Bonnyrigg leapfrog Sutherland into third

In the third minute Nathan Elasi found himself with a prime opportunity to put the pressure on Bonnyrigg, but his shot from inside the box was too weak to properly test Matthew Nash.
The first real chance then came for Bonnyrigg at the 7’ minute as winger Ken Chun delivered an inch perfect cross to team mate Howard Fondyke, but his header went straight to the welcoming arms of keeper Nathan Denham.
Bonnyrigg continued to show exactly how effectively they are attack in the 11′ minute.

The away sides second real opportunity came in the 15′ when Perry Moustakas shot, but his well taken strike was saved and forced right of Nash’s goal. 

Sharks went on the attack again, this time from a set piece taken by the man who was fouled, Panny Nikas. He sent the ball into the area but could not find any of the seven Sutherland shirts

Matthew Nash tried to grab a hold of the ball, but as he fumbled an opportunity came to put the away side in the lead, but the an eventual shot was blazed over.
Just before the close of the first half Nikas decided to go himself, as he took on a couple of defenders and shot just wide with Nash scrambling across his goal.
The second half was completely dominated by Bonnyrigg and it was only a matter of time until they got their goal.
In the 51’ minute Chun and Fondyke teamed up and as Canak came to join them in the box on the right, Fondyke’s pass just wasn’t sharp enough, giving the Sharks defence enough time to drop back and defend in numbers.
Bonnyrigg continued to impress with some elegant passing in the 61’ minute and when the ball fell at the feet of Chun, he shot and forced a smart save from Denham.
At long last in the 73’ minute the deadlock was broken.
A few minutes previously, Long had replaced McFlynn and shown a real appetite for work and a desire to break the deadlock.
Long did superbly to beat two defenders and his strike found the back of the net. Although Denham could have done better, the deadlock was finally broken and it was a lead which Bonnyrigg would not relinquish.
“I thought our boys put in a top performance,” Bonnyrigg coach Brian Brown said.
"The commitment and energy, particularly in the first half, was very good. The second half opened up a bit and it was a brilliant game of football.”
Sutherland coach Robbie Stanton was in good spirits at the end of the game and mentioned that “we had the clearer chances to be honest.”
"We are a possession team, we like to build and we don’t care how many players get behind the ball, we like to build and break them down, but when you play a team that presses and plays a certain style, then we have to use counter and use it well," he said.
"There were times when we identified it and it was good, but at times we didn’t get the right bodies going forward and it didn’t happen.”
Stanton had some words to say about his skipper, the ever reliable Nick Stavroulakis.
"He was brilliant," Stanton said. "When players needed to step forward and win the ball, I thought he did that better than anyone else.”
“Definitely tonight he led the way. There are times when teams make you step back, but he would step forward and win balls which led the counter.” 

Match Stats

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Mitchell Long 73′)
Sutherland Sharks 0

Saturday 17th May, 2014