Sydney United claim derby spoils
The round 4 match was rescheduled after heavy rain hit Sydney that weekend which prompted the game to be postponed and played on a later date.
The victory is bitter sweet for Jean Paul De Marigny?s men with the Reds securing their first victory over Bonnyrigg since the Eagles promotion from the NSW Super League in 2009.
The fantastic surface at Lily Homes allowed both sides to play fast and free flowing football with plenty of action at both ends.
Both sides produced a number of clear cut chances with the first falling to Sydney United midfielder Steve Hayes who was played one on one with Bonnyrigg shot stopper Phil Zabaks, after a delightful set up by Elsid Barkhousir, only to smash his shot directly into the body of the on-rushing keeper.
Sydney United continued to mount the early pressure on the Eagles and almost took the lead in the 9? minute after a glancing header by Barkhousir hit the far post, after some excellent work by Luka Glavas on the right hand flank, the follow up by Ben Vidaic was poor with the forwards shot scuffed wide from 6 yards out.
Bonnyrigg came to life after the early scare and created their first chance through forward Brad Boardman. Boardman timed his run to a Chris Tadrosse ball over the top perfectly, playing himself one on one with Sydney United keeper Vedran Janjetovic. At an acute angle, Boardman chose to shoot rather than play the ball to the open Jamie McMaster, blasting his shot into Janjetovic.
It was United though who broke the deadlock in the 15? minute, Barkhousir played a beautiful chip over the Bonnyrigg defence playing Glavas through. The striker had a lot to do to score, with the presence of defender Michael Robinson on his shoulder and Phil Zabaks rushing out, Glavas volleyed home a well placed shot from just outside the 18 yard box which struck the inside of the far upright on its way through.
As Premiership sides do, Bonnyrigg White Eagle were undeterred by the goal and were on the attack soon after through none other than Boardman. The forward again timed his run perfectly after a Tadrosse chip, cutting back to midfielder Takuya Murayama whose shot was blocked on the line, the follow up by Boardman was well saved by Janjetovic.
Bonnyrigg thought they had equalised in the 34? minute through midfielder Daniel Severino, but his goal was disallowed for offside.
Boardman was again wreaking havoc on the United defence, this time off a set play with his glancing header off a Diaz corner only inches over Janjetovic?s crossbar on 36? minutes.
It seemed like it wasn?t going to go in for Boardman, however the striker came through for the Eagles scoring soon after off a similar play. A perfectly weighted Diaz corner was met by Boardman whose darting run was unchecked by the United defence, the forward headed home from inside the 6 yard box.
As the momentum seemed to swing in Bonnyrigg?s favour, United hit back, Hayes found room on the right hand flank and swung in an excellent cross to the far post which was met by midfielder Ante Tomic. Tomic, sprinting in to meet the cross, headed powerfully past Zabaks giving the keeper no chance. United headed into the break with their lead intact.
Bonnyrigg started the second half the brighter of the two sides with Sydney United happy to absorb the pressure and hit Bonnyrigg on the counter attack.
It was that man again, Boardman, who could have put Bonnyrigg back on level terms after the forwards looping header from a Todrosse cross was acrobatically saved by Janjetovic.
Sydney United could have extended their lead in the 70? minute. Glavas, who was United?s target man all evening, made an excellent run piercing the White Eagles defence, rather than pulling the trigger from a difficult angle, Glavas played it across to Barkhousir who tried to curl his shot around Zabaks. However the keeper was up to the task and pulled off a picturesque save to deny the forward.
Bonnyrigg continued to press in search of the equaliser and almost had it through Nathan Elasi. The forwards delightful turn and shot outside the 18 yard box through traffic produced a smart save from Janjetovic who pushed the shot wide of the post.
Sydney United should have put the match beyond doubt in the 89? minute, after again Luka Glavas found space, producing a pin-point cross to Barkhousir who laid off for Hayes to slot home, only for the midfielder to blaze high, wide and handsome.
The match did end on a sour note for United with forward Barkhousir shown a second yellow with only seconds remaining in the match for what looked to be an unnecessary professional foul. He will be sorely missed for the Reds top of the table clash with Sutherland Sharks this weekend.
For Bonnyrigg, this only emphasises their poor start to the season, with only 1 win in 6, the 2010 Premiers languish 7 points behind leaders Sutherland Sharks.
