Football NSW will provide live updates from that match so stay tuned.
Rockdale City Suns v Marconi Stallions washed out
Football NSW will advise of the replay of this match in coming weeks.
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers snatch a point from Bonnyrigg
Brad Boardman scored the game?s opening goal before Robert Younis equalised from the penalty spot to end the game level.
After both sides started the season with draws in the first round, it was evident a win was the only thing on their minds from the first whistle.
A.P.I.A.?s night started on the best note as a long ball from their defence was loosely headed back to the goalkeeper by White Eagles defender Michael Robinson. The mix up led to Ben Spruce bringing down Robert Younis with the referee calling a penalty.
To the Tiger?s dismay however Phil Zabaks dived to his right to save Younis? penalty as his defence cleared the ball for a corner.
The Tigers continued their great start as David D?Apuzzo attacked with venom in the 8? minute before laying the ball off to Nicola Rizzo to shoot just over the target.
Rizzo was not going to go away as a minute later a scrappy Bonnyrigg clearance from a corner fell to the midfielder, though his effort finished inches wide of the left upright.
Within seconds the White Eagles took the ball up field and had their first chance on goal. Great play on the left led to Brad Boardman passing the ball to Nathan Elasi who shot on the volley – denied be a diving Jose Bello-Amigo save.
Bonnyrigg finally settled into the match and started taking advantage of the Tigers? narrow formation as they played the ball out wide and passing with conviction.
In the 20? minute Bonnyrigg opened the scoring as a great through ball led to the ever ready Brad Boardman finding the back of the net. The striker?s half volley into the bottom right corner of the goal left Bello-Amigo helpless as the Bonnyrigg supporters applauded.
6? minutes later and the Eagles almost had their second. After Nathan Elasi was brought down outside the penalty-area, Daniel Severino stepped up to take the free-kick. The ball left Severino?s foot with great curl but not enough to sneak into the A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt goal.
The Tigers? frustration at not seeing much of the ball started to show as two rash challenges ended in David D?Apuzzo receiving a yellow card.
From the ensuing free-kick Severino bent the ball from the left to a free Nikola Zonjic who headed the ball over the crossbar from point-blank range.
On the stroke of half-time, the visiting Tigers? night could have gotten worse with Bello-Amigo stepping out of his box while throwing the ball out. Severino again stepped up and tested the keeper curving the ball over the wall and hitting the crossbar to end the half at 1-0.
Bonnyrigg started the second-half much like they ended the first with great attacking flair keeping their opposition on the back foot.
2? minutes into the half a great ball out to the left to Chris Tadrosse allowed him to get around Mark Byrnes and cut towards goal but his cross to Boardman was hit wide of the mark.
A.P.I.A. continued to try and calm the play down but several turnovers led to more Bonnyrigg attacks.
After another A.P.I.A. mistake Bonnyrigg swiftly moved the ball up field leading to Elasi shooting from range and just missing the top left-hand corner in the 52? minute.
Bonnyrigg?s lack of finishing off their chances unsettled the home crowd as the Tigers slowly got back into the match.
It wasn?t long before the Eagles would have another chance as great lead-up play to Zonjic saw the midfielder feed Elasi, who flicked the ball through to Wade Oostendorp, before the latter had his shot smothered Bello-Amigo.
A.P.I.A.?s thirst for a goal would not be quenched as several long balls were easily taken by Zabaks in goal.
The Tigers put the ball on the ground and played a neat ball through to Robert Younis in the 74? minute but the striker could not get the better of Robinson in defence as the ball was quickly cleared.
Bonnyrigg had another chance minutes later as Oostendorp floated a free-kick into the box for Boardman to head across goal but Elasi could not convert, instead hitting a soft shot to the chest of Bello Amigo.
The game was turned on its head in the 68? minute as against the run of play A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt were given their second penalty of the night.
After missing the first penalty, Younis redeemed himself this time slamming the ball to the right of Zabaks.
The goal seemed to lift the intensity of both teams, and the fans, as each team looked to get the upper hand.
In the 80? minute Boardman had Bello-Amigo struggling on his line as he shot just wide of the goal.
2? minutes later Elasi received the ball from out wide and turned his defender easily. However, after taking too much time on the ball, his shot was blocked and cleared by the Leichhardt defence.
A.P.I.A tried to snatch their second goal against the run of play as a long ball by Chris James found D?Apuzzo out wide. D?Appuzzo?s effort across the face of goal failed to pick out a team-mate.
In the dying stages of the match Severino had another free-kick excellently saved by a diving Bello-Amigo to end the match at 1-1.
Following the match A.P.I.A Leichhardt Tigers’s Under 20s coach Rod Williams said he was happy with the draw.
?I thought we played well in the first 15? or 20? minutes and should have been in front with the penalty,?? he said.
?But we kept our structure for the whole game and made it very hard for Bonnyrigg.
?Bonnyrigg finished strong but congratulations to the boys for the performance because I believe we troubled them for most of the game.??
Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown was sitting on the other side of the fence believing his side should have taken the three-points:
?It disappointing we didn?t take just one more chance and win the game,?? Brown said.
?I think we deserved to win it with our overall performance but there were a lot of things we did tonight that wasn?t what we expect.
?Jose Bello-Amigo is also a quality keeper and I think in the end he is the difference between the two sides.??
In the Grade-20 fixture A.P.I.A Leichhardt Tigers proved to be a class above Bonnyrigg ending the match 6-1 victors.
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Brad Boardman 20?)
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Robert Younis 69?)
Saturday 3rd April, 2011
Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg
Referee: Kris Griffith-Jones
Crowd: 500 Approx.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 99.Phil Zabaks (gk); 4.Wade Oostendorp (12.Takuya Murayama 74?), 9.Brad Boardman, 5.Chris Tadrosse (C), 7.Nathan Elasi, 6.Ben Spruce, 17.Michael Robinson, 10.Daniel Severino, 19.Jamie McMaster (15.Wely Al-Rikaby 74?), 11.Shane Webb, 3.Nicola Zonjic
Substitutions Not Used: 16. David Vrankovic
Yellow Cards: Ben Spruce 2?, Daniel Severino 59?, Jamie McMaster 61?
Red Cards: Nil
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Jose Bello-Amigo (gk); 10.Franco Parisi, 23.Chris James, 2.Mark Byrnes (17.Matthew Fsadni 75?), 3.John Kelso, 11.Nicola Rizzo, 4.Cole Tinkler, 5.Michael West, 7.Stephen Kayes, 13.David D?Apuzzo, 9.Robert Younis
Substitutions Not Used: 22. Terry Dal Broi
Yellow Cards: 13. D?Apuzzo 29?, Matthew Fsadni 78?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Daniel Severino (BWE)
2 – Nathan Elasi (BWE)
1 – Chris James (ALT)
-By Chris Georges
All square between Rockdale City Suns and Sydney FC
Suns coach Lee Sterrey used this match as good preparation for their huge derby clash against staunch rivals Bankstown City FC this Saturday evening at the same venue and the players did not disappoint in what was a good showing by Rockdale.
For Sydney, it was a good encounter to continue its preparations for the Asian Champions League with their next AFC match set for the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday 6th April against Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua (8pm kick-off).
Sydney FC started with a host of their star players with the likes of Bruno Cazarine, David Williams, Nick Carle and Mark Bridge to name a few while the Suns fielded a fairly strong squad with skipper Peter Apoleski, former Newcastle Jets youth stars Jason Naidovski and Steve Veleski and ex-Sydney FC National Youth League player Giorgio Speranza in the starting line-up.
The match was 0-0 at half-time but it was the second half where all the action hit fever pitch as Sydney FC struck first via former Sydney Olympic youngster Dimitri Petratos in the 76th minute.
Petratos pounced and hit a decisive volley after a defensive mix-up in the Suns back-line which led to the Sky Blues? first goal.
Drama struck though during extra-time as the Suns faithful had something to cheer about when Sash Tirovski played a neat ball to Marino Musumeci who tapped in from close range after a blunder in the Sydney FC defence that led to the home team?s equaliser.
Overall a fantastic hit-out for Sydney FC while the Suns put on a good display in front of a healthy crowd at Rockdale.
-By Mark Stavroulakis
Special Feature: Panny Nikas ? Home at the Sharks
?I haven?t played a full match for about two months now so I?m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and doing my best for the Sharks.?
Playing a couple of seasons, albeit with very short breaks during the previous NSW State League campaigns, has surely seen a number of changes both for and in the lad and he readily admits this is the case: ?The pace of the game is faster in the A-League and physically and mentally tougher so I have been hardened to a higher standard for want of a better term but being back at Sutherland is like coming home really as most of the players are still here and I just want to do my best for the team and let the A-League side of things sort themselves out so I can concentrate on my football.
?I hope I can impose the experience in games I?ve learnt and adopt the same attitude to matches I?ve always had hopefully carry on in the right manner.?
The differences are plain to see going from part-time football to full-time training although missing the better part of the 1st half of the A-League season has inured a discipline that has seen him put on a little more muscle and in pre-season games shown a quicker reaction time, better reading of the game and not a little extra pace: ?Yeah, full-time training certainly quickens you up and physically and mentally makes you sharper so hopefully I can put that to good use.?
Sutherland Sharks took on another powerhouse NSW Premier League side and reigning Champions in Blacktown City for the season opener at Seymour Shaw Park and he wasn?t about to underestimate them: ?They are always a hard team to play and have lost a couple of players and with a new coach they are unlikely to be any easier to beat this season than any other and we are usually quite slow starters but we?ll look for the three points and if we do the right things we can certainly get them but I am expecting a tough first game back.?
The match however went the home side?s way with Nikas playing an influential role alongside the likes of Nick Stavroulakis, Jim Bakis, Matt Bailey and Sam Awad with a 2-1 victory at the Sharks palace.
Nikas, for all the ups and downs of A-League experiences during the last two summers, has returned the same level headed and delightful young man he has always been and that surely goes down to his parents who are equally endearing and no doubt wishing Panni all the best for the campaign, as all fans will be.
The NSW Premier League is all the better for the likes of Nikas playing in it and moving on to higher grades which is why, in many cases, it can rival bigger competitions as everyone who plays in it wants to achieve so much more.
-By Micky Brock