The Rosellas have made a fast start in their much-anticipated return to the Illawarra Premier League in 2020.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Last year's District League champions have kicked off their campaign with successive wins over Port Kembla and Albion Park to sit in second spot on the IPL ladder.
Andrew Paine's men have played an attacking brand of football which hasn't gone unnoticed - including by United coach Oli Vrtkovski.
The Wollongong side and Bellambi will face off in a Bert Bampton Cup semi-final on Wednesday night at Ian McLennan Park and Vrtkovski expects his players to have their hands full.
"They've got a game plan and they've got a structure that they've been well versed in. Credit to them, they've got themselves a couple of wins and they're going to be a surprise packet. We're going to have to be on our best performance come Wednesday night," he said.
"I expect a team plays a lot off the second ball, a team that tries to counter-attack on every opportunity. They've got some fast boys out wide and they rely on Vaughan Patterson a lot to win everything in the middle of the park. They'll be pinging balls into their speedy little front-runners up top."
It's been a mixed bag for United so far this season. They lost 3-1 to rivals Olympic in round one before bouncing back to record a 2-0 win over Tarrawanna.
There were positive signs to emerge during that victory.
"The match against 'Tarra' for us was a sensational improvement defensively after the Olympic game, where we came up against a team that didn't play much football other than counter-attack," Vrtkovski said.
"I expected Olympic to be playing football round one, but they obviously don't have the engines to do so and they play that style of play that I'm expecting a lot of teams to do on us this year.
"For us, it's about making sure we're not allowing Bellambi any opportunities to get into the game. On that pitch, it's about playing the football that we love to play which is possession style football, good, entertaining style football, moving the ball around and doing what we can to counter the opposition as much as possible. We need to be mindful on their counter-attack when we're in transition."
Rosellas coach Andrew Paine said he expected a tough challenge from United.
"They've got a very full trophy cabinet and it's not by accident so I'm sure they will be a really well organised unit so we'll have to be on our game," he said.
"But if we get our effort areas right, we've shown we can compete with the big guys. We'll go up there and have a dig."
See more: Washed out IPL matches to be rescheduled
Wild weather conditions across the region have forced Football South Coast to make several changes to the Cup's semi finals draw. The United versus Bellambi game was originally meant to be held at Macedonia Park.
Cringila and Bulli were set to face off in the other semi on Tuesday night, but that game has now been moved to August 18 at Crehan Park.
There has also been changes made to the Youth Cup's semi finals draw.
United will host Olympic at Ian McLennan Park on Thursday night while Coniston tackles the Blueys at Crehan Park on August 18.