White Eagles pip Central Coast Mariners at Pluim Park
Despite another Christopher Payne hat-trick, the Central Coast Mariners Academy were defeated by the Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4-3 at Pluim Park.
The match of the round delivered everything expected as the seven-goal thriller was littered with cracking goals to Bonnyrigg’s Robert Younis, Aaron Peterson, Tynan Diaz and a tap-in to Adrian Ucchino which was enough to cancel out a Payne treble and pick up three points.
It was on from the get go as both sides showed intent to get forward early. The away side were the first to trouble the scorers as an accurate cross from the left drifted precisely onto the head of Younis who made no trouble tucking it away in the 2’ minute.
But the opener would not deter the home side who fired back straight away with a superb opportunity, that also arose from the left flank. The cross fell to James Monie at close range who chested down and allowed marksman Payne to drill home his first opportunity in the 4’ minute to level the wager.
The tit-for-tat continued from end to end as both sides traded blows, Bonnyrigg were the next to strike as Peterson picked up the ball from a difficult angle and struck a shot that sailed into the goal and found the inside of the side netting, putting the away side 2-1 up after just 10’ minutes of play.
Bonnyrigg’s second goal seemed to spur on the league leaders as the likes of Ucchino and Younis continued to push forward and try their luck from distance.
The Mariners Academy side had moments where they looked promising at the other end but it seemed to be the White Eagles who were really threatening, their next big chance fell in the 30’ minute as Younis jumped on a defensive mix up and slipped it to Ucchino but David Bradasevic smothered the one on one chance with ease.
As the game grew closer to half-time, field position and possession started to pan out evenly with the Mariners and Bonnyrigg backlines’ both playing out well from their own third, Bonnyrigg were heavily targeting the right hand side although young Liam O’Dell was doing a great job in defence.
The Mariners Academy have utilised their set pieces well this season and Adriano Pellegrino was the man to step up to the dead ball to fill the void of Daniel Bragg who was out through suspension. Pellegrino delivered a cross just on half-time that troubled the Bonnyrigg defence although the various attackers headed above the target, Pellegrino again stood out with a great 90’ minutes.
The second-half didn’t take off quite as quickly as the first although it was Payne 5’ minutes in who looked to kick it off with a bang as he shot from the fringe of the area making Matthew Nash dive to his left and make a stretched save.
Although the Central Coast talisman would not have to wait long to find his second for the night as Pellegrino made a typical burst up the middle of the park and played Payne who showed composure to take a touch and finish with ease and level the scores 2-2.
Similar to the second-half, a counter punch followed the Mariners’ strike, another bomb fell from Bonnyrigg’s Diaz who crunched his shot from the top corner of the box which gave Bradasevic no chance and the away side a 3-2 lead in the 56’ minute.
Immediately after, the White Eagles were unlucky not to be another goal up as Louis Bozanic was forced to track back and make a save off his own line to keep within striking distance of their counter parts.
Bozanic featured at the other end straight after his goal line heroics and tried to volley home a Payne cross from the right, although he put too much power on his strike and sent it well over the crossbar.
The goals continued to fall on the Central Coast and the next man to find the net for Bonnyrigg was Ucchino who found himself in the right place at the right time to tap into an open goal after a scattered defensive mix up in the 64’ minute.
The next 15’ minutes or so was with plenty of stop starts and a spray of half chances at either end. The Mariners Academy side looked to inject some flare into the front third with the introduction of Adam Woodbine and Dylan Holz who did well to light up the left flank.
The experience of Pellegrino continued to show as he provided Nathan Verity with a superb cross in the 90’ minute who could not direct his free header on target that sprayed wide.
The home side fought to the final whistle, hard enough that Payne would break through in stoppage time to score his third and put them within a goal of Bonnyrigg however it was too little too late. The goal was another one for the highlight reel as he steamed in from the right and pounded the ball into the back of the net with force.
Bonnyrigg skipper Chris Tadrosse was happy to be back in the winner’s circle:
“We scored an early goal and they obviously countered and scored another one but we were always confident that we could go on with the game.
“We lost last week leading at half-time so the message was keep working hard and see out the game.
“We all know last week wasn’t good enough and tonight we were lucky enough to get the three points, the performance wasn’t too bad but we look to improve and keep winning.”
Central Coast’s skipper Jamie Lobb knows they need to plug the hole at the back if they want to survive:
“Clearly conceding four goals isn’t good enough in a fixture mate, so I think defensively we need to definitely improve.
“Obviously no one wants to finish last so that’s the position were in at the moment and the only people who can get us out of there is ourselves, we only take it by a week but next week we’re up against Sutherland chasing three points.”
The Mariners Academy side must lift next week and fill their void in defence as they face another tough opponent in Sutherland and Bonnyrigg will be keen to extend their lead at the top of the table with a win over Manly.
Match Stats
Central Coast Mariners Academy 3 (Chris Payne 4’, 53’, 90’+2’)
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4 (Robert Younis 2’, Aaron Peterson 10’, Tynan Diaz 56’, Adrian Ucchino 63’)
Saturday 15th of June, 2013
Pluim Park
Referee: Adam Susz
Assistant Referees: Andrew Higgins and Adam Coombes
Fourth Official: Kearney Robinson
Central Coast Mariners Academy: 20.David Bradasevic; 11.Louis Bozanic (30.Adam Woodbine 79’), 3.Jamie Lobb, 26. Mapu Ridge, 29.Daniel McFarlane (10.Tomislav Cirjak 45’), 9.James Monie (39.Dylan Holz 69’), 22.Liam O’Dell, 6.Christopher Payne, 7.Adriano Pellegrino, 16.Jed Prater, 24.Nathan Verity
Substitutes Not Used: 32.Dillon Vorster
Yellow Cards: Daniel McFarlane
Red Cards: Nil
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Matthew Nash; 21.Bo Hyun Chun (16. Howard Fondyke 78’), 14.Jordan Crighton, 7.Tynan Diaz, 10.Mitchell Long, 2.Alexander Mansueto, 19.Aaron Peterson (23.David Gullo 58’), 5.Chris Tadrosse, 4.Vuko Tomasevic, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 9.Robert Younis
Substitutes Not Used: 8.Alexander Canak, 33.Nikodin Matic, 3. Masakatsu Tanaka
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
-By Tyson Scott