APIA no match for ruthless Bonnyrigg

THE COLD Autumn weather, nor the APIA Leichhardt Tigers could stop the Bonnyrigg White Eagles from continuing their good form in the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 competition as they cruised to a 4-0 victory at the Bonnyrigg Sports Centre.

It was a solid start by Bonnyrigg as they dominated field position and possession in the opening stages.

This sustained pressure created an opportunity for the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 ace marksman Robert Younis to have a shot with his right foot from just outside the box, but it sailed just over the crossbar and the White Eagles play went unrewarded.

APIA’s attack started to look more and more promising as time went on, and Blake Powell had an opportunity from 30 yards out to have a shot at goal but it was pushed just to the left of the post and the outstretched hand of Bonnyrigg goalkeeper Matthew Nash

This was one of the few opportunities for APIA though as Bonnyrigg continued to dominate possession, limiting APIA’s time with the ball.

This created an opportunity for Mitchell Long who made a great run, breaking through the defence down the middle of the pitch. With only the keeper to beat he found Robbie Younis in support who calmly slotted the ball in the back of the net to take the White Eagles 1-0 up in the 29th minute.

Continuing on with the momentum from the first goal, Bonnyrigg again stormed up the other end of the pitch with limited restraint from the APIA defence.

The ball found Adrian Ucchino in the box who took a strike which beat the outstretched hand of Andrew Bazi and rocketed into the top corner.

This took Bonnyrigg 2-0 after 35’ minutes and they had the control of the match leading into half time.

The first exchanges of the second half were evenly shared with APIA creating more chances for themselves inside the Bonnyrigg half, but went unrewarded.

On 71′ minutes Aaron Peterson found himself with open space after a defensive error by the APIA backline and he was able to hammer the ball home and into the back of the net to take Bonnyrigg out to a comfortable three goal lead.

Only nine minutes later Bonnyrigg again toyed with the APIA defence as Alexander Canak was able to finish off a well worked play inside the APIA half to take the score to 4-0.

APIA had no answer to the Bonnyrigg attack throughout most of the match and the White Eagles were able to capitalise on the lacklustre APIA performance to take the game 4-0.

After the game Bonnyrigg coach Brian Brown was happy with his team’s performance: “Another clean sheet tonight, which I think is four in a row now, a top performance in difficult conditions.”

"I thought Adrian (Ucchino) played a fantastic game tonight and scored a fantastic goal.”

Meanwhile, Billy McColl was not impressed with the way his team performed: “We gifted them the first goal, then after that Bonnyrigg gave us a soccer lesson.”

“We can’t be competitive unless we have 11 players on the park working as a unit and five individuals let me down tonight, they know who they are.”

Match Stats

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4
(Robbie Younis 29’, Adrian Ucchino 35’, Aaron Peterson 71’, Alex Canak 80’)
APIA Leichardt Tigers 0
Saturday May 3, 2014
Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg
Referee: Adam Susz
Assistant Referees: Craig Fisher and Danny Horstead
Fourth Official: Samuel Grasso
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Matthew Nash; 8.Alexander Canak, 21.Bo Hyun Chun, 7.Tynan Diaz (Adam Jenner), 16.Howard Fondyke (Dylan Fox), 10.Mitchell Long (Aaron Peterson), 5.Chris Tadrosse (C), 18.Adrian Ucchino, 4.David Vrankovic, 9.Robert Younis, 6.Nikola Zonjic.
Substitutes Not Used: 2. Alex Mansueto, 20.Tristan Prendergast
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 21.Andrew Bazi, 12.Daniel Bragg, 7.Stephen Kayes, 3.Jamie Lobb, 15.Matthew Mayora, 8.Bradley McDonald, 2.Travis Oughtred, 10.Franco Parisi, 9.Blake Powell (Adam Fundari), 14.Marc Warren, 5.Michael West (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 17.Matthew Castelnuovo, 20.Ali Nasreddine, 1.Christopher Moore
Yellow Cards: Marc Warren 70′
Red Cards: Nil
Player ratings:
3- Adrian Ucchino (BWE)
2- Bo Hyun Chun (BWE)
1- Robert Younis (BWE)
– By Jack Hislop, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre