Vranic hat-trick compounds White Eagles’ woes
Sutherland Sharks produced a counter-attacking masterclass on Saturday evening to defeat a win-less Bonnyrigg White Eagles by a 3-0 scoreline at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre.
Adrian Vranic did all the damage with a marvelous hat-trick as Grant Lee’s men defied the odds to take all three points from their out of form yet highly fancied opposition who remain at the foot of the ladder with no wins for 2018.
The hero of the evening headed his side into the lead with the first opportunity of the match before doubling his side’s advantage from the penalty spot in the second half.
Vranic then put the icing on the cake in the closing minutes with his third of the evening to seal an impressive away victory and take home the match ball.
The match featured an incredible quantity of defensive blocks from the Sharks as their organised and aggressive defence showed a perfect blend of character and desperation to firmly hold onto an impressive clean sheet.
The result compounds a frustrating spell for Bonnyrigg who will need to dust themselves off over the coming weeks to get their 2018 National Premier Leagues NSW campaign to remotely follow the predicted script.
Both sides went into the match missing key men with both Tynan Diaz and Nick Olsen ruled out for an extended period through unfortunate injuries.
The hosts began the game patiently as they looked to shed their winless start to the season by calmy controlling possession, dictating the tempo, and forging opportunities for themselves.
At the other end Sharks looked defensively organised from the outset as they sought to absorb pressure and break forward with speed whenever opportunity arose.
The latter tactic bore fruit early on as Vranic opened the scoring for Sharks with the first opening of the night.
The lively Leroy Jennings was the creator, cutting into the box from the right flank before beating his marker with a stepover and teeing up Ryoga Suyama in front of goal.
David Bradasevic did well to save the Japanese midfielder’s attempted finish only Vranic to pop up and opportunistically head the ball into an open net.
The White Eagles continued to pick away at their resilient opponents and should equalised after the quarter hour mark when the in-form Aaron Peterson found himself one-on-one with Ryan Norval.
Having bagged a brace last weekend there was perhaps no better candidate to put the hosts on level terms, but the visiting custodian made himself large to block Peterson’s finish before Shervin Adeli volleyed the rebound wide of goal.
Peterson was presented another golden opportunity midway through the opening half after some excellent lead up work on the left flank slipped the striker into the box only for Norval to deny him once again with a brilliant reflex save to tip the ball wide for a corner.
The hosts continued to pile on the pressure yet continued to be wasteful in front of goal as Sutherland successfully saw out their lead going into the interval.
The players emerged from the tunnel for the second half to produce more of the same as the White Eagles continued to control the game before running into Sutherland’s defensive stronghold.
Lachlan Everett threatened for the visitors soon after the restart, flashing shot wide of goal from the edge of the box.
At the other end Jewood Woo compounded an off night in front of goal for himself with a wayward header after an excellent setup from Benjamin Tosi.
The crowd jumped to their feet in anticipation midway through the second half when Ray Miller lifted a graceful cross toward Peterson on the edge of Sutherland’s 6-yard-box. The striker rose well to drive a header goalward only to see his effort deflected wide of goal by Robert Watson, giving a clear indication that it wasn’t going to be Bonnyrigg’s night.
With frustration levels rising for the home crowd, things soon went from bad to worse when another swift counter attack from the visitors culminated in Jennings being felled in the box, giving the referee no option but to award a penalty.
Vranic stepped up confidently to send the Bradasevic the wrong way and double Sharks’ advantage.
The goal took the wind out of Bonnyrigg’s sails as they began to attack with fewer numbers and less intent.
Sutherland were not finished there though, finding the inspiration for one final counter attack that saw Vranic wrap up a memorable match with his third goal of the night.
Sutherland Sharks’ coach Grant Lee was delighted with the result after his side dug deep to produce an upset victory by a convincing scoreline.
“I’m very happy with the result,” beamed Lee.
“It’s a hard place to come to.”
“A lot of teams aren’t used to playing on grass and when you look at it the corners are thick and heavy and it’s bumby in the middle so it levels out anything that both teams can offer.
“It’s been a tough venue to come to after the week that we’ve had, so it was lovely to bounce back and do well.”
Sharks impressive defensive display was the base upon which tonight’s result was built, leaving Lee satisfied with their performance after a tough week of football.
“It was good defending,” remarked Lee.
“You have to have desperation in defence and be willing to make sure they do not get a shot away as you don’t want you keeper to make saves.
“If it gets through and he makes saves like he did tonight then that’s fantastic as that’s his job, but a good keeper will make sure that his defence doesn’t let the ball through.
“I thought that bit of desperation, urgency, and character, which is a big thing for us after watching our game against Sydney United 58 when it wasn’t a 3-0 game, but a really tight one lost on naivety, then backing up with another 120 minute of cup football where we got a couple of terrible injuries, then to come up here and play away from home and back it up with that kind of result was a great sign of character for us.
“This will hold us in really good stead to push us forward into this season.”
Bonnyrigg White Eagles’ coach Brian Brown was left frustrated after watching his side fall victim to their opponents after wasting a handful of quality opportunities to impact upon the match.
“It was very frustrating,” said a deflated Brown.
“It typifies our season as we again lost to bad goals through bad defending.
“In pre-season we had people playing out of their skins, defending well, and looking good, and now I don’t know where all of that has gone, but it is what it is.
“Now Sutherland beat us 3-0 and were probably the worst team we’ve played so far this season, which pretty much sums it up I think.”
Brown now has a mammoth task on his hands to restore the confidence within his side to turn things around and kick start their season as the club is also struggling in the Club Championship.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” explained Brown.
“They’re a great bunch of boys, we just need to get them to gel.
“The commitment is there, but there is some immaturity in that they think they’re great footballers when they’re nowhere near great footballers.
“They’ve got a lot to learn but we’ve just got to keep going and can’t give in.”
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Vranic 5’, penalty 69’, 84’)
Saturday 14th April, 2018
Bonnyrigg Sports Club, Bonnyrigg
Referee: P. Mattei
Assistants: R. Osborne, J. Bell
4th Official: N. McOrist
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 21. David Bradasevic; 3. David Vrankovic, 9. Aaron Peterson, 10. Shervin Adeli (2. Aaron Avery 64’), 13. James McKenzie (17. James O’Rourke 32’), 14. Bradie Smith, 15. Raymond Miller, 16. Samuel Gallaway, 18. Gil Mun-Soo, 20. Benjamin Tosi (12. Dean Bereveskos 64’), 22. Jeewook Woo
Substitutes not used: 1. James Chronopoulos, 4. Nikola Krljar
Yellow Cards: nil
Red Cards: nil
Sutherland Sharks: 1. Ryan Norval; 2. Jacob Tratt, 6. Lachlan Everett, 9. Adrian Vranic, 10. Joshua Da Silva (5. Bradley Bartels 80’) , 12. Blair Brown, 13. Robert Watson, 15. Nick Littler, 16. Ryoga Suyama (32. James Temelkovski 61’), 17. Leroy Jennings (11. Hristjan Tanoski 88’), 20. Keisuke Hayashi
Substitutes not used: 4. Hayden Morton, 21. Nikolas Loe
Yellow Cards: Joshua Da Silva 36’
Red Cards: nil
Player Ratings
3 – Adrian Vranic (SS)
2 – Ryan Norval (SS)
1 – Raymond Miller (BWE)
-By National Premier Leagues NSW Mens reporter Michael Shoolman
