See where your team ranks in our Illawarra Premier League mid-season report card

Albion Park have stood out as they sit top of the ladder 10 points clear from second placed Olympic and still undefeated.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, Bellambi still are yet to get their first win of the campaign and they need to start picking up victories quick if they are to avoid relegation.

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The season has been highlighted by a number of goals, with Cringila striker Peter Simonoski leading the way netting 14 times. Bulli's Ben McDonald, Corrimal's Shunjiro Shibuya and Helensburgh's Kade Kinsella are all hot on the Lions skipper's tail however.

As we head into the second half of the campaign, here are our report cards for each club, in ladder order.

In his own words, White Eagles coach George Antoniou did not dream of a start quite like this.

Unbeaten in 12 with 11 wins to boot, Albion Park sit 10 points clear of Olympic in first spot and from here it is really their league championship to lose.

The Eagles have had a number of high points, but their 4-1 thump over defending premiers Wollongong United earlier this month was a real eye opener to the league that APWE are not here to mess around.

The usual suspect Cameron Morgan has chipped in with the goals but has been helped by key showings around the park from former Wolves stopper Hayden Durose and IPL stalwart Joey Lavalle in the midfield.

Can anyone stop them?

Second on the ladder is about where everyone expected Olympic before a ball was kicked this season.

However, Matt Bailey's side do have a 10 point gap to make up on APWE, but their 5-1 demolition job of South Coast United on Saturday proved that they are back amongst the goals, with Harry Callahan humming in particular.

Early draws to Cringila and Helensburgh, plus a loss to Port Kembla was the reason for the slow start for the defending grand final winners, but coming into the back end of the season, you would expect Olympic to peak.

With players like Callahan, Chris Price, Mark Every, Nick Littler, Brad Watts and Rick Goodchild, they are simply too good not to be the red-hot favourites to make a consecutive grand final.

At times it feels like one step forward, two steps back for United, but in general, for a side that lost key men Mason Versi and Klime Sekutkoski, it has been a great start.

The highlight of the season so far would be the win against major rivals Olympic in the grand final rematch, but the aforementioned loss to leaders Park was disappointing, as was the 4-3 defeat at home to Corrimal.

Billy Tsovolos has turned to youth this season and it has paid dividends. With Josh Correia, Jayden Makowski, Kyah Jovanovski, Bailey Barbarovski and new signing Brendan Mitrovski all performing admirably.

What will be key for the run into the back end of the year will be the form of imports Mitsuo Yamada and Seiji Kawakami. The two are so influential to that United midfield and plenty will be expected from them for the entirety of the season.

Last season's surprise packets are proving stubborn for teams once again, having lost just the once.

Despite three draws on the trot, it is clear that when Jorge De Matos' troops get things right they can be lethal, highlighted by 7-0 and 6-0 wins against Bellambi and Corrimal respectively.

Having the league's top goalscorer in Simonoski helps. When the skipper came off the bench in Sunday's derby he clearly made a difference, even on presence alone.

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Post game he said "we're happy with the way we've been playing." It is a fair assessment. The Lions have been playing some entertaining stuff, even all the way back in round one against Coniston where they won 4-2.

They came close against Park (2-1) and held Olympic to a draw (1-1), so they can match it with the big boys. But it's all about getting it right on the day.

Port Kembla were perhaps the happiest team following this weekend's IPL action, with Stuart Beedie's men sneaking into the top five with a 3-1 away win against Bulli.

In true Beedie fashion, it's perhaps not the prettiest of football but gee it's effective.

Against Bulli they pressed high and counteracted Bulli's usual possession based game and it worked to perfection. Their 3-0 win against the defending grand final winners Olympic in April highlighted just how their game plan can work.

Consistency is their biggest problem. Losses to Tarrawanna and Coniston, as well as a draw to Corrimal have meant they are in the mid-table battle.

Newly-appointed captain Jordan Nikolovski has led from the front to perfection with nine goals and is an inspiration for his players.

Similar to last year, Bulli have struggled with consistency.

They had a slow start to the season with three losses in their first four, before they gained plenty of confidence from a 5-1 win against South Coast.

16 goals in three games against Tarrawanna, Bellambi and Helensburgh seems to have mirrored some issues at Balls Paddock.

Skipper Ben McDonald said the side were no where near their best in their recent 1-1 draw with Cringila.

"We were poor today which is a shame because we've been good the last couple of weeks. Cringila had plenty of chances and we just weren't at it today unfortunately."

After their recent 3-1 loss to Port, Julio Miranda's men will look to turn their fortunes around against United - who they beat 1-0 earlier this season - this weekend.

17 points in their first 12 games is a solid return from the youthful Rangers.

Led by Manny Mavridis and Phil Matias and skippered by youngsters Cody Wehmeyer and Phil's son Keegan, Corrimal have recorded some massive wins.

They beat United 4-3 at Macedonia Park and most recently dispatched of Bellambi 6-2.

Number nine Shunjiro Shibuya has been a revelation up front with 11 goals and the side owe him a lot.

When it's not working, they have been susceptible to heavy defeats, such as their 7-0 loss to Coniston and their 6-0 hammering at the hands of Cringila.

But in summary, they are only three points off the finals spots with more than half of the season played, which is a massive effort.

You have to feel for Coniston after the sacking of former coach Rob Jonovski.

The side were tipped to be there or there abouts in the title challengers, but as a result of the coaching change, the side sit in eighth.

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But on the flip side, the appointment of club legend Franc Pierro made perfect sense. A true club man, Pierro has lead his chargers for three league games.

He picked up his first point in the derby draw on Sunday and he has three of his next four games against sides below them on the ladder.

If 'Cono' can maximise points in the next month, the team is more than good enough to contest in finals.

Promoted from the District League and from the off you knew that they belonged in the top flight.

At one point, it was only Albion Park and the Thistle that were unbeaten in the competition after a number of draws for Andrew Paine's men.

The nature of the draws were strange after playing out stalemates against top sides United, Olympic and Cringila as well as bottom teams Bellambi, South Coast and Corrimal.

Now, there is work to do for the Thistle as they have now gone on an unwanted five match losing run.

The mid-season loss of attacker Brad Watts to Olympic may be proving costly, but players like Liam Unicomb, Vaughan Patterson and Kade Kinsella are more than good enough to help Helensburgh climb the ladder and put them back into finals considerations.

It has been a largely disappointing couple of seasons for Tarrawanna after the Peter Willis era where the side consistently made finals despite punching above their weight.

This season Jason Wenig has taken over the reigns from former Socceroo Scott Chipperfield and at times they have picked up solid results against Port Kembla and South Coast.

They pushed Albion Park all the way last weekend in a 3-2 loss which is all positive signs for Wenig's side.

The Blueys feature a number of experienced players like goalkeeper Adam Rodriguez, Darren Stone and captain Daniel Chapman but also have plenty of youthful exuberance.

Youngster Nick High has performed when called upon as has Riku Kano, but the team will need to pick up some more wins in the back end of the season if they are to avoid any relegation scares, should Bellambi start picking up points.

Despite sitting second from bottom, there have been highlights for South Coast United.

Their best one would be their win in front of their home fans against Coniston, but with nine losses from 12, not much has gone the way of SCU.

At the weekend the side were decent in patches against the star-studded Olympic, despite the 5-1 scoreline. In the first-half, they kept the ball well and had chances and were well-deserving of their goal thanks to Advin Trebincevic to make it 1-1 against Bailey's side.

It was proof that when they can get it right, they can truly match it with anyone in the league.

Veteran forward Ricky Bertakis said post-game "they ran away with it in the end but we showed glimpses I think. We created a fair share of chances. If we were a bit sharper up front then maybe we put a few of them away on another day."

But glimpses are not enough against sides like Olympic. The biggest challenge for the team is to put together full-game performances.

It was meant to be a year in the District League for the Rosellas after finishing at the bottom of the competition in 2022 and it looks for all money that they will not climb off the foot of the ladder once more.

But after Woonona pulled out of the competition all together, it provided Bellambi the chance to go again in the IPL.

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The side have not picked up a win in 12 games and have picked up the singular point (against Helensburgh).

More worrying is the manner of the defeats. The side has conceded 21 goals in their past five matches (scoring two in the process) and after 12 games have let in 45.

As they approach their final 10 games, the strategy will firstly be to stop the haemorrhaging of goals and then maybe they can pick up points.

But being already six points behind SCU, it is a long mountain to climb if the Rosellas want to stay in the division in 2024.

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