Marconi Stallions outshine Bonnyrigg White Eagles in goalfest

The Stallions dominated proceedings and secured an important three-points against a Bonnyrigg side that started the match full of confidence following their last-ditch defeat of Sutherland Sharks in Round 9.
On this evening though, the White Eagles were second to every ball and were left to admire the speed, strength and skill of the Stallions? import-trio Ali Al-Hilfi, Kader Toure, Vamara Diarra.
Marconi Stallions took the lead with their first venture forward. A fine display of skill, and speed on the ball by Ben Vidaic started the Stallions move as Ali Al-Hilfi was picked out wide on the left. The Stallions? import drove a powerful effort across the face of goal from an acute angle, catching Ali Akbal unawares as the ball hit the inside of the post and finished in the back of the net.
The home-side?s reply was prompt with midfielders Milorad Simonovic and Daniel Willoughby looking most dangerous via dead-ball situations.
The Stallions nearly doubled their lead ? again via a swift counter-attack ? as a Bonnyrigg set-piece in the attacking third broke down. Kader Toure?s speed had the White Eagles defenders on the back-foot as the Cote D?Ivoire import played a defence splitting pass into the path of Alexander Canak. The former Liverpool Bossy midfielder had only Akbal to beat, though the White Eagles shot-stopper stood tall to thwart a certain goal.
Bonnyrigg?s first clear-cut chance arrived on 15? minutes as a floated Willougbhy effort was not dealt with by the Stallions James Chronopoulos. The Marconi custodian mistimed his venture off his goal-line, allowing Almir Dizdaric a look in on goal; the Stallions defence did well to scramble the ball away to safety.
Mark D?Alessandro?s strike on goal on 18? minutes took a wicked deflection off a Stallions defender, though Chronopoulos was alert to the danger and made a routine save.
Fredrick Graham?s involvement intensified from the 20? minute as his infiltrating runs from deep started to cause the Stallions rear-guard some stress. On 23? minutes, Graham left his marker routed to the spot as he opened up the right-flank for Ilkay Gurbuz; the White Eagles midfielder though failed to find a team-mate with his cross into the penalty-area.
Almir Dizdaric had the home supporters on their feet in the 27? minute as his headed effort smacked the crossbar with Chronopoulos visibly beaten. The Stallions goalkeeper was quick on his feet as he confidently claimed a follow-up effort by the White Eagles, preserving the visitors? one-goal lead.
The Stallions did double their lead on 38? minutes when a lapse in concentration by the White Eagles central defence allowed Kader Toure the chance to sneak in and slot past Akbal. Toure?s finish was ?world class?, toe-poking his effort with finesse to send the Stallions? bench into raptures.
Following the break, Marconi Stallions put the foot on the accelerator with some quick interchanges in the middle of the park. Al-Hilfi?s delicate touches, mixed with Toure?s trickery, twice presented the Stallions with goal-scoring opportunities inside of the opening 3? minutes; some desperate Bonnyrigg defending kept the home-side at bay.
On 51? minutes the Stallions did extended their lead. Vamara Diarra was quickest to re-act following a goalmouth scramble as he powerfully drove the ball home for the Stallions third goal of the night.
White Eagles? substitute Domenic Cutri nearly made an immediate impact with his first touch of the match. Cutri was lurking at the back post and managed to get a lunging effort on goal though Chronopoulos watched the ball finish wide of his up-right.
A blunder in the Bonnyrigg defence led to the Stallions fourth goal; captain Nahuel Arrarte was on hand to coolly slot the ball over an exposed Ali Akbal for an unassailable four-goal lead.
The visitors should have added a fifth one-minute later as a quick counter-attack down the left-flank provided Vidaic with a sight of goal. The burly striker?s lunging effort was parried at point-blank range by Akbal, denying the Marconi striker a goal that he would have certainly deserved following a positive performance.
Bonnyrigg did have an immense chance to pull a goal back on 68 ?minutes when Antonio Faria received the ball on the edge of the penalty-area. Faria took a touch and picked his spot, though his effort finished well-over the crossbar.
Bonnyrigg did get a goal back on 73? minutes when a poorly dealt with free-kick by the Stallions rear-guard allowed Simonovic a clear shot on goal from the edge of the penalty-area. Simonovic?s low-driven effort eluded the sea of legs in-front of him and finished in the bottom left-hand corner, much to the relief of the home supporters.
The goal seemed to spur the home-side into action as another set-piece brought about two big chances for Bonnyrigg. Ilkay Gurbuz?s headed effort fell into the path of Simonovic who hit another thunder-bolt effort on goal ? denied only by a fine Chronopoulos save down to his right. The ball fell into the path of Cutri who also saw his first-time effort – this one a snap-shot from close-range – parried again by the Stallions shot-stopper.
The Bonnyrigg final onslaught continued as Simonovic?s floated corner picked out Dizdaric who saw his powerful effort cleared off the goal-line. The Stallions quickly turned defence into attack as Al-Hilfi and Toure teased a White Eagles defence committed in attack; The Stallions pair toyed with their marker before Al-Hilfi scored his second of the night with a neat diagonal finish across Akbal?s goal.
Following the match, the victorious coach Lee Sterrey was happy with his side?s performance, though still believes his side has some improvements to make:
?Very happy with the win ? to come here and get a win is fantastic, especially to score five goals in the process,? Sterrey emphasised.
?In saying that, coaches always look for perfection and there are still some things that I would like to see improved on by the team.
?The Club has really supported me this season with the ideas I put forward. We haven?t gone out of our budget, though we have managed to bring a number of players into the team that we believe can really kick-start their careers, and also help this club win some silverware.
?The passion of these guys is immense; we had both Andrea (Merenda) and Nahuel (Arrarte) carrying pretty serious injuries into the match, and both probably could have come off at the break, though their passion ? along with that of the remainder of the team ? was demonstrated by their efforts.?
Bonnyrigg White Eagles boss Brian Brown was visibly disappointed at the loss, though remains adamant that his side will continue to challenge for a finals berth:
?It is disappointing, most definitely,? commented Brown.
?We were sluggish and gave away a couple of really simple goals which you cannot do against any team ? especially Marconi.
?I thought on the whole, we created as many chances as Marconi did and we should have done better, though their three imports were exceptional.
?We still have a long way to go, with fitness levels in particular something that we need to improve on. We?ll certainly have a test this week with the Cup (Tiger Turf Cup match against Sutherland based Association side Gymea on Wednesday) and then backing up again with the League,? concluded Brown.
In the Grade 20 division, Marconi Stallions recorded a 1-0 win over the White Eagles to keep their charge towards a Top-Four spot on-track. The Stallions have started the season somewhat below-par, though maximum points at Bonnyrigg certainly has their campaign on track following Round 10.
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Milorad Simonovic 73?)
Marconi Stallions 5 (Ali Al-Hilfi 5? 85?, Kader Toure 38?, Vamara Diarra 51?, Nahuel Arrarte 66?)
Saturday, 9th May, 2009
Bonnyrigg Sports Club, Bonnyrigg
Referee: Peter Vrtovski
Assistant Referees: Steven Nguyen and Christian Mehl
Fourth Official: C. Young
Crowd: 1,700 Approx.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 23.Ali Akbal; 5.Mark D?Alessandro, 6.Ilkay Gurbuz , 7.Nikola Zonjic, 8.Daniel Willoughby, 10.Fredrick Graham (14.Domenic Cutri 54?), 11.Almir Dizdaric, 17.Milorad Simonovic, 18.Tayfun Devrimol (C), 19.Antonio Faria, 20.Milan Zoric
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Nenad Vekic; 3.Drazen Janjic, 4.David Petrovic, 13.Nathan Rivera
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 2.Wade Oostendorp, 6.Vuko Tomasevic, 8.Alexander Canak (15.Tim McGowan 72?), 10.Ali Al-Hilfi, 7.Kader Toure, 17.Vamara Diarra, 13.Ben Vidaic, 23.Christopher Nunes, 26.Nahuel Arrarte (C) (18.Graziano Trimboli, 66?), 30.Andrea Merenda (4.Umut Tokdogan 58?)
Substitutes Not Used: 11.Matt Gordon, 20.Cem Akili
Yellow Cards: Christopher Nunes 31?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Ali Al-Hilfi (MS)
2 ? Kader Toure (MS)
1 ? Milorad Simonovic (BWE)
-By Joseph Carlucci