazuto KUSHIDA, Matthew MCNAB, Sam MUNRO, Daisuke YUZAWA, Jake LEIGHTON

Subs - Ben WUNSCH, Zac MCLAREN (on for MCNAB 72'), Lachlan O'CONNOR (on for ELASI 89'), Jackson BROOKS, Sam MATTHEWS

Bulli FC - Yuya KUWATA, Scott BEST, David ABEL, Kyle JACKSON, Kenji TAKAHASHI, Ryan EMERTON, Guy KNIGHT, Sam DAVIES, Dylan LEWIS, Mitchell DEL TURCO, Ben MCDONALD

Subs - Tobin ZOOMERS (on for EMERTON 56'), Marcus BEATTIE (on for MCDONALD 56'), Harry CALLAHAN (on for DEL TURCO 75'), Lewis CLEMENTS, Jayden LEWIS

 

Referee - S. BOZIC

Assistants - L. WEBB, B. DREGHORN

 

Report by David ATHERTON - Twitter @daveatho5

Photo:Dana Guthrie