White Eagles storm home to deny Sydney Olympic

olymipic


Sydney Olympic came out the stronger of the two teams and looked likely to cause an upset, but the home-side found their rhythm late in the first-half and stormed home to maintain second position in the NSW Premier League competition.
The match was only a minute old and the fans barely had enough time to take their seats when Milorad Simonovic unleashed a powerful drive in the direction of goal that excited the Bonnyrigg faithful. But, Sydney Olympic goalkeeper Paul Henderson, who did well to tap the ball over the post and away for a corner, denied the White Eagles the early opener.
Sydney Olympic weren?t fazed by the early threat and continued to push forward, rewarded with the first goal of the match in the 13? minute.
Dimitrios Petratos made a run down the right side and attracted Bonnyrigg goalkeeper Ali Akbal, creating space for Nikolas Tsattalios in the goal mouth who made no mistake back-heeling his shot into an empty net.
Cedric Ramirez was causing the White Eagles defence some problems and almost provided Olympic with their second goal late in the first-half.
The No.12 pushed away from his defender before cutting a ball back into the direction of the oncoming Matthew Mayora, but unfortunately for the visitors, Mayora?s effort went sailing wide of the target.
At the other end, Jamie McMaster showed Ramirez how to play a ball back into the middle, crossing to an unmarked Brad Boardman who headed his effort into the back of the net to equalise just before the break.
Michael Brown was hoping to give his side a one goal advantage when he pushed forward in the dying minutes of the opening period, but his effort on the volley trickled wide of the far post.
Ramirez had the final chance of the first-half when he latched on to a through ball, but the scores remained locked-up at the break after he pushed his shot high and wide.
Two of Bonnyrigg?s biggest names combined in the early passages of the second-half, but Boardman was unable to direct his header from a pin-point cross from Nathan Elasi.
Elasi again found himself in space down the left flank, showing off his fancy footwork to beat his man before unleashing a curling shot that thumped onto the crossbar.
From the ensuing play, Vuko Tomasevic drove deep into the box and smashed a shot straight into Henderson. The Sydney Olympic shot-stopper though only managed to push the ball into the path of Boardman, who tapped home from close-range for his second goal of the night.
The White Eagles were on top of Olympic in the second period, but against the run of play, the visitors found the equaliser.
Ramirez, who had a one-on-one opportunity against Akbal, turned the goalkeeper inside-out and looked destined to find the back of the net before a charging Michael Brown brought him to the ground.
The referee had no decision but to point to the spot and awarded Brown a yellow card, as Makrys made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-2 after 63? minutes.
McMaster should have hit straight back but he paid the price for being too casual on the ball, losing possession inside the box with a goal beckoning.
Consecutive corners for Bonnyrigg proved too difficult for Olympic to handle, as Nikola Zonjic capitalised on a curling Daniel Severino corner to head home and give his side the lead with 13? minutes remaining.
Severino then almost put the result beyond doubt with a free-kick, but his superb effort was thwarted by a brilliant diving save from Henderson.
However, there was going to be no denying Severino moments later, when Boardman beat his man to set up the midfielder with the header that sealed the three points for the home-side in injury time.
Brian Brown was ecstatic after the match and was full of praise for man of the match, Vuko Tomasevic:
?If anyone wanted a whole hearted midfielder for the A-League then Vuko Tomasevic would be outstanding,? Brown said.
?He and Jamie McMaster have been tying for man of the match nearly every week.?
Brown was pleased after his side showed the benefits of working hard at training:
?We?ve been working hard this week on our passing and moving and one and two touch football,? he said.
?It?s taken a while but I think it?s starting to come through for us.?
In the opposition shed, Sydney Olympic coach Pat Marando was proud of his side?s effort against the side he described as the ?Chelsea? of the NSW Premier League:
?We always knew that Bonnyrigg, or Chelsea ? would come out strong in the second-half,? Marando said.
?They?ve got players that can hurt you and we knew that but it?s very hard to stop players like Brad Boardman.?
Sydney Olympic played well in patches but Marando conceded his young side lacked the experience to overcome the class of the White Eagles:
?I think we gave them a good shake and I was impressed with their tenacity and exuberance to stick to the game plan.
?I think 4-2 doesn?t represent the game it was.?
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4 (Brad Boardman 41?, 71?, Nikola Zonjic 77?, Daniel Severino 90?+1?)
Sydney Olympic 2 (Nik Tsatalios 13?, Phil Makrys 63 pen?)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Bonnyrigg Sports Club, Bonnyrigg Heights
Crowd: 1400 Approx.
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Daniel Dewhurst & David Lockeridge
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Ali Akbal; 2.Paul Cotte, 4.Michael Brown, 6.Vuko Tomasevic, 7.Nikola Zonjic, 8.Milorad Simonovic, 9.Bradley Boardman, 11.Shane Webb, 15.Nathan Elasi (10.Daniel Severino 73?), 19.Jamie McMaster (13.Juan Chavez 90?+3?), 20.Wade Oostendorp
Substitutes Not Used: 5.Milan Zoric, 17.David Gullo, 90.Nenad Vekic.
Yellow Cards: Vuko Tomasevic 45?, Michael Brown 61?, Nikola Zonjic 66?
Red Cards: Nil

Sydney Olympic: 13.Paul Henderson; 23.Luke Gearin, 5.Tayfun Devrimol, 16.Steven Tibbetts 33.Nikolas Tsattalios (18.Jerry Kalouris 64?), 11.Phillip Makrys, 8.Chris Triantis, 15.Matthew Mayora (10.Anthony Doumanis 80?), 17.Iain Ramsay 7.Dimitrios Petratos, 12.Cedric Ramirez
Substitutes Not Used: 9.James Monie, 4.Josh Lawson, 20.L Turnbull
Yellow Cards: Phillip Makrys 71?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Vuko Tomasevic (BWE)
2 ? Brad Boardman (BWE)
1 ? Cedric Ramirez (SO)
-By Michael Chammas