The Rockdale City Suns supporters turned out to mark a historic occasion for the club with the unveiling of their new grandstand cover. Ilinden Sports Centre was treated to an afternoon of festivities as the Suns? President Paul Goreski and Chris Mins ? Deputy Secretary of the Labor Party – officially cut the blue ribbon to demonstrate the magnificent progress made by the club.
To the football, Sash Tirovski created the first opening of the afternoon for the home side, showing finesse and much ambition as he chased down what appeared to be a lost cause to win his side a corner. The resulting corner packed some real punch, though the Bonnyrigg defensive line stood tall to clear away the danger.
The Suns pressed forward again moments later as Giorgio Speranza won the ball down the left for the home side. The Suns were quick in the transition phase, however the final ball by Tommy Cirjak failed to pick out a teammate inside the penalty-area.
On 5? minutes, Marino Musumeci was provided with the first real look-in on goal. The attacking midfielder was heavily marked, though hit his shot on the turn first-time ? the ball finishing inches wide of the mark.
The Suns carved out the next opening also as captain Peter Apolevski made a neat break down the right. Apolevski?s cut-back effort across goal found Tirovski though the Suns? playmaker failed to get a good shot away on goal.
Bonnyrigg were dealt an injury blow in the 10? minute as Jordan Simpson limped off the field. As was the case last weekend against Manly United FC, coach Brian Brown was forced to make another early change, this time sending Jordan Crighton onto the field.
The visitors reply arrived via the trickery of Nikola Stanojevic down the right. The speedy right-back beat two markers before hitting the byline ? his cutback effort into the penalty-area however failed to pick out a White Eagles striker.
Bonnyrigg carved out another opening soon after as Ken Chun tried his luck from distance. The midfielder unleashed a powerful low-driven effort though goalkeeper Ryan Norval was quickly down to his right to make the save.
Robbie Younis was next to pressure the Suns defence in the 23? minute as he was sent through on goal. The burly striker created the space to unleash a diagonal effort with his favoured left boot however Norval swiftly got down to parry.
At the other end, Tirovski created an opening to hit a long-range drive of his own. The effort packed a lot of power however did not manage to force Ben McNamara into a save with the ball finishing well over the crossbar.
The visitors, despite allowing the Suns to press and hold possession looked very solid at the back, led comfortably by David Vrankovic and Alex Mansueto.
Suns coach Wally Savor also had his hand forced to make a change as Marino Musumeci limped off the playing surface, replaced by Anthony Perri on 28? minutes.
On 33? minutes, Younis created Bonnyrigg?s best scoring chance up to that point. A neat diagonal ball by the striker played Crighton through down the left. The left-sided midfielder?s return pass to Younis gave the striker a chance to shoot, the attempt finishing inches over the crossbar.
Despite Rockdale?s domination of possession, Bonnyrigg took the lead in the 43? minute via a well-worked set-piece. Tynan Diaz?s delivery from the right met the head of an unmarked Vrankovic who sent his glancing header inside Norval?s right-hand post for the lead.
Aleksander Canak opened proceedings in the second period with an effort from distance in the 48? minute. The midfielder?s strike was on target though was easy pickings for Norval in the Suns goal.
An intriguing midfield battle ensued as both sides fought ?tooth and nail? for a look-in on goal. Apolevski and Cirjak created the space for openings for the Suns ? both to no avail ? as was the case for Canak in the attacking third for the visitors soon after.
Anthony Perri got involved for the Suns? first forward foray of the second-half and the first-half substitute won his side a corner just shy of the hour. Again for the home side, the delivery of the set-piece failed to pick out a Suns player.
Askin Oygur forced McNamara into a save from a set-piece on 62? minutes, though the tall defender?s looping header lacked any power to trouble the former Suns? shot-stopper.
The Suns? Sash Tirovski followed up in the 64? minute with a half-chance on the edge of the penalty-area. The midfielder created the space for a shot on target however drove his effort wide of the target.
The Suns task of re-opening the contest took a massive tumble as Josh Lawson picked up his second yellow card in the 65? minute. An incident behind play was brought to the referee?s attention, leaving Mr. Stephen Lucas with no choice but to give the Suns central defender his marching orders.
Rockdale?s frustrations continued as defender Takuya Muruyama, who had been heavily involved in the Suns forward runs down the right, blasted a long-range effort well off target on 69? minutes ? summing up the Suns? afternoon.
In a rare forward venture for the visitors in the second-half, Younis found his seventh goal of the season. Tadrosse?s in swinging corner from the right was dropped by Norval, leaving Younis with the easiest of tap-ins to make it 2-0.
The second goal seemed to spur the visitors into life as Harris Gaitatzis beat his marker to drive a well-hit effort inches wide of an outstretched Ryan Norval?s right-hand post.
On 78? minutes, Cirjak brilliantly created an opening with a slalom effort down the right-flank before delivering a pin-point cross onto the left boot of Daniel Slaveski. The second-half substitute hit his volley on target though McNamara was quick to get down and save the attempt.
The Suns created a late chance, again via the feet of Slaveski. The left-sided midfielder turned his marker though could only manage a toe-poked effort on goal ? easily dealt with by the White Eagles defensive line.
In the end, a disjointed performance from the home side summed up the afternoon as Bonnyrigg White Eagles made it five wins from the opening five matches.
At the final whistle, Suns coach Wally Savor expressed his disappointment in not only the result, but the overall performance of his team:
?It wasn?t a good performance today at all, we got what we deserved from the match in the end,? explained Savor.
?From the opening whistle we were poor, our passing was off and that is not the way that we like to play football.
?In all honesty, there is very little in-terms of positives that can be taken from this match. The objective will be to try and lift the confidence of the boys in anticipation of another very difficult match for us against Manly United FC,? Savor ended.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown was obviously pleased with the result:
?Very happy indeed with the result,? expressed Brown.
?I didn?t think we started too well, and we did have periods in the match where perhaps we didn?t express ourselves, though to come to a ground like this one and return home from Rockdale with three-points is massive.
?I am happy with the performances of the players, I though David Vrankovic was great too with his headed goal and very solid in defence. We are moving in the right direction, definitely, though we still need to strengthen in certain parts.
?The pleasing sign is that we have collected maximum points, hopefully we can continue doing so,? said Brown.
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2 (David Vrankovic 43?, Robbie Younis 73? )
Sunday 29th April, 2012
Ilinden Sports Centre
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees: Thomas Lee and Alex Long
Fourth Official: James Tesoriero
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ryan Norval; 2.Takuya Muruyama, 3.Giorgio Speranza, 6.Josh Lawson, 23.Askin Oygur, 8.Paul Kohler (10.Alec Urosevski 73?) , 19.Marino Musumeci (16.Anthony Perri 28?), 17.Sash Tirovski, 7.Peter Apolevski (C) (14.Daniel Slaveski 61?), 11.Tommy Cirjak, 12.Hussein Jasli
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Aaron Liddell, 5.Pece Cvetanovski
Yellow Cards: Josh Lawson 56?
Red Cards: Josh Lawson 65?
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Ben McNamara; 13.Nikola Stanojevic, 2.Alex Mansueto (15.Luka Dukic 81?), 4.David Vrankovic, 5.Chris Tadrosse (C), 7.Tynan Diaz, 8.Aleksander Canak, 21.Bo Ken Chun, 10.Jordan Simpson (17.Jordan Crighton 10?), 19.Harris Gaitatzis, 9.Robert Younis (18.Chris Gaitatzis 86?)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Andrew Bazi, 16.Andres Gomez
Yellow Cards: Alex Mansueto 65?, Robert Younis 83?
Red Cards: Nil
Bench: J. Woods, Z. Elrich, W. Angel, V. RigPlayer Ratings:
3 ? David Vrankovic (BWE)
2 ? Harris Gaitatzis (BWE)
1 ? Tynan Diaz (BWE)
-By Joseph Carlucci
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