Four rounds to go and all to play for. Results in the Illawarra Premier League last round meant gaps opened up at the top of the table and also in the race for the top five. Albion Park lead the competition by six points with Cringila lurking behind them in second following their victory against rivals Wollongong United last weekend. In the race for the top five, it is the same gap. Bulli and Port Kembla need maximum points from their last four games. Both trail Coniston and United by six points. Read more: Skipper scores the winner for Matildas, but it wasn't Sam Kerr Below them, Helensburgh and Corrimal are still mathematical possibilities, but being eight and nine points off the five respectively, it will be a tall ask. For sixth and seventh placed Bulli and Port Kembla, you would imagine they would need 12 points from 12 to finish the season to have any hope of playing finals football. It's a fact not lost on Bulli coach Julio Miranda as they prepare to take on Tarrawanna away. "It's a simple equation. Four out of four. That will give us a chance," he said. "The last two weeks have been disappointing considering we'd done so well in the previous two weeks against Olympic and South Coast United. We just need to go out there with a positive attitude and to make sure we get three points this weekend, then we can look after the next three games over the next few weeks. "Everyone knows we're good enough to be in the top five. It's just been hard to find that consistency. Although it was difficult conditions two weeks ago against Corrimal but I was disappointed. We let ourselves down in a few areas and we just haven't been able to get that consistency going. That's been our achilles heel." Miranda said that despite those inconsistencies, a major step for the club this season was the emergence of a number of young stars. "That's the real big positive for the club," he added. Read more: One goal does it: Matildas edge out Ireland to start World Cup with a win "These guys are new players that have come in and they've made a big difference. Hopefully the club will be able to keep them and build on their experience and hopefully get a good team out of them for the next couple of years." Meanwhile on Sunday Coniston and United will do battle at JJ Kelly Park, with a win for either all but securing finals football with the loser potentially dragged into a dog fight with Bulli and Port Kembla in the remaining month of the season. United dropped to fifth following the loss against Cringila whilst Coniston are well in truly into their resurgence under Franc Pierro - who was put into the head coaching role midway through the season after the departure of Rob Jonovski. Pierro's men have gone seven matches unbeaten following a rough start for the coach in his first season in the top grade. The club stalwart was happy with how the team had progressed in such a short space of time but reiterated that there was still plenty to do this campaign. "When I first took over, I knew personally it would be a bit tricky at the start. There was a lot of things to sort out and we said from the start that it was going to be a one step at a time process," Pierro said. "But we said if the boys stick to the process, they will reap the rewards. What I'm most impressed with this group is their resilience. The first few weeks we weren't getting results but I was looking at how they were responding after these results and they became hungrier and more focused to come back to training to listen. "We're on that role now and there's four games to go and anything could happen but the boys are definitely confident at this time." Pierro added his side were hungry to beat United after Billy Tsovolos' team beat them in the first half of the season. "Their wide players as well as the ones in the middle are where they are most dangerous," he said. Read more: The results are in, and it's Volkanovski by KO "They like to attack down the flanks but we're aware of this. "I'm sure Billy will have plan a, b and c all sorted out for this weekend. Every time we play United it is a challenge." In other IPL games this weekend, Cringila host Helensburgh in Friday night football at Crehan Park, Olympic take on Corrimal, leaders Albion Park lock horns with Bellambi and then Port Kembla will look for victory at Ian McLennan against South Coast in the Saturday evening fixture. Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.
