Bulli, Tarrawanna to meet in IPL

Bulli’s Nick Stauralakis and Dapto’s Christian Zelvis tussle during their IPL finals clash.

ILLAWARRA PREMIER LEAGUE DAVID NAYLOR

TARRAWANNA and Bulli will meet in an Illawarra Premier League elimination final this weekend after contrasting results in the first week of the finals series.

The Tarrawanna side produced a stunning upset to eliminate South Coast United while Bulli again fell short against their nemesis Dapto.

The Tarrawanna side went into their clash with fifth-placed South Coast United as underdogs after scraping into the finals.

However, they produced arguably their best performance of 2007 to dominate the South Coast outfit for most of the match.

Tarrawanna were looking good when leading 2-nil through goals from Tim O’Brien and Nathan Minutillo.

However, an 89th minute goal from Sasho Dimoski, followed by an injury-time dagger from Greg Valic saw South Coast United force extra time.

Neither side could find a winner in the extra half hour, sending the match into penalties.

Tarrawanna deservedly won the shootout 4-3, with goalkeeper Christian Pretto making the crucial saves from United’s goal scorers, Dimoski and Valic.

Meanwhile, Bulli are back to the drawing board after a 2-1 loss to Dapto, their third against the Kanahooka Lodge outfit in 2007 and second in as many weeks.

Bulli dominated the first 20 minutes before Dapto scored against the run of play through Justin Potter’s thunderous volley from the edge of the box.

The Balls Paddock club were back on terms 20 minutes into the second half when Shane McGirr was on hand to knock home a cut back from Michael Clare.

However, it wasn’t long before Dapto had their noses in front and a lapse in concentration at the back allowed Chad Bishop to score from a near-impossible angle.

For the remaining 20 minutes of the game, Bulli threw everything at Dapto, but their defence remained resolute to the end to deny the Bulli side an equalizer.

Meanwhile, league champions Dandaloo were lucky to escape with a 1-nil win against Port Kembla at Dandaloo Sports Ground.

The black and whites hit the champions’ woodwork three times in the second half after Ilija Prenzoski scored in the 35th minute for Dandaloo.

Albion Park White Eagles eliminated Picton Rangers on penalties to complete the first week of the finals series.