Olympic and White Eagles share the spoils on Bosnich debut
The real action however took a while to begin with both teams playing weary football, and it was not until the 17? minute for the first clear-cut chance to fall to the White Eagles.
Bonnyrigg midfielder Daniel Willoughby made a great darting run down the flank to cross to a free Jay Lucas who had his headed attempt glance past the right post, as Mark Bosnich watched the ball finish wide.
Only 2? minutes later and the White Eagles almost conceded at the other end in comical fashion. Running back towards an out-coming Nenad Vekic, Graham Forbes headed the ball past the goalkeeper and had to run back to save what would have been a very poor own goal.
After making a diving save to bring the crowd to their feet, Mark Bosnich conceded a goal, though was grateful to see the linesman?s flag up for offside.
Sydney Olympic created their best chance of the half on 38? minutes. A Mark Bosnich free-kick reached his opposite goalkeeper, however Tolgay Ozbey was on hand to win the ball before being brought down; the referee was left with no choice but to point to the spot.
In what was a shock to the healthy crowd, Chris Triantis? penalty was well saved by impressive youngster Nenad Vekic, ensuring both teams would go in at the break with the scores locked at 0-0.
Sydney Olympic came out all guns blazing in the second-half, with the Blues in desperate need for maximum points.
In the 49? minute Ozbey again had the chance to bury the ball after turning on the ball in the box but hitting a poor shot directly at Vekic.
Only minutes later and Ozbey was again involved in a good opportunity. A beautiful lead-up play by Ozbey and Chris Triantis saw the ball fall to Emmanuel Zunino, however he blasted the ball over the crossbar as the crowd began to get frustrated with both side?s finishing.
A good cross to the far post by Adam Biddle in the 61? minute hit Emmanuel Giannaros? head, directed back towards goal, but a very soft shot by Wither fell to the waiting Vekic who was having a great game in goal for Bonnyrigg.
The opening goal of the match arrived on 68? minutes for the home-side. After a silly free-kick conceded by Michael Cindric, in-form striker Jay Lucas hit a great curling free-kick over the wall and into the bottom right-hand corner of Mark Bosnich?s goal to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead.
Sydney Olympic then went all out attack as they searched for the equaliser. Following a great tackle that blocked a shot in the Eagles box, a through ball by Chris Triantis in the 73? minute found a waiting Tolgay Ozbey who stepped past his marker and shot under Vekic.
With the Eagles shocked after such a quick equaliser, they let the pressure get the better of them and reverted to long-range shooting in search of a winner.
A returning Anthony Doumanis entered the playing field on 79? minutes and added an extra spark to the Olympic attack, however could not help the team get the much needed win.
Following the match, a very excited Mark Bosnich spoke of his first hit-out in the TeleChoice Premier League:
?It was actually a good game and much harder than I thought it would be. I played against a State League side when at the Mariners and we saw they did have potential.
?I am a bit sore after diving and landing onto the goal line to save the line where the football post insertions are but apart from that I am feeling good and looking forward to the next game,? Bosnich commented.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 1 (Tolgay Ozbey 73?)
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Jay Lucas 68?)
Sunday, 7th of June, 2009
Bonnyrigg Sports Ground, Bonnyrigg
Crowd: 1763
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo & Lance Greenshield
Fourth Official: Andrew Brown
Sydney Olympic: 13.Mark Bosnich; 3.Emmanuel Zunino, 4.Mirko Jurijl, 5.Michael Cindric, 6.Emmanuel Giannaros, 7.Peter McPherson, 8.Paul Wither (10.Anthony Doumanis 79?), 11.Tolgay Ozbey (19.Ken Chun 88?), 14.Chris Triantis, 18.Adam Biddle, 22.Peter Zorbas (C)
Yellow Cards: Peter Zorbas 1?, Michael Cindric 68?
Red Cards: Nil
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Nenad Vekic; 2.Paul Cotte, 3.Graham Forbes, 5.Mark D?Alessandro, 8.Daniel Willoughby (13.Ryan Baldachino 68?), 9.Jay Lucas, 11.Almir Dizdaric (14.Domenic Cutri 68?), 12.Andre Gumprecht, 17.Milorad Simonovic, 18.Tayfun Devrimol (C), 20.Milan Zoric
Yellow Cards: Mark D?Alessandro 55?, Daniel Willoughby 59?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Chris Georgakopoulos
