Following yesterday’s 2-1 win in Newcastle over the Jets, the Bulls lead the competition on seven points, one more than the next two teams below them.
It’s only fair however to point out that the Bulls are the only team in the league to have played four games.
A couple of teams have played three, with the majority getting on the park just twice so far in the 2020-21 season.
Macarthur FC coach Ante Milicic, for one, won’t be getting carried away with his team’s lofty position on the ladder so early in their inaugural season.
The Bulls mentor will be more interested in what went wrong in the second half against the Jets.
After a scintillating first 45 minutes that netted two brilliant goals, the Bulls inexplicably went into the shell after the break, allowing the Jets back in the game.
The first half effort was exactly what Milicic was looking for after some slow starts in previous outings.
But the coach had no explanation for what happened in the last 45 minutes.
“Our opening 35 minutes was very good, however the second half, we stopped playing. That was not us. We were hiding,” he admitted after the match.
“We didn’t play out – we went long, direct. There was a strong breeze at the ground, we lost the second balls.
“It was a very transitional game for us and we had a couple of tired bodies out there, we just couldn’t get a hold of the game in the second half.
“The difference from the first was too big, but in the end they held on well and we take three points from a difficult place.’’
Milicic will also be grateful he has almost two weeks to analyse what went wrong with his team’s performance in the second half.
Macarthur FC’s next game is a Sydney derby at Campbelltown Sports Stadium against the reigning A-League premiers, Sydney FC, on Saturday, January 30, with a 7pm kick off.
Sydney FC, in chasing a third straight A-League title, are without doubt the yardstick of the competition.
The Bulls will know after this match where they are in the pecking order of this competition.
For the record, Frenchman Loic Puyo, who wears the number 10 on his short, put the ball into the back of the net with a bicycle kick in the seventh minute to have the Bulls charging ahead 1-0 at Newcastle yesterday.
In the 24th minute, Matt Derbyshire headed an excellent corner kick by Puyo into the corner to claim his first goal.
The home side did make it 2-1 just before the break, and almost had a second when they took advantage of a shaky Bulls defence.
The second stanza was a scoreless affair as the Bulls lost their first half attacking mojo and went into their shell.
They did deserve their victory off the back of their first half dominance, but Sydney FC may be a different kettle of fish if they dish up the same on January 31 at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
