Tarrawanna have kept their Illawarra Premier League finals aspirations alive after sharing the points with Wollongong Olympic on Saturday afternoon.
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The Blueys retained eighth spot on the ladder - and moved within striking distance of Woonona and Port Kembla - after playing out a 1-1 draw with Olympic at Tarrawanna Oval.
Tarrawanna coach Peter Willis said it was "probably a fair result".
"You're always happy to get something out of a game. The boys worked hard and I thought they played particularly well at times. They're a good side, they've got some good players and they started off quite well, but then we took the initiative in the back half of the first half and we had a few chances," Willis said.
"We then came out with the initiative in the second half with the initiative to get forward more and we got the goal. After that, we sat back a bit, which I didn't enjoy, because it allowed them to come at us a bit more. But we defended well, but they scored. Similar to us, they didn't go on with it after they scored either. We had one really good chance to put it away. But on the day, I think it was probably a fair result."
The game caps a mixed past month for the Blueys, who have had one win, two draws and a loss in that period. However, Willis believes his players will gain plenty of confidence from competing so well against a strong Olympic side.
"We have got a few experienced guys and the younger lads are only 21, but they've been playing for me for two years so they've got that little bit more experience now," he said.
"I'm quite pleased with how everyone is going really."
For Wollongong Olympic, coach George Antoniou was left to rue some missed chances on Saturday.
"I thought we could have got maximum points with the opportunities that we created. But Tarrawanna worked hard and deserved a point at the end of the day," he said.
"Peter Willis always has them well set up, they were well organised. And they're a bunch of young boys who want to compete and we didn't put our chances away, and we weren't good enough to get the three points."
Saturday's draw means Olympic remain unbeaten in 2021, but have slipped to second on the IPL ladder after Wollongong United sealed a 2-0 win over Albion Park at Terry Reserve.
Coniston secured a 3-0 victory against Bellambi at Elizabeth Park and Bulli beat Woonona 2-0 at Balls Paddock in Saturday's other results, while South Coast United registered their first win of the season by defeating Cringila 2-1 at Crehan Park on Friday night.
Round 10 will be capped off on Sunday when the Rangers host Port Kembla at Memorial Park, while Olympic will back up to face the Sharks in a catch-up game at Ocean Park.
"We want to try and get the three points. It won't be easy, they will come at us," Antoniou said. "I'm sure they will want to come out and play against us, which is good, and we're going to need to be at our best to get the three points."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
