Dubbo Bulls 1 Vs Macquarie Utd

With the first round of games all done and dusted, it was back to where it all started as the Bulls faced Macquarie. It shaped up as big clash as the Bulls were looking to remain undefeated while Macquarie would’ve been coming in very confident after a strong win over South Dubbo Wanderers last week.

It’s a known fact that the Bulls over the previous years have been slow to begin in their games but in 2017 Coach Jason Schink has had the team ready and rearing to go and it was no different on Sunday and inside 5minutes the Bulls had the opening blow and there’s no prizes for guessing who. As Gareth Williams was left with a lot of time on top the box and quickly extended his lead for the golden boot with a bullet that gave the keeper no chance and the Bulls made it 2 in the opening 10minutes after defender James Leonard provided a pin point ball for Scott Fox who hit the post with his first effort and somehow after a goal line scramble the ball found its way back to Fox’s feet and chip in from 2 yards out. The goals continued to flow as Jonty Busch didn’t want to be overshadowed with a spectacular effort pulling down a lobbed ball from Kobe Rapley beating a defender and slotting his effort into the bottom corner.

The Bulls continued to dominate possession in the midfield and created plenty of opportunities but the final product just wasn’t quite there and it wasn’t until the 35th minute before the Bulls had their 4th after winning a free-kick James Leonard again provided a perfect ball to find Gareth Williams who cleverly headed the ball to Alex “Twinkle Toes” Richardson (Congrats on winning “Judges Pick” at Dubbo’s dancing with the stars). By far the best opening spell from the Bulls this season and a lot of that can be contributed to the men at the back with man markers Michael Connolly and Brock Brierley not giving the Macquarie strikers any peace whilst Nathan Daniels and James Leonard controlled the middle with Leonard distribution from the back particularly impressive.

4-0 heading into oranges, and the job only half done Coach Schink was stoked with performance so far and reminded the boys to remain composed and not to drop the intensity.

It seemed as if the half-time break couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Bulls as the same last week, saw the Bulls slump into lull and some wayward passes not finding the mark saw Macquarie make inroads into the game and 15minutes into the 2nd half Hayden Williams somehow managed to maintain his clean sheet with a superb one handed save from a short distance. It took nearly 20minutes into the second period before the Bulls got a handle back on the game and the chances started to come more regularly but it seemed nothing was going the way and finishing touches weren’t falling the way of the Bulls as several good chances where wasted.

In the 75th minute Jonty Busch found himself on one of his many driving runs and play a ball back to Twinkle Toes Richardson who finished with a well-timed half volley. 5 nil up and it soon become about keeping the Sky Blues scoreless and the wide midfielders Jack Busch and Kobe Rapley getting through a stack of work to get back and help the defenders out to keep the clean sheet.

Outside of the opening period of the 2nd half this was one of the more complete performances from the Bulls and coming away for a 5-0 win against quality opponents is promising for the mighty bulls. Best and Fairest points on the day. 1pt – Kobe Rapley got through a mountain of work out wide and was very impressive in his defensive duties, 2pts - Scott Fox created plenty of chances for his men of front and saw plenty of the ball in the midfield plus getting on the scoresheet with one of the more bizarre goals. 3pts – Nathan Daniels held the midfield together and did the dirty work behind his impressive midfield.

A Massive Congratulations to Alex "Twinkle toes" on winning in dancing with the stars. The real winner is all the money he managed to raise for a great cause. Great work Alex.