Bonnyrigg White Eagles crowned 2012 NSW Premier League Premiers
Despite having two games remaining, the White Eagles claimed the Premiership with a ten-point lead going into the final two matches.
Midfielder Adrian Ucchino scored the only goal for the White Eagles, and his first for the season since joining the club mid-season in the 78? minute with a back heel clip to give them the first piece of silverware on offer this season.
The fans had just gotten comfortable as Bonnyrigg created their first chance in the 5? minute. A diagonal long ball found the Parramatta defence napping with Harris Gaitatzis sprinting past Mark O?Reilly to get to the ball and chip it over oncoming goalkeeper Matthew Nash. As the ball bounced towards goal, O?Reilly got back to clear off the line and out for a corner.
3? minutes later, a failed clearance by Parramatta saw the ball fall to Robbie Younis with the striker half-volleying the ball just wide of the right-hand post.
The shooting practice continued in the 10? minute as Robbie Younis cut the ball back to Ucchino before the midfielder laid the ball to Mitch Long whose shot went wide of the left post.
After being pegged in their own half for the opening 15? minutes, Parramatta finally started stringing passes together forcing the game further up the field.
The pressure led to Parramatta having had their first chance on goal in the 33? minute when a failed clearance fell to Akiyoshi Saito whose volley from 25-yards out was tipped away for a corner by Nikodin Matic
Bonnyrigg quickly cleared the corner and made an opportunity of their own at the other end. Long fought off Domenic Trimboli before creating a three-on-two situation and releasing Ucchino on goal. The youngster?s shot however was saved by the oncoming goalkeeper.
As half-time drew closer, Bonnyrigg started dominating possession again, creating two great chances. In the 40? minute great lead up play between Long and Chris Tadrosse saw the latter cross the ball to Gaitatzis whose clever shot was saved by Nash.
2? minutes later, Tadrosse was again in the action as his curling free-kick was met by Younis only for his header to sail over the bar.
On the stroke of half-time, Ucchino thought he would test Nash, striking a hard shot at goal with the goalkeeper fisting it away to keep the scores locked at 0-0.
Out from the break Bonnyrigg showed their hunger for a goal, opening up the Parramatta defence twice in the opening 2? minutes but failing to get a shot away.
Parramatta?s closing down of the opposition frustrated the White Eagles and they started making mistakes as the game wore on. In the 60? minute White Eagles goalkeeper Nikodin Matic?s failed clearance fell to Soane who crossed the ball to a free Wandi Jajaw who?s first time shot went well over the crossbar.
The League leaders continued to fight hard winning several corners but unable to trouble former Newcastle Jets goalkeeper Matthew Nash.
In the 72? minute Ben Spruce sent a defence splitting ball through to Long but Nash came off his line well to claim the ball.
With 12? minutes remaining Bonnyrigg finally got the goal they were looking for. As Mitchell Long received the ball on the right, the striker got around his marker and sent a pin-point cross to Ucchino who cleverly back heeled the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Parramatta fought hard for an equaliser in the final 5? minutes of the match but it wasn?t to be as they succumbed to the League leaders.
Following the match White Eagles coach Brian Brown said his team could have won the game in the first-half:
?I said to the boys at half-time let?s not panic because we created six great chances in the first-half,?? he said.
?Credit to them they kept going and created another chance and we took it.
?We knew coming here would be tough facing the team at the bottom and battling for survival. The surface doesn?t lend to the way we want to play but we were smart enough to get the points.
?I am very happy to win the competition with almost a new team.??
In the home dressing room Parramatta FC coach Lee Sterrey said he felt sorry for his team who fought hard for the entire 90? minutes:
?After the first 15? minutes we gave away the ball and they could have punished us with three good chances,?? he said.
?They are not where they hard for no reason, they can play.
?But I was really proud with how the boys fought hard. I mean, one moment of madness in the second-half has cost us.
?It?s disappointing because we got rolled out wide, the bloke made a narrow cross to the near post and the scorer came right through the box and realistically our central defenders have to be goal side there.
?But good luck to Bonnyrigg, they?ve been the best team all year.??
The 2012 Premiership trophy will be paraded at Bonnyrigg’s final home match of the season this coming Saturday at 7pm when they face Sydney Olympic.
Match Stats
Parramatta FC 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Adrian Ucchino 78?)
Sunday 19th August, 2012
Melita Stadium, Granville
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Parramatta FC: 1.Matthew Nash; 3.Andy Matloub (6.Graziano Trimboli 90?+2?), 4.Domenic Trimboli, 5.Mark O?Reilly, 7.Patrick Dixon, 10.Akiyoshi Saito , 14.Wandi Jajaw (16.Daniel Gullo 61?) , 19.Daniel Rezo, 15.Masaki Nomoto, 17.Luke Grima, 8.Bryan Soane (13.J. Sotirio 82?)
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Michael Sakowicz, 18.Nicholas Napoli
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 33.Nikodin Matic; 2.Alex Mansueto, 6.Nikola Zonjic, 5.Chris Tadrosse, 7.Tynan Diaz (21.Ken Chun 80?), 8.Alex Canak, 9.Robbie Younis, 11.Ben Spruce, 18.Adrian Ucchino (17.Jordan Crighton 90?+2?), 19.Harry Gaitatzis (15.Chris Payne 85?), 23.Mitch Long
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Andrew Bazi, 10.Jordan Simpson
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
-By Chris Georges
