Bonnyrigg back in business with defeat of Sydney United 58 FC
Bonnyrigg White Eagles stormed back to winning ways with an extremely important 4-2 win against perennial rival Sydney United 58 FC on Sunday afternoon.
Played at the earlier time of 12:00 pm, the White Eagles came from behind to deservedly end Sydney United 58 FC’s recent run of great results with a strong 90’ minute showing.
Played at an extremely fast pace, both sides showed their intent with some tough tackling and end-to-end action, making for an intriguing afternoon of football.
With the home side leading 2-1 after 15’ minutes, the White Eagles put together a fine second-half showing – led by Robbie Younis – to grab bragging rights over the Reds.
The Reds were quick out of the blocks as Mirjan Pavlovic got in behind the White Eagles on the left. The burly striker used his speed, and upper body strength well to line-up up a cutback into the middle of the penalty-area, denied only by some strong defensive work by Bonnyrigg captain Chris Tadrosse.
Bonnyrigg responded with two quick-fire chances as Aleksander Canak saw his snap-shot thwarted by a sea of bodies guarding the Reds’ goal line.
The first yellow card of the encounter carried the name of Mitchell Speer for a hard tackle, providing the visitors with its second chance of the match 60’’ seconds later. Tadrosse delivered a pinpoint set-piece, picking out the head of Robbie Younis who forced Liam Reddy into a strong save.
The fast-pace continued as another heavy tackle from Stjepan Paric saw both sets of benches quickly onto their feet. Paric too entered referee Mr. Kris Griffiths-Jones’ book, as Tynan Diaz received some early treatment.
Much to the home side’s delight, the Reds found the opening goal of the match in the 8’ minute. Luka Glavas, back in the starting line-up after a lengthy period on the bench, and fresh from his hat-trick last weekend, showed his versatility with a neat run down the right before cutting the ball from the right byline into the path of Pavlovic who exquisitely flicked the ball into the back of the net at the near post.
Bonnyrigg was not to be deflated by the early setback as the side resumed pressing in the front-third. A foul committed by Nathan Sherlock on the edge of the penalty-area on 12’ minutes allowed Younis a set-piece attempt on goal.
The talismanic striker did not pass on the opportunity, delivering a sensational effort with his trusted left-peg that finished in the back of the net off the bottom of the crossbar, leaving Reddy with no chance.
The free-kick was pure class, arguably one of the picks of the season.
With parity restored, both sides looked to gain the ascendency in the middle of the park, though the quick nature of play for both sides made holding the ball for long periods almost impossible.
The small group of home supporters in the venue were cheering again on 14’ minutes however, as Mileski added his name to the score sheet with the Reds’ second of the afternoon. A beautifully floated ball from deep picked out the Reds’ number 9 who brought the ball down majestically with his chest before blasting past Matthew Nash with aplomb.
What followed was a slight drop, in-terms of the fast-pace, though the intensity was as high as ever as Mitchell Long first, then Younis, again went close to breaching Reddy’s net from another Tadrosse free-kick delivery.
On 33’ minutes, Mileski turned provider for the Reds with a tantalising pass with the outside of his boot to send Trifiro through on goal. The creative midfielder was super quick to anticipate Nash though his first touch carried a little too much punch as he failed to get a shot away.
Bonnyrigg responded with Long getting on the end of a cross from the left though his header also failed to find the target.
For the visitors, Younis was getting a lot of the ball from Adrian Ucchino out of midfield, thought the precise marking of Ben Jurman and Nathan Sherlock was making it tough for the White Eagles striker.
Sydney United 58 FC went very close to making it a two-goal cushion in the 1’ minute of injury-time as Glavas, again the provider, centred for Paric who hit his effort first-time effort from the edge of the penalty-area, forcing Nash into a difficult save down low.
Bonnyrigg opened second-half proceedings with a well-worked move down the left by Tadrosse and Bo-Hyun Chun. The former centred into the penalty-area, picking out Younis in the process, as the striker used his body well to create space to shoot and win his side a corner for his efforts.
On 51’ minutes, the visitors did, deservedly, have their equaliser. It arrived somewhat fortuitously, it must be said, as Howard Fondyke’s attempted long-range drive on goal was not a clean strike, falling to the feet of Canak who, from point-blank range, cleverly slotted the ball past Reddy.
The Reds awoke immediately from their ‘early second-half slumber’, creating a fine chance at the other end 60’’ seconds later. Glavas again peeled away to the right thanks to a delightful Trifiro pass before playing a cross into the penalty-area where Pavlovic was only just anticipated by Nash who was quick off his line.
