Demons dominant – White Eagles victorious
Poor finishing in-front of goal by the home-side, along with some desperate defending by the visitors, kept the White Eagles in the match throughout the tie as ?super-sub? Almir Dizdaric sealed the three-points with a well-taken goal on 68? minutes.
A lively Blacktown City Demons start had the home-side in full control early, with Joel Chianese and Chris Bedzo getting on the ball early, though the White Eagles conjured up the first attempt of note.
A corner from the left-flank found the free-head of Jay Lucas inside the penalty-area; the burly striker failed to hit the target with his powerful effort as the ball finished over the crossbar.
The Demons replied on 8? minutes when Joel Chianese got in behind the visitors defence to cut a nicely floated ball back from the byline. With the vocal Demons? supporters on their feet, Bedzo only just failed to get his head to the ball as the chance went begging.
A fairly open encounter ensued as both sets of midfielders found room to create for their strikers.
The Demons carved out arguably the clearest chances of the opening 15? minutes as Matt Lewis was played through on goal. With the White Eagles defenders back-tracking, Lewis cut back onto his right-foot before pulling the trigger and forcing goalkeeper Nenad Vekic into an exceptional save.
The resulting corner produced a goalmouth scramble where Luke Casserly first, saw his effort ricochet off the up-right, before Lewis? fierce follow-up effort on target was cleared off the line by a White Eagles defender.
Despite conceding the early chances, the visitors still proved a menace on the counter-attack. On 22? minutes Lucas picked up a loose ball inside the penalty-area following a set-piece from the right-flank. The striker took a touch to turn, though his first-time effort was thwarted by some desperate Demons defending.
Chianese?s youthful exuberance saw the Demons? number 17 cleverly beat his marker on the touchline at the 30? minute mark before creating some space to shoot on target. The Bonnyrigg defence did exceptionally well to retreat and thwart the Demons? forward foray.
The Demons should have taken the lead on 33? minutes when another smooth attacking raid started from deep provided the side a golden opportunity.
Matt Lewis was picked out on the left-flank and, from the byline, played a powerful ball across the face of goal with Chianese only just failing to get a touch to divert into what was an open goal.
At the other end, Michael Herbet kept his side on level terms as Ryan Baldacchino forced the shot-stopper into a good save following a fine slalom effort by the recent Bonnyrigg signing.
Blacktown City maintained their positive play in the attacking third with a swerving free-kick from the right-flank – misjudged by the Bonnyrigg defence – finishing inches wide of goal following the slightest of touches by a White Eagles defender.
Blacktown City?s Ray Miller was a ?nuisance? for the White Eagles defence down the right-flank. Miller orchestrated the final chance of the opening period with his blistering pace, though again the Bonnyrigg defence got numbers back to foil the midfielder?s efforts.
After the break, Bonnyrigg showed their intentions with some quick ball movement and some tough tackling on the Demons? younger players, though again the home-side created the first chance of note. Chianese picked up a short Lewis pass from the right-flank and did well to turn and shoot, though a wicked deflection sent the ball wide.
Ante Deur showed his bag of trickery on 51? minutes as he dribbled his way past three defenders before hitting an effort on target; the final shot lacked power, though did pick up a deflection, and a corner, for the Demons.
Bonnyrigg again proved they are a danger on the counter-attack as a swift move started in the side?s own half created a fine chance for Lucas in attack. A floated cross from the right-flank picked out Lucas; the striker powerfully headed on goal though Herbet stood tall to make a routine save.
Chris Bedzo was guilty of squandering a golden chance just over the hour as Chianese?s relentless pace down the left allowed the speedster to play a pass into the path of Bedzo. With only the goalkeeper to beat, the Demons? number 8 took too long to shoot on target, and the opposing defence quickly killed off the chance.
Totally against the run of play, the White Eagles stunned the home crowd with the opening goal. A wonderful searching ball from deep picked out ?super-sub? Almir Dizdaric; the striker brought the ball down nicely off his chest and beat goalkeeper Herbet with a powerful diagonal effort into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
To the Demons? credit, the side continued to force their way forward despite the goal conceded. Miller almost caught goalkeeper Vekic unawares with a long-range effort; the shot-stopper got down well to parry the effort wide.
Bonnyrigg certainly did find a ?spring in their shoe? following the goal as chances to Dizdaric and Zivkovic did follow soon after. The visitors remained composed in defence also, despite conceding a lot of possession in their defensive third.
After the referee?s final whistle, Bonnyrigg White Eagles boss Brian Brown was ecstatic that his side picked up three-points against a strong opponent:
?I am very happy with the result, a coach is always happy after a win,? Brown commented.
?Tonight we played a strong Blacktown City side. We talked about them during the week, and knowing that they had two players sent off last weekend and managed to still pull through for a draw (against Sydney Tigers), we knew that they would be out there eager to bounce back.
?We did concede a lot of possession and they did dominate throughout the first-half, though I thought our defence did remain strong.
?In the second-half we made a few changes and we got our goal. Jay?s pass (Jay Lucas) was tremendous and the finish by Almir (Dizdaric) equally impressive,? Brown ended.
Blacktown City Demons? Ken Schembri was disappointed with the result, though pleased with the efforts of his players:
?My guys were great tonight, I can?t fault them,? said Schembri.
?We worked hard during the week and we knew how we wanted to play tonight. I thought we were on top throughout the match and we deserved to win.
?Unfortunately, if you do not score goals you will not win matches ? and we didn?t score.
?It is disappointing though again I cannot fault my players ? except for not scoring,? Schembri concluded.
In the Grade 20 division, Blacktown City Demons continued their giant-killing form with an emphatic 3-0 win against the White Eagles.
Blacktown City Demons 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Almir Dizdaric 68?)
Saturday, 27th of June, 2009
Gabbie Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Gerard Parsons
Assistant Referees: Christian Mehl and Paul Faithfull
Fourth Official: Brendan Johansen
Crowd: 500 Approx.
Blacktown City Demons: 1.Michael Herbet; 2.Tyler Simpson, 3.Paul Karbon, 4.Luka Dukic, 5.Daniel Wilkinson, 6.Luke Casserly (C) (11.Nick Sama 85?), 8.Chris Bedzo (14.Gavin Forbes 73?), 15.Ray Miller, 16.Ante Deur, 17.Joel Chianese, 29.Matthew Lewis
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Brody Crane, 13.Ben Ellis, 18. Akawasi Agyei
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Nenad Vekic; 2.Paul Cotte, 3.Graeme Forbes, 5.Mark D?Alessandro, 9.Jay Lucas, 12.Andre Gumprecht, 13.Ryan Baldacchino, 17.Milorad Simonovic (8.Daniel Willoughby 70?), 18.Tayfun Devrimol (C), 19.Vulkasan Ristic (10.Dejan Zivkovic 58?), 20.Milan Zoric (11.Almir Dizdaric 46?)
Substitutes Not Used: 23.Ali Akbal, 6.Ilkay Gurbuz
Yellow Cards: Almir Dizdaric 63?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joseph Carlucci