Sydney United coach Jean Paul de Marigny was visibly delighted with the result and was happy with the performance his players put in following their first loss of 2011 to Blacktown City FC at the same ground only a couple of days ago.
?The boys bounced back really well especially after Sunday?s performance against Blacktown, it showed a lot of character which I was very proud of.
?We were under the pump a bit particularly in the first half but we battled hard and kept them at bay as best as possible and ended up recording the victory.?
De Marigny believed that each player played a key role in United?s victory and hailed the unity within the squad was at an all-time high.
?Collectively I was very happy with each player?s performance. Each week though all players will get to their maximum fitness levels with guys like Mark Rudan, returning from injury, getting better each week.
?I thought also that the back four was very solid, particularly in the air and they scrambled really well.?
Asked what his thoughts were leading up to the big match against the undefeated Sharks on Sunday, the Reds coach stated.
?We?re really looking forward to that match, we?re not going to change much we just want to continue to improve and making sure that our mindset is ready for Sunday which I believe is the most crucial thing for us.
?Obviously I am disappointed that we won?t have the services of Elsid but we have to deal with it.?
On the other side of the fence, Brian ?Bomber? Brown was proud of his teams showing but disappointed that the White Eagles missed out on the three points.
?It was certainly a good game to watch, it was a pretty open match, Sydney United a really good team and I believe JP has them very well organised, but I knew for us to have gotten a result tonight we needed to be at our best and we weren?t.?
Leading into the match the White Eagles had both Shane Webb and Nikola Zonjic suspended, two key players Brown felt that did make a difference within the squad.
?You take players like Shane Webb and Nikola Zonjic out of the team it makes it tough and we had a couple of players coming in that played their first full game in the senior squad and that wasn?t easy for them.
?I was really pleased with the players and the way they went about it though, I think my only criticism of the team would be were that the two goals we lost tonight, we were defensively poor and we did create enough chances to have won tonight.?
The White Eagles travel to Cromer Park on Sunday to take on Manly United which Brown stated was going to be a huge match in gaining the three precious points.
?Every game?s going to be tough in this season?s competition.
?I watched Manly three weeks ago and they were terrible but I know they won?t be like that come this Sunday.
?We played them in pre-season and were probably one of the better teams we took on early in the year so we?ll be up for a tough game.?
Finally, ?Bomber? did state that there were a couple of players returning to the squad as well as some new faces which would certainly boost the team?s depth.
??We?ve got a few boys that we?ve signed that are currently with Sydney FC (Blake Powell, Jared Lum) who will be coming, we?ve got Nikola Stanojevic who is slowly getting back to his best in fitness, Tynan Diaz is getting back to fitness and we of course have Shane and Nikola returning so we?ll be full on and I am sure we will have a big second half of the season.?
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Brad Boardman 41?)
Sydney United 2 (Luka Glavas 15?, Ante Tomic 43?)
Thursday 5th May, 2011
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 99.Phil Zabaks, 4.Wade Oostendorp, 12.Tako Murayama, 5. Chris Tadrosse, 7.Nathan Elasi, 9.Brad Boardman, 10. Daniel Severino (8. Alex Canak 75?),16.David Vrankovic, 17.Michael Robinson, 19.Jamie McMaster, 23.Tynan Diaz.
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Andrew Bazi, 2. Nikola Stanojevic, 11. John Chine, 22. Damian Jankovic
Yellow Cards: David Vrankovic 16?
Red Cards: nil
Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic, 4.Michael Cindric, 5.Damon Collina, 8.Shane Lyons (19.Mitchell Thompson 50?), 21.Mark Rudan, 23.Ivo Bosnar (C) (14.Petar Markovic 75?), 9.Elsid Barkhousir, 10.Steve Hayes, 11.Luka Glavas, 13.Ben Vidaic (15.Ufuk Talay 61?), 29.Ante Tomic
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Mitchell Spear, 20.Kresimir Kardum
Yellow Cards: Ufuk Talay 66?, Elsid Barkhousir 79?, 92? Luke Glavas 82?
Red Cards: Elsid Barkhousir 92?
Player Ratings:
3 ? Steven Hayes (SU)
2 ? Luka Glavas (SU)
1 ? Brad Boardman (BWE)
-By Bruce Da Silva & Mark Stavroulakis