Moments later, Pavlovic returned the assist to Glavas with a fine ball in behind the defensive line though just as the Reds number 7 had been denied earlier, Glavas was denied by another well-timed Nash intervention.
Younis very nearly snuck in to give the White Eagles the lead in the 62’ minute when he somehow got a boot to the ball, between Jurman and Reddy, much to the displeasure of the goalkeeper who voiced his frustration to his defender as Younis’ shot finished wide.
The Bonnyrigg striker had another free-kick opportunity from a very attractive position, shortly after, though this time he failed to get enough dip as the ball finished over the crossbar.
With both sides looking for a match-winner, the match became an end-to-end battle with the action moving from one goalmouth to the other as the White Eagles appeared to have more hunger in their forward forays.
Long very nearly found an opening for second-half substitute Aaron Peterson before Matthew Bilic – on for Glen Trifiro midway through the half – nearly picked out Pavlovic who again was denied by Nash’s quick thinking.
Bonnyrigg’s second-half persistence did finally find a breakthrough as Younis, the orchestrator of so much that is Bonnyrigg in the front-third was fouled by Jurman inside the penalty-area. The striker’s physical presence is a nightmare to contain for defenders, and the burly striker proved just that as he was brought down.
Younis dusted himself off to take the spot-kick, drilling the ball to Reddy’s right, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way in the process.
The goal seemed to take out any steam left in the Reds players as Brian Brown’s men found a fourth. A Diaz corner from the left somehow fell into the path of Long who had pressured his marker to round out the 4-2 win. The final touch however came off Ante Tomic who diverted the ball into the back of Liam Reddy’s net.
Younis had a final chance in the 88’ minute to complete his hat-trick after turning superbly to beat his marker and go one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Reddy, however, stood strong and made himself big to make a fabulous save.
Following the referee’s final whistle, Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown was very content with his side’s showing:
“I am very proud of the boys today, we showed what we are capable of deservedly got the points today,” commented Brown.
“We started a little slowly with the two goals we conceded, though the reaction from the players was great.
“We all need to remember that the Bonnyrigg-Sydney United match is just another match in the competition, so there was nothing different in our approach to this match.
“With the performance today, and the result, I think that all teams need to be worried about Bonnyrigg once again,” Brown concluded.
Sydney Untied 58 FC coach Mark Rudan was visibly down after the match:
“We didn’t show up today, and to be honest we did not deserve to be leading at half-time,” Rudan explained.
“There are no excuses, Bonnyrigg pressured us, they worked hard and obviously showed they wanted the result today so all credit to them.
“We need to bounce back, and we have a few difficult matches to come where our objective is to win those matches,” ended Rudan.
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 FC 2 (Mirjan Pavlovic 8’, Robert Mileski 14’ )
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4 (Robert Younis 12’, 79’, Aleksander Canak 51’, Ante Tomic (OG) 82’ )
Sunday 4th of August, 2013
Sydney United Sports Centre
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho and Thomas Lee
Fourth Official: Daniel Stack
Sydney United 58 FC: 29.Liam Reddy; 2.Mitchell Speer, 3.Ben Jurman, 4.Nathan Sherlock, 7.Mirjan Pavlovic (22.Daniel Barac 79’), 9.Robert Mileski, 11.Luka Glavas (C), 16.Stjepan Paric, 18.Glen Trifiro (19.Matthew Bilic 73’), 20.Ibrahim Haydar, 23.Ante Tomic,
Substitutes Not Used: 41.Jordan Jennings; 15.Anthony Tomelic, 21.Theo Kofinas
Yellow Cards: Mitchell Speer 2’, Stjepan Paric 5’, Ben Jurman 29’, Ibrahim Haydar 65’
Red Cards: Nil
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Matthew Nash; 5.Chris Tadrosse (C), 6.Nikola Zonjic, 7.Tynan Diaz, 8.Aleksander Canak, 9.Robert Younis, 10.Mitchell Long, 21.Bo-Hyun Chun (19.Aaron Peterson 64’), 16.Howard Fondyke, 4.Vuko Tomasevic, 18.Adrian Ucchino,
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Alexander Mansueto, 14.Jordan Crighton, 15.Steven Hesketh, 25.Liam Gobbo
Yellow Cards: Adrian Ucchino 18’, Tynan Diaz 59’
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joseph Carlucci
