It was back to the drawing board for Bonnyrigg White Eagles after they suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to a fired up Sutherland Sharks in PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s competition action at Seymour Shaw on Saturday.
Despite a strong start to the match, Bonnyrigg was at times outclassed but their opponents as the Sharks put in an inspired performance in front of their home crowd.
Goals to Jack Press, Perry Moustakas and Tomihiro Kajiyama secured the victory for Sutherland.
It was a shock result for Bonnyrigg who will need to find consistent results during the final rounds if they are any hope of defending their PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s Championship title.
It was the visitors who fashioned the first chance in the fourth minute when a quickly taken corner from Bo-Hyun Chun was headed narrowly wide of the upright by Nikola Zonjic.
Two minutes later it was 1-0 to the home side with Moustakas heading home off Josh Da Silva’s free kick.
Sutherland could have doubled their advantage five minutes later when a sweeping move from their own half but Jack Press lacked composure and fired over the bar.
Press bounced back in the 13th minute to guide Da Siva’s cross into the back of the net as Sutherland went
Sutherland were having a field day in the opening stages as the White Eagles struggled to find their rhythm.
Bonnyrigg, to their credit, didn’t panic and rode out the storm albeit the reigning Champions were yet to get going in this match.
Chronopoulos was sharp to push a long distance show from Chris McStay onto the post in the 31st minute.
It was a strangely subdued performance from the visitors who thought they had reduced the deficit after 37 minutes when Aaron Peterson beat Nathan Denham to the ball only for his header to drop wide of the post.
Bonnyrigg coach Bryan Brown had stern words for his players during the interval with his side needing an early response if they were to get anything from the match during the next 45-minutes.
Bonnyrigg were quickly on the offensive at the resumption but never really imposed themselves in the area although there was a certain amount of resilience about their play.
Adam Jenner replaced skipper Robbie Younis as the White Eagles looked to change their formation and attacking options by injecting a fresh pair of legs.
Sutherland resolutely dug in to quell the attacking thrusts of their counterparts by putting their bodies on the line and defending from front to back.
Bonnyrigg pumped ball after ball into the mix as they searched for a way back into the game yet still couldn’t find the breakthrough they needed.
Press was unlucky not to add a third for Sutherland when a beautifully crafted move saw Da Silva beat the offside trap and curl the ball into the striker to rattle the woodwork in the 71’ minute which would have put the game to bed for the Sharks.
The third goal did eventuate in the 78th minute when Kajiyama lashed home at the second attempt after a good stop from Chronopoulos.
Substitute James Andrew brought another fine save out of Chronopoulos in stoppage time which would have been the icing on the cake for Sutherland.
It was a buoyant Shaks dressing room after full-time.
“We played very well tonight and should have won by more,” a Sharks spokeswomen said.
“We set out our style of play and the early goal helped relax the side. We could’ve had 3 or 4 in the first 15-minutes.
“Overall it was a terrific performance against one of the top teams in the league.”
Bonnyrigg defender, and former Shark, Michael Robinson was not happy with his side’s performance. “We didn’t turn up tonight,” he said.
“We were terrible. We couldn’t seem to get going but you get games like that during the season and hopefully that is our one out of the way.
“It’s a small setback but we’ll regroup and look to put it right in our next game.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Moustakas 6’, Press 13’, Kajiyama 78’)
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0
Saturday, 2nd July, 2016
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Andre Giev & Raymond Osborne
Fourth Official: Tristan Harris
Sutherland Sharks: 1. DENHAM Nathan ©, 3. MURAYAMA Takuya, 4. KAYES Stephen, 5. LITTLER Nick, 6. GORDON Matt, 7. PRESS Jack, 8. McSTAY Chris, 10. DA SILVA Joshua (16. GOMEZ-CASTRO Laureano 88’), 15. MOUSTAKAS Perry, 19. FITZPATRICK Callum (17. ANDREW James 84’), 35. KAJIYAMA Tomohiro
Substitutes Not Used: 9. FIGON Jordan, 12. STERGIOU Lukas, 21. LOE Nikolas
Yellow Cards: McStay 82’, Andrew 90+1
Red Cards:
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1. CHRONOPOULOS James, 3. VRANKOVIC David, 4. ROBINSON Michael, 6. ZONJIC Nikola, 9. YOUNIS Robert © (5. JENNER Adam 56’), 10. KOKADO Yuta, 15. MILLER Raymond, 16. GALLAWAY Samuel, 17. GIL Mun-Soo, 19. PETERSON Aaron, 21. CHUN Bo-Hyun (7. KONDEK Gregory 69’)
Substitutes Not Used: 2. MANSUETO Alexander, 13. McKENZIE James, 20. SAVICIC Stevan
Yellow Cards:
Red Cards:
-By PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s reporter Micky Brock
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