Having steadily found his feet in recent games, the Wollongong Wolves attacker approached coach Luke Wilkshire during the week in search of an opportunity.

When captain Lachlan Scott limped off the field in the 59^th minute of Monday's clash with Northbridge, the opportunity had arrived.

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With the game locked at two goals-apiece, Dimoski had a chance to make an impact.

He left it late, but the veteran eventually proved the difference, latching on to a Leroy Jennings free kick in the 87^th minute to hand his side a 3-2 win and three vital competition points.

Wilkshire has been impressed with the way Dimoski has remained focused despite a horror injury run in the past two seasons and said he got his reward on Monday.

"Stefan has worked hard the last year," Wilkshire said. "That's why he's an important part of the squad.

"He came to me during the week wanting more games, wanting to play and he's done a great job. He'd probably say hard work pays off, he got a fantastic goal and a deserved goal."

The win saw Wollongong climb to sixth on the ladder, just two points outside the top five with six games to play.

Now that he has one match-winning goal in the books, Dimoski said the focus is on helping his team progress to the finals.

"It's been a tough year," Dimoski said. "It's been hard, but you work hard, you get your rewards.

"It just feels good to win the game. I'm happy for the win, now we have to get back on it and focus on getting into the top five for the rest of the season.

"We have to play every game like a grand final, like we did today."

While the Wolves left Sydney United Sports Centre with the three points, they were well below their best.

Jennings opened the scoring in just the fifth minute, but it was Northbridge who dominated the first half.

The visitors repeatedly turned the ball over, ex-Wolves striker Bul Juach making the side pay to level the scores.

Emerging A-League talent Kyle Cimenti put the Bulls up 2-1 later in the half and Wollongong were in serious trouble.

The interval provided Wilkshire a chance to rev up his troops, Jennings responding with a crucial 47th minute goal.

From there, both sides had chances before Dimoski's goal, with the Wolves climbing to sixth on the ladder after the tense win.

"There's still plenty of areas to work on," Wilkshire said. "Like I said at halftime, forget about tactical and technical, you need that desperation and desire that we had in the second half. We didn't have it in the first half."