In a close but entertaining affair between United and Bulli at Ian McLennan Park, it took a fortuitous moment to decide this year's Cup winner. With the score locked at 0-all in Sunday's final, the referee's decision to rule a handball against a Bulli defender proved vital in the 70th minute. Enter United's Mitsuo Yamada, who stepped up to the penalty spot to calmly slot the goal.

Six minutes later, Jeremy Flanagan bobbed up to score and give United an unassailable 2-0 lead. United's Seiji Kawakami was named man of the match.

It was United's fifth Bampton Cup win and their second piece of silverware for 2020, after they won the Frat Cup trophy in July.

Captain Danny Lazarevski told the Mercury that it was a fantastic victory by his team on Sunday afternoon.

"It's just great to bring the trophy home, the boys have worked hard and I think we deserved the victory tonight. We play to win trophies and at the end of the day, it's what we want as players," he said.

"It was a tight game. At half time, we spoke about it, but we felt that we were the better side and the goal would come. Fortunately it did come and we got the second one to seal it.

"We kept the defence going, another clean sheet from the boys. [Goalkeeper] Jordan [Nikolovski] is doing very well at the back and the back four have been good. But it goes through the squad, it's a full squad thing."

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The showdown at Ian McLennan Park was touted as a potential sneak peek of this year's Premier League grand final, and both decided delivered some top quality football.

However, there was controversy within the first two minutes when Bulli's Aaron Baker received a yellow card for a strong challenge on United opponent Andre Diaz. From the ensuing free kick, the ball got over the head of Bulli goalkeeper Ben McGinnes, but he recovered in time to grab the ball.

Soon after, a nice through ball by Mason Versi to Mitsou Yamada found him one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot hit the post and bounced away.

While United looked the more dangerous side in the early stages, Bulli had a great chance through Luke Van Zyl at the other end. However, his long-range shot swayed wide.

But United continued to press hard, forcing a corner following an error from a Bulli defender. From that corner, the ball bobbled up to Seji Kawakami, but his shot from outside the box was stopped by McGinnes.

Bulli was physical in defence, with Ian Clarino receiving a yellow card for a strong challenge around the 20-minute mark.

Soon after, a nice one-two between Van Zyl and Sam Davies led to Van Zyl taking a shot, but the ball was palmed away by United' stopper Jordan Nikolovski.

Soon after, a nice pass by Davies found Seiya Kambayashi out wide, whose cross found Ben McDonald, however, his header went over the cross bar.

Both teams had great scoring chances approaching the 40-minute mark.

A nice cross led to United's Yamada taking a shot, but he couldn't connect. At the other end, Van Zyl continued to look threatening. After dancing around his opponent, a nice attempt was athletically blocked by Nikolovski.

With around five minutes left in the half, United's Versi found himself in space and took a low strike from outside the box, however, it just sped past the goal posts.

On the counter-attack, a lovely cross found McDonald's head in front of goals but his attempt swayed wide.

Soon after, McDonald had the best chance of the first half as his powerful strike hit the cross bar, but the ball bounced away.

The score remained 0-all at half time.

The first chance after the break came through Bulli's Van Zyl, but Nikolovski was up to the task.

Soon after, Lazarevski received a yellow card following a strong challenge on Van Zyl.

But Bulli continued to press hard and were nearly rewarded when McDonald's back-heel found a flying Takumu Tsujimara but his shot swayed wide.

Approaching the hour mark, Flanagan found himself on-on-one with McGinnes, however, he couldn't connect properly with his shot.

Flanagan continued to look a threat for the Bulli defence. A well-timed cross from a teammate found the substitute in the box, but he couldn't connect with his shot.

But, finally, the opening goal came in the 70^th minute when a handball ruling against a Bulli defender led to Yamada stepping up and coolly slotting a penalty to give United a 1-0 lead.

That advantage was doubled just six minutes later when a great cross found Flanagan, and his shot beat McGinnes into the back of the net.

Despite leading 2-0, United continue to attack. A great long-range shot by Versi was gloved away by McGuinnes.

Both teams looked to create chances late, but no one else scored on Sunday.

Bulli co-captain Ben McDonald said it was a disappointing result, but his side would bounce back when they took on United again in a Premier League clash on Wednesday night.

"I think we gave it a good crack and a couple of decisions went against us. But we weren't good enough at times and Wollongong United got the win, so fair play to them," he said.

"It was a typical final, just a battle. A grind, and we were on the wrong side of it. We've just got to regroup, recover well and be ready for Wednesday night."

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It was a delightful double for United, after they claimed the Youth Cup title with a 3-2 win over Coniston.

Coniston were a late inclusion in the Cup final, after Tarrawanna were disqualified for an alleged player breach. And they looked keen to make the most of that chance, with Neo Musso scoring after just 19 minutes.

United responded through Kyah Jovanovski in the 43rd minute, but Jack Donnelly scored late in the half to give Coniston a 2-1 lead at the break. In a hard-fought second half, United drew level in the 63rd minute through Josh Correia before Jack Stojanovski clinched the winner five minutes later.

Lazarevski said the two victories highlighted the strength of United's system.

"Through the club, I think we're all first at the moment and the boys in youth grade brought home the trophy," he said. "I think it's through the whole system, from first grade down to youth grade. It's just good coaches, a good committee, and I think it just flows through."