Red-hot Bonnyrigg shoot down league leaders Olympic
After stunning the Sutherland Sharks 4-2 last week, the White Eagles continued their purple patch of form with a convincing 3-0 win in greasy conditions, albeit against 10-men in the last 10? minutes after Robert Mileski was given an early mark.
The White Eagles went some way to rectifying their 3-2 loss to Sydney Olympic in the third round of the Waratah Cup a fortnight ago, climbing back up towards the cusp of the top five with a three-goal victory in round 11 of the NSW Premier League.
While Bonnyrigg came home strong, it was Phil Makrys and Mileski who ensured Olympic began proceedings as the dominant team, creating several half chances in the first 20? minutes.
But it was Bonnyrigg?s Nathan Elasi who had the first real opportunity of the match after 19? minutes, but the former Melbourne Victory striker failed to make the most of his chance.
Elasi was given plenty of time to line up his shot from the edge of the box but Olympic keeper Paul Henderson was equal to the task, getting a glove to the ball to tap it away from danger.
From the ensuing Jared Lum corner, Olympic paid the price for letting Jamie McMaster run free, with the Bonnyrigg no.19 heading home to open the account.
The goal triggered a White Eagles attacking frenzy, shifting the tide of the game which favoured the visitors in the opening periods.
Lum was in the thick of the action and almost set up the White Eagles? second with a precision free-kick, but striker Brad Boardman was unable to get his header on target from the far post.
A minute later McMaster broke away and looked likely to set up Bonnyrigg?s second, but his square ball was intercepted by Olympic.
Olympic?s Peter Triantis tried his best to get his team back in the match, weaving his way through the Bonnyrigg defence to fire a shot towards goal, but Bonnyrigg goalkeeper Andrew Bazi was able to sit back and watch as it trickled wide of the post.
On the stroke of half-time David Vrankovic could have extended Bonnyrigg?s lead when he got a free header from a corner, but his effort left a lot to be desired.
To Olympic?s credit they kept coming at their opponents and almost equalised when Alex Smith cut his ball back into the goal mouth towards an oncoming Mileski.
But Bonnyrigg?s Bazi managed to intercept just in time to ensure his team would hold on to their one goal advantage at the break.
Bonnyrigg were unlucky not to be given a penalty early in the second-half when McMaster was chopped down by Brett Studman on the edge of the box.
But referee Gerard Parsons remained unfazed by the vocal protest from the White Eagles.
At the other end Makrys tried his hand at a long range effort, but his curling shot lacked the accuracy to trouble Bazi.
Alex Smith looked destined to equalise when he fired a shot in towards goal on the volley, but teammate Emmanuel Giannaros couldn?t get out of the way in time and deflected it away from goal.
The White Eagles continued to push forward and a runaway Boardman almost supplied the home side with their second, but Henderson was able to intercept his cross and deny Elasi.
Then, in the 80? minute, the game was turned on its head when Mileski was red carded for a tussle with David Vrankovic.
The White Eagles immediately capitalised on the extra man, with Takuya Murayama firing a well-timed right foot drive across the face of Henderson into the back of the net to give Bonnyrigg a 2-0 lead after 83? minutes.
Tadrosse then capped off a memorable night for the home team when he found himself unmarked down the left flank, cutting back inside of Giannaros to thump his shot under Henderson for a 3-0 victory.
Bonnyrigg coach Brian Brown said he was proud of his troops? performance against the form team of the competition and believes his team has finally turned the corner:
?We had to fight our way back from the situation we were in earlier in the year and we?ve done that in the last two weeks,? Brown said.
?The players have worked really hard and the beauty is that I have a squad to pick from now instead of the team picking itself.
?Players are desperate to keep positions and because of it we?ve beaten the second and first placed teams in consecutive weeks.
?It?s a big step forward in our season.?
Sydney Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis conceded his team were way off their best on Saturday but said there was no cause for concern following the 3-0 thumping:
?I thought we were pretty ordinary,? Tsekenis said.
?To Bonnyrigg?s credit I thought they were very hungry.
?But you?re going to have games where you are going to be down and when you are four-point league leaders, everyone starts paying attention.
?Teams really aim up and try to knock you off and I think Bonnyrigg came in with that attitude.?
Olympic will get its first taste at playing at home (all its remaining NSW Premier League games will be played at home) at Belmore Sports Ground this Wednesday evening when they battle Blacktown City FC in round 4 of the Waratah Cup.
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3 (Jamie McMaster 20?, Takuya Murayama 83?, Chris Tadrosse 88?)
Sydney Olympic 0
Saturday 4th June, 2011
Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg Heights
Referee: Gerard Parsons
Assistant Referees: Alex Long and Steven Nguyen
Fourth Official: Roland Hunt
Crowd: 600 Approx.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Andrew Bazi; 16.David Vrankovic (4.Wade Oostendorp, 89?), 5.Chris Tadrosse, 17.Michael Robinson, 22.Jared Lum, 14.Blake Powell (23.Tynan Diaz 56?), 12.Takuya Murayama, 8.Alexander Canak (3.Nikola Zonjic 50?), 7.Nathan Elasi, 19.Jamie McMaster, 9.Brad Boardman
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Tom Hamilton, 2.Nikola Stanojevic
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 2.Emmanuel Giannaros, 6.Alex Smith, 5.Richard Luksic, 7.Phil Makrys, 11.Robert Mileski, 19.David Gullo (23.Tocoyumi Omi 64?), 18.Jerry Kalouris, 14.William Angel, 16.Peter Triantis, 3.Brett Studman
Substitutes Not Used: 21.Nenad Vekic, 30.Mitchell Stamatellis, 15.Tod Bamber, 4.Ibrahim Haydar
Yellow Cards: Peter Triantis 77?
Red Cards: Robert Mileski 80?
Player Ratings:
3 ? Jamie McMaster (BWE)
2 ? Takuya Murayama (BWE)
1 ? William Angel (SO)
-By Michael Chammas
