Suns hold White Eagles to a draw
A bitterly cold evening in Bonnyrigg saw Rockdale City Suns entertained by Bonnyrigg White Eagles in a top five clash of some importance that didn’t disappoint, with