It was far from a clinical display, but Bulli toasted captain Ben McDonald's 250th Premier League game in style with a 2-0 win over the Lions on Saturday.
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In a match where both teams were guilty of missed opportunities, two second-half goals from Jarvis Paterson proved the difference at Balls Paddock. McDonald's milestone also coincided with the club's Old Boys Day.
Bulli's eighth win of 2022 came a day after Football South Coast announced they had split the IPL into two tiers, in a bid to ensure the season is completed.
The top five and potential relegation to the District League will be determined by an 'average points' system, because not all teams will complete 22 rounds at the end, because of the ongoing rain this year. The top tier consists of eight teams, with four sides left to battle it out in the other.
Saturday's victory keeps Bulli alive in the IPL premiership race, as they continue to pile pressure on Wollongong United and Olympic.
McDonald was happy to celebrate the milestone, but even happier that Bulli got the three points.
"I'm just glad that we could get it done today, it was a tough battle," the Bulli skipper told the Mercury.
"I thought we played well in terms of our general play, it was quite good. I felt we controlled the match but just lacked that final ball. But, to get those couple of goals in the second half, I think we earned them and we deserved our goals today.
"It's been a pleasure to play for the club. I've been very fortunate that I haven't had any serious injuries, so I've been lucky to play so many games. And if I can keep myself fit, I'll keep going for as long as I can."
Conversely, Lions coach Icko Atanasoski was left frustrated by his team's performance on Saturday.
"It was very disappointing to lose here after a very good result last week [they beat Tarrawanna 3-1]. But Bulli were very good, it looked easy for them, and we didn't match up at all today. I don't think we even managed to get a shot on goal, which I think showed where our problems were. We found it difficult to get to the front players," he said.
"To concede from corners is hard, but they're the times when you need to concentrate. But credit to Bulli, they had the opportunities and got them. We probably should have done better with the ball, but it was not to be our day.
"We'll move on as quickly as we can. The quicker our next training [session] and next game can come around, the better, because it wasn't good enough today."
Neither side was able to grab the early ascendancy, as both looked keen to play it safe, rather than risk getting hurt on the counter-attack.
The first real chance within the opening 15 minutes occurred when McDonald found himself one-on-one with Lions goalkeeper Nikola Risrevski but his attempt swung wide. At the other end, Stefan Dimoski wound up from outside the box, but his shot was well taken by Seiya Miayoto.
Bulli looked to be the most dangerous team going forward, leading to Lewis Grimshaw lining up a great shot, which required a diving save from Risrevski to be denied.
The hosts continued to press hard and looked to have finally broke the deadlock when Sam Davies put in a dangerous cross, however, the assist just missed Paterson's feet.
Bulli had a couple of more chances late in the stanza, but the score remained 0-0 at the break.
The Lions had the first opportunity in the second half when an errant pass in defence opened the door for Ben Zucco to take a long-rang shot, which slid past the goal mouth.
However, it was Bulli who opened the scoring about 10 minutes into the stanza. From a corner, the ball found the head of Paterson, who made no mistake from close range to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Heading towards the back end of the match, Bulli were able to double their advantage - and it was a near carbon copy of the first. From a corner, the ball landed on front of Paterson near the far post, and his header sealed their second goal.
Cringila continued to push hard in the latter stages of the match, but couldn't find the back of the net, as the final score remained 2-0. However, the win came at a cost, with Grimshaw assisted from the field during the second half due to a leg injury.
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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.
