White Eagles thump Hakoah Sydney City East
Bonnyrigg White Eagles kept their top five aspirations alive in resounding style following a 5-1 hammering of 10-man Hakoah Sydney City East in their Round 21 PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s fixture at Bonnyrigg Sports Club.
It was a must win encounter for Brian Brown’s side who found themselves behind fifth-placed Sydney Olympic prior to kick off but last season’s Champions made light work of the visitors following the second-half dismissal of Hakoah defender Remy Wolanski to pile on four goals in the final twenty minutes.
The White Eagles helped their way to a 1-0 advantage at half-time courtesy of Greg Kondek’s strike but tamely relinquished their lead when Kiwi Andre De Jong equalized five minutes into the second stanza.
However, the floodgates opened for Bonnyrigg after the sending off of Wolanski and inspired by the outstanding Aaron Peterson who claimed a well-taken double with his head, the hosts cruised past the league newcomers in their last competitive league match at the Bonnyrigg Sports Club for 2016.
Bonnyrigg defender Alexander Mansueto struck in-between Peterson’s late double while a miserable night for Hakoah was capped by a bizarre and unfortunate own goal from young shot stopper Max Ephraim who parried Robbie Younis’ corner into his own net via a deflection.
It was a bitter slice of misfortune for the young custodian who endured a tough evening marshalling a Hakoah rear guard that showed signs of frailty early on when Kondek thundered an early effort against the woodwork.
Although Mark Robertson’s side briefly recovered from a spell of early pressure and enjoyed a chance of their own through De Jong, Bonnyrigg broke their resistance five minutes before half-time.
Having rattled the crossbar earlier, Kondek applied a cool finish to steer past Ephraim after an incisive run from Mun Soo-Gil to deservedly edge the White Eagles in front.
The lead didn’t last long for Bonnyrigg, and the visitors seized on a great piece of opportunism from De Jong, who drove through the midfield and slid the ball underneath James Chronopoulos to draw level minutes into the second half.
Alarm bells would have been ringing around Bonnyrigg Sports Club following De Jong’s equalizer – the scene of several calamitous collapses in this frustrating campaign for the 2015 Championship winners, but the response from Brown’s men was unrelentingly clinical, albeit aided by the dismissal of Wolanski who received his marching orders for hacking down a goal-bound Peterson.
After Kondek saw a glancing header superbly palmed to safety by Ephraim, Peterson edged the hosts back in front at the back post after a sublime delivery from young gun Asmir Kadric.
Mansueto put the contest beyond doubt after heading in from Martin Lo’s cross, and the former Western Sydney Wanderer provided another sublime corner delivery a minute later for Peterson to claim his double.
Lo has been a standout feature for the White Eagles as he slowly asserts himself as one of the finds of the season for the club.
Hakoah’s inability to deal with Bonnyrigg’s aerial threat was underlined again when the hosts notched their fifth – a fine second-half performance from the hosts rounded by a defensive blunder from Ephraim, who could only parry Robbie Younis’ corner into the roof of his own net.
Having enjoyed the respite of their convincing 3-0 Westfield FFA Cup victory over Manly United midweek, Bonnyrigg will head to the South Coast to take on Wollongong with real momentum next Sunday afternoon as the White Eagles look to confirm their customary place in the top five.
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 5 (Kondek 40, Peterson 72’, 80’, Mansueto 81’, Ephraim (og) 87’)
Hakoah Sydney City East 1 (De Jong 49’)
Saturday 6th August, 2016
Bonnyrigg Sports Club, Bonnyrigg
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1. James Chronopoulos, 16. Samuel Gallaway, 17. Mun-Soo Gil (10. Yuta Kokado 82’), 31. Martin Lo, 2. Alexander Mansueto, 15. Raymond Miller (9. Robert Younis 38’), 19. Aaron Peterson, 3. David Vrankovic, 6. Nikola Zonjic, 7. Greg Kondek (21. Bo Hyun Chun 73’), 18. Asmir Kadric
Substitutes Not Used: 13. James Mckenzie, 20. Stevan Savicic
Yellow Cards: 17. Mun-Soo Gil 41’
Red Cards:
Hakoah Sydney City East: 16. Costa Andricopoulos, 5. Nathan Bowden-Haase, 18. Aaron D’Mello, 23. Andre De Jong, 43. Max Ephraim, 9. Neil Jablonski, 21. Ilan Kessler, 31. Kevin Lopes (14. Lee Jones 70), 8. Paul Orgad, 33. Adrian Vranic, 2. Remy Wolanski
Substitutes Not Used: 40. Dylan Blumberg, 1. Anthony Costa, 6. Nathan Muskitta,
Yellow Cards: 16. Costa Andricopoulos 8’, 43. Max Ephraim 14’, 9. Neil Jablonski 27’, 2. Remy Wolanski 24’, 64’, 8. Paul Orgad 90’
Red Cards: 2. Remy Wolanski 64’
-By Jacob Windon, Playstation4NPLNSW Men’s 1 reporter @ Bonnyrigg Sports Club