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Ten-man Albion Park were made to rue what coach Steve Micevski called a "brain snap" in their 3-1 loss to Bulli on Saturday.
With the scores locked 1-1 shortly after the break, White Eagles' wide man Mark Every was handed a red card for a moment of madness on the pitch.
The former Wollongong United player was dismissed for what was deemed to be dangerous contact with his head on Bulli defender Guy Knight.
It was an uncharacteristic error in judgment but one which saw Bulli steal the ascendancy and score two more goals to march to victory at Terry Reserve.
"We came out second half and the boys picked it up again to get ourselves back to 1-1 then the brain snap basically changed the tide of the game. We were pushing stuff up hill from then," Micevski said. "To play 35 or 45 minutes with 10 men against a side like Bulli ... they'll take advantage of it.
"The boys tried and tried but it is just one of those things. We tried to get an equaliser and they caught us to get some goals. We have only got ourselves to blame for this one."
Before Every's send off the White Eagles may well have led the match.
They failed to finish a number of first-half chances but found themselves behind 1-0 at half-time.
Ben McDonald scored his 15th goal of the season when he was given too much space on the edge of the box.
White Eagles deservedly got back on terms through Sean McRae in the 56th minute but it was all down hill from there.
Every was gone shortly after and Bulli soon regained an advantage when Cameron Littler's deflected effort found its way past former Bulli gloveman Bryce Daenell.
Scott Curran then sealed the result six minutes from time.
"You would have to say [the send off] worked in our favour," Bulli coach Ben Smith said.
"It doesn't always work that way when the other team has 10, but we were definitely able to take advantage on Saturday.
"We had some average finishing and there was some good keeping from former Bulli keeper Bryce Daenell.
"He made some great saves when they went another man down.
"We are happy with the three points because before that it was a real arm wrestle.
"They had some good chances and we had a couple as well."
In other matches on Saturday, Woonona and Shell Cove shared the points in a 1-1 draw.
Dapto Dandaloo Fury came from a goal down to defeat Wollongong Olympic 2-1 and South Coast United hammered Bellambi 5-0.