They may have stumbled in the first finals hurdle, but Bulli co-captain Sam Davies remains positive that his side can bounce quickly.
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Bulli fell 3-2 to Wollongong United in Sunday's Illawarra Premier League qualifying final at Memorial Park. They will now met Albion Park in a sudden-death final next weekend, while United will face Woonona for a ticket to the grand final.
After losing their previous two clashes to United in 2020, it was important for Bulli to start well on Sunday and they did, with Dylan Lewis scoring the opening goal in the 20th minute.
United hit back just minutes before half time through Billy Tsovolos. The score remained 1-all at the break.
It was a tough contest after half time, but United had jumped out to a 3-1 lead by the 60th minute courtesy of goals from Jeremy Flanagan and Andre Dias.
Lewis scored his second in the 77th minute to give Bulli hope, but United held on to win. Bulli's chances were hampered by a red card to Aaron Baker in the 90th minute.
"It was a bit rough, the game was played in hot conditions," Davies said.
"But it was a tight battle and I think we were a bit unfortunate in the end to not come away with more."
Albion Park won their way through to the second week of finals by surviving a penalty shootout win over Tarrawanna on Sunday.
Park will meet Bulli at a ground to be decided. The two teams are very familiar with each other, having played out a 1-all draw in the last round of the season.
While disappointed to lose on Sunday, Davies is confident his side will return to form against Albion Park.
"We played them last week fortunately so we know what they're about," he said.
"We know that going forward, they're quite strong so we will have to be quite tight at the back and hit them on the counter, and expose their weaknesses at the back."