White Eagles off the mark with win at Wolves
Bonnyrigg White Eagles picked up their long awaited first victory of the season with a narrow 1-0 win over Wollongong Wolves on Sunday afternoon at WIN Stadium.
The crucial goal came in the second half courtesy of a delightful curled finish from outside the box by Aaron Peterson; a top quality strike that Bonnyrigg hope will kick start their 2018 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s campaign.
Both sides had their share of chances on the afternoon as the White Eagles twice struck the crossbar while Wolves had two goals ruled out for offside and were repeatedly denied by a top notch performance from David Bradasevic between the sticks.
Jacob Timpano’s men were left to rue what may have been while Brian Brown and co will look to build upon their result as they look to get their season back on track.
The hosts were first out of the blocks, going close in the opening minutes as Peter Simonoski headed Takuya Nozawa’s free kick over the crossbar before Brendan Griffin fizzed a shot past the post from 25-yards.
The White Eagles soon found their feet as they began to control the ball and assert themselves on the match.
Peterson looked lively as usual as he fed off the hard work of his teammates, yet it appeared that the more they created, the harder Wolves dug in as they kept the visitors at arm’s length.
While the Bonnyrigg were edged the first half on possession it was the Wolves that were on top in terms of chance creation, going close once again with Griffin firing wide after connecting with Nick Montgomery’s crafty back-heel.
Wolves had the ball in the back of the net midway through the half after Josh MacDonald ran onto Taylor McDonald’s lofted through-ball; the fleet-footed winger rounded Bradasevic and tucked the ball into an empty net only to has his effort chalked off for offside.
MacDonald was denied once again on the half hour mark, this time by James McKenzie who heroically cleared the ball off the line after MacDonald connected with Nozawa’s clever through-ball and lifted the ball over Bradasevic.
Both sides dug deep to break the deadlock before the interval, yet it wasn’t to be as Bonnyrigg captain Ray Miller went with a free kick that dipped just a little too late before MacDonald had yet another lobbed finish ruled out for offside at the other end.
After the sides returned from the sheds it appeared that Brian Brown’s half-time words hit the spot as Bonnyrigg looked substantially more threatening after the restart.
Jeewook Woo’s effort was blocked by Darcy Madden before Shervin Adeli’s header clipped the crossbar from Sam Gallaway’s brilliant cross.
Peterson should have opened the scoring on the hour mark when Miller found the striker in the box after a swift counter attack, however Pasfield pulled off a crucial save to tip the ball away at the expense of a corner.
Wolves created a few chances of their own at the other end with Nozawa volleying wide before Caoimhin Fowler and substitute Yuzo Tashiro were denied by a block and save respectively.
It was beginning to look like it wasn’t Bonnyrigg’s day in front of goal when when Adeli fired well over the crossbar after masterfully creating space for his shot, yet the miss would soon prove a mere hiccup as they found the decisive goal minutes later.
Peterson was the man of the moment, picking up the ball 25-yard from goal and curling a beautiful finish beyond Pasfield’s reach and into the back of the net to open the scoring and send the visitors bench into delirium.
It wasn’t smooth sailing from there as Wolves poured forward in search of an equaliser, forcing the visitors to defend in numbers.
Tashiro managed to slip through unmarked only to see his opportunity smothered at point blank by a determined Bradasevic.
Bonnyrigg remained a threat on the counter and came within inches of doubling their advantage as Gil Mun-Soo’s 30-yard howitzer that cannoned off the crossbar.
Wolves continued to throw numbers forward but Bradasevic once again on hand to crucially save Griffin’s effort as Bonnyrigg held on to claim their all-important first win of the season.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown was relieved to get the monkey off his side’s back today, one they’ll be looking to build upon ahead of next weekend’s derby match.
“I think we thoroughly deserved a win today,” smiled Brown.
“Certainly David (Bradasevic) made a couple of brilliant saves but I think we had the best chances of the game.
“And what a great goal to win the game!
“Before the game we spoke about the position we are in and how to get out of it and the first thing everyone has to do is stick together and battle their way.
“I cannot ask for a better performance from them than the one they put on today.
“That’s gone now, so we’ve got to go on to next week where we’ve got a tough game against Sydney United 58 for every reason – football and who the two clubs are – and we need to get these boys ready for it.”
Wollongong Wolves coach Jacob Timpano was left disappointed by the result having watched his side fail to find a way past Bradasevic without an offside flag intervening.
“I thought we had enough chances today to win a couple of games,” said Timpano.
“It was the same as last week against Sydney United, as I told the boys if we’re not going to put the ball in the back of the net then we’re not going to get anything.
“I thought today was the same, we had a couple in the net in the first half for offside, and their keeper I suppose was man of the match, but you’ve got to score to win games and we didn’t do that today.
“It’s disappointing, and until we start finding the back of the net that’ll keep happening so hopefully the boys learn quickly that we’ve got to be more ruthless in front of goal.”
Match Stats
Wollongong Wolves 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Aaron Peterson 77’)
Sunday 22nd April, 2018
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Referee: J. McFarlane
Assistants: M. McOrist, N. Wotton
4th Official: A. Mansour
Wollongong Wolves: 1. Justin Pasfield; 2. Taylor McDonald, 3. Darcy Madden, 4. Michael Robinson, 5. James Baldacchino, 6. Nicholas Montgomery, 8. Brendan Griffin, 9. Peter Simonoski, 10. Joshua Macdonald (23. Steven Hayes 79’), 21. Caoimhin Fowler (30. Yuzo Tashiro 71’), 40. Takuya Nozawa
Substitutes not used: 5. Ethan Kambisios, 15. James Markovac, 16. Luke Kairies
Yellow Cards: nil
Red Cards: nil
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 21. David Bradasevic; 3. David Vrankovic, 9. Aaron Peterson (12. Dean Bereveskos 90’), 10. Shervin Adeli (4. Nikola Krljar 87’), 13. James McKenzie, 14. Bradie Smith, 15. Raymond Miller (11.Asmir Kadric 90+1’), 16. Samuel Gallaway, 18. Gil Mun-Soo, 20. Benjamin Tosi, 22. Jeewook Woo
Substitutes not used: 1. James Chronopoulos, 17. James O’Rourke
Yellow Cards: Gil Mun-Soo 67’
Red Cards: nil
Player Ratings
3 – David Bradasevic (BWE)
2 – Josh MacDonald (WW)
1 – Aaron Peterson (BWE)
-By National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Michael Shoolman
