White Eagles claim top spot with victory over Stallions

Not only was this encounter a local derby, it was a battle royal for the prime position on the NSW Premier League ladder.
In the end Bonnyrigg White Eagles secured all three points to overtake Marconi and gain first place in a faultless display of football.
Bonnyrigg?s coach and former Stallions manager Brian ?Bomber? Brown certainly couldn?t hide his delight after the game.
?I am very happy because it was a top-of-the-table clash and getting the victory puts us at the top of the table,? he said.
?It was a great game as you would expect, but I was a little bit surprised by Marconi really because they just tried to hit long balls, whereas we tried to play a bit of football.
?At times we fell into the trap of over-playing it and they [Marconi] were just trying to hit us on the counter-attack.?
The first real chance of the game didn?t arrive until the 26? minute when Laurence Braude beautifully rounded the defence on the right of the park and then served up a nice ball for Alex Canak, but somehow the latter failed to score thanks to a wonderful intervention by Paul Cotte against his former club as he courageously placed his body between the ball and the goal line.
Marconi?s passionate coach Lee Sterrey ironically saw this first real chance as the turning point of the game because had Marconi scored it would have been a totally different ball game.
?The game changed because of this,? he said. ?We had two against the goalkeeper, we cruised through at low speed and the ball to Canak was a bad one because it should have really had more weight on it.
?A few minutes later they [Bonnyrigg] go down the other end and I had a defender [Christopher Nunes] who gave away a penalty.
?At the end of the day every defender on the park should be goal side of the opposition player and that was just bad gift,? Sterrey said.
?We should have led 1-0 instead they go 1-0 up thanks to our gift in the form of a penalty. If we had have scored, Bonnyrigg would have been chasing the game and that makes a big difference.?
In the 30? minute Bonnyrigg White Eagles opened the scoring when Daniel Severino neatly placed a penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net just past an outstretched James Chronopoulos.
The penalty was awarded to the home side after Nunes brought down David Gullo in the penalty box in a very clumsy challenge.
In fact the Marconi player can thank the generosity of referee Kurt Ams that he didn?t at least receive a yellow card.
Just prior to the break Marconi were forced to use the hero of their midweek McDonald?s Cup game, Matthew Hall, who entered the arena after Erick Anabalon picked up an injury.
And, right on the 45? minute mark, Hall should have scored when Canak gave him a magical ball but thanks to the excellent defending from Nikola Zonjic, who forced him to run wide, Bonnyrigg were spared an equaliser.
However, Hall perhaps should have taken a shot himself first time rather than looking to advance his position when he only had the goalkeeper to beat.
?Overall, our first half was good except for that little bit of execution, but we had the game set up for a win and didn?t through our poor execution,? Sterrey said
Early in the second half a trademark powerful free kick from ex-Stallion Severino from just outside the box narrowly sailed wide of the mark.
Marconi replied in 58? minute when Canak blasted a shot from outside the box that was neatly turned away for a corner by the home side?s ?keeper.
Severino then received a lovely ball from Milorad Simonovic on the right but somehow his flat cross was lightly deflected and finished just wide of the mark.
In the 73? minute Bonnyrigg scored their second of the evening when Jamie McMaster found himself on the end of a beautiful move that was superbly built up from the midfield, with the ball shifting from left to right, before Nathan Elasi finally found the former Leeds United player at the far post. McMaster tucked home the second and final goal of the match which sent the vocal home fans into raptures.
The goal was absolutely magnificent because of the myriad of passes that led to it and coach Brian Brown certainly didn?t miss it in his post-match evaluation.
?The highlight of the game was this second goal,? he said. ?It was as good as it gets because there was great football, a great build-up and a good finish.?
Late in the game Canak couldn?t quite create enough space between himself, Cotte and White Eagles goalkeeper Ali Akbal because his shot from close range was almost in except for Cotte?s intervention who forced it away for a corner.
Right at the death Bonnyrigg should really have made it three when Elasi somehow found himself charging away with ample space and time, but in the end his shot was blocked by Chronopoulos? diving legs and then he headed the rebound over the woodwork.
It was a classic double chance and one that really should have been put away by the former Melbourne Victory player but it didn?t matter.
Bonnyrigg were victors and nobody could take any credit away from a truly magnificent home performance.
?Our boys worked really hard and we are carrying a few injuries at the moment, so it is great to get through these games,? coach Brian Brown concluded.
Meanwhile, in the Grade 20s Bonnyrigg White Eagles defeated Marconi Stallions 1-0.
Match Stats
BONNYRIGG WHITE EAGLES 2 (Daniel Severino 30? (pen.), Jamie McMaster 73?
MARCONI STALLIONS 0
Venue: Bonnyrigg Sports Centre
REFEREE:  Kurt Ams
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Daniel Dewhurst and Sam Backo
4th OFFICIAL: Cameron Bruce
BONNYRIGG WHITE EAGLES:  1. Ali Akbal, 2. Paul Cotte, 20. Wade Oostendorp, 8. Milorad Simonovic, 11. Shane Webb, 5. Milan Zoric, 7. Nikola Zonjic, 19. Jamie McMaster, 10. Daniel Severino 17. David Gullo (4. Michael Brown 84?), 9. Brad Boardman (15. Nathan Elasi 60?).
Subs not used: 16. Stephan Heleta, 13. D. Laiman, 80. S. Maric
YELLOW CARDS: Gullo 37?
RED CARDS: Nil
MARCONI STALLIONS: 22. James Chronopoulos, 2. Brenton Rhodes, 5. Adel El Jamal, 8. Alex Canak, 9. Erick Anabalon (15. Matthew Hall 41?), 10. Graziano Trimboli (7. Tim McGowan 65?), 11. Matthew Gordon (18. Jarod Lum 71?), 17. Laurence Braude, 23. Christopher Nunes, 26. Nahuel Arrarte, 42. Giorgio Speranza.
Subs not used: 21. Jose Bello-Amigo, 4. Umut Tokdogan
YELLOW CARDS: Chronopoulos 63?, McGowan 88?
RED CARDS: Nil
-By Joe Russo