Eagles soar over Suns
In the quarter finals of the Waratah Cup it was the clash of the two in form teams of the IGA NSW Premier League, Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Rockdale City Suns.
A cold evening at the Bonnyrigg Sports Ground didn’t keep the goal scorers away as they were in red hot form with the White Eagles triumphing 5-2. The hero of the night, Robert Younis with four goals and one for contender of goal the season.
Most fans who braved the chill hadn’t even settled in their seats when a long ball down the right flank caught the White Eagles off guard. Alec Urosevski picked up the ball down the right and played in a dangerous low ball toward David Talevski who done well to control the ball and attempt to beat the on rushing Matthew Nash. Nash came up trumps with a save to his low left but the rebound fell to the feet of Max Burgess who made no mistake with the finish. 1-0 to Rockdale inside the 1’ minute.
Slowly the White Eagles settled and started taking charge of the midfield with the ball zipping around the pitch. There were 7’ minutes on the clock when Younis received a ball inside the box from Alex Mansueto, holding off and turning his defender he laid the ball off for Adrian Ucchino who’s effort sailed high over the crossbar.
Tynan Diaz then done some good work down the right crossing in a ball for Ucchino who again blasted the ball over the bar.
Brendan Gan then had a couple chances within a minute. First, Taleski crossed in a ball from the left, but Gan couldn’t get enough purchase on the header. Gan was then played in over the top, as he beat his defender for speed he rushed his shot and didn’t cause Nash any problems.
It was then Takuya Murayama’s chance to have a go. His powerful shot from distance ended up at the feet of Urosevski who turned and shot only for Nash to save. The rebound though fell straight at the feet of Urosevski who had an open goal but was stopped by the referee’s whistle for offside – a close call.
Vuko Tomasevic made only his second start for Bonnyrigg since his return and was commanding in his defensive midfield role.
With 25’ minutes on the clock, Tomasevic received the ball from Diaz, turned and chipped a ball toward Younis who held off his defender and curled the ball expertly into the left side of the goal for the equaliser.
Bonnyrigg continued to improve as the game went on and almost hit the lead through Howard Fondyke but safe hands from Diego Barcena ensured the suns stayed level.
With 34’ minutes on the clock Bonnyrigg turned the score around and took the lead. A beautiful one-two between Younis and Aaron Petersen saw Younis one-on-one with Barcena. Younis made no mistake with the finish, placing the ball in the bottom right corner for his second goal.
Minutes later the Eagles almost had a third as a Diaz corner was met by Mansueto with a flick header, Barcena hardly kept the ball out with a great save.
On 41’ minutes it was David Gullo’s chance to come onto the scene and with some great control slipped past three defenders to get to the by-line. A smart cut back was met by Petersen who bundled the ball over the line as Barcena was beaten again for Bonnyrigg’s third.
Bonnyrigg went into the break 3-1 up overturning the early deficit controlling possession and field position.
The Eagles looked to end the contest early on in the second as Younis stepped up to take a free-kick. His effort rebounded off the wall to Tomasevic who rifled in a volley from 30-metres out, only slightly missing the goal.
10’ minutes into the second-half and a great ball over the Rockdale defence for Robert Younis who outmuscled his first marker, beat his second defender and then was cut down by Diego Barcena inside the box. Younis Picked himself up to take the spot kick and as cool as ever sent the keeper the wrong way, got his hat-trick and Bonnyrigg’s fourth.
In the 64’ minute it was that man again. Mitchel Long played a ball to Younis and as the ball bounced off his control, he let rip with a half-volley from about 30-yards out. Barcena was left with no chance as the ball sailed into the top left corner.
Long then had an attempt from another chipped Tomasevic ball as his volley flew over the crossbar.
Diaz tried getting in on the rout with a free-kick 25-yards out but his shot shaved the left hand upright.
Bonnyrigg was now flying and the nicest move of the match was unfortunately not finished with a goal. A long ball was played toward substitute Aleks Canak who flicked the ball with his head to the dangerous Gullo. Gullo dribbled past one defender and cut the ball to Long, before the playmaker played the ball to the right for Petersen but he could only manage a shot into the goalkeeper.
In the 76’ minute Anthony Perri then tried to out-do Robert Younis’s bomb when he received a ball from the left side from Talevski about 25-yards out. With one touch to his right foot he riffled the ball toward goal, almost ripping the net as his shot gave Nash no chance, 5-2.
Bonnyrigg almost replied straight away as Petersen outmuscled Themba Muata- Marlow to go one-on-one with the Suns substitute keeper Aaron Lidell. The keeper stood his ground and made a great save.
Rockdale almost grabbed a third through Richard Cardozo but a great save from Nash kept the score at 5-2. From the resulting corner Themba almost got himself on the scoresheet but some scrambled defence from Bonnyrigg cleared the ball off the line.
In the 89’ minute Long saw himself one on one with Lidell but the substitute keeper came out on top once again with a good save.
In the final minute of the game, Huseyin Jasli almost scored the third screamer of the game as he took the ball from the left side, cut in and curled a ball from 25-yards out beating Nash but unfortunately not the post.
With that came the final whistle, the White Eagles continuing their run in the Cup to the semi-final while the Suns dreams of cup glory were finished for this season.
Bonnyrigg coach Brian Brown was quite happy with his team’s result:
“We done well to recover from going down to the early goal, we played well as a team tonight and like a real solid unit.”
On his four goal hero Younis he said simply:
“Robbie Younis is back! I thought he was outstanding tonight and everything he did was top notch.”
Vuko Tomasevic only made his second start this season but had a great game: “Vuko was fantastic, he’s a quality player, quality person and now it’s just about getting him the opportunity.”
On his missing players he said:
“We’re nursing Chris Tadrose a little bit, Canak and Ken Chun needed a bit of a rest with a lot of big games coming up.”
Brown went onto add:
“Being in the semi-final of the Cup, it’s now also a priority as well as the league.”
His counterpart, Branko Culina was not as impressed and gave a blunt response on what he thought of his team’s performance and the match:
“Bonnyrigg were just too good for us today and that’s that."
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 5 (Younis 25’, 34’, 54’ (pen), 64’, Petersen 64’)
Rockdale City Suns 2 (Burgess 1’, Perri 76’)
Tuesday 4th of June, 2013
Bonnyrigg Sports Ground, Bonnyrigg
Referee: Michael Weiner
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Matthew Nash; 2.Alex Mansueto, 15.Steven Hesketh, 6.Vuko Tomasevic, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 23.David Gullo, 10.Mitchell Long, 9.Robert Younis, 19.Aaron Peterson, 7.Tynan Diaz, 16.Howard Fondyke
Substitutes Not Used: 24.Bo Hyun Chun, 8.Aleks Canak, 3.Massa Tanaka, 13.Nikola Stanojevic, 25.Liam Gobbo
Yellow Cards: Vuko Tomasevic 44’, David Gullo 82’, Steven Hesketh 83’.
Red Cards: Nil
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Diego Barcena, 6. Takuya Murayama, 8.Paul Kohler, 17. Themba Muata-Marlow, 3.Giorgio Speranza, 20.Roberto Speranza, 16.Anthony Perri, 15. Max Burgess, 5.Brendan Gan, 11.Daniel Talevski, 9. Alec Urosevski.
Subsititutes Not Used: 22.Aaron Lidell, 10.Richard Cardozo, 18.Seiya Kawamura, 19. Idriss El Hafiane, 12.Huseyin Jasli.
Yellow Cards: Diego Barcena 53’.
Red Cards: Nil.
-By Nikola Pozder
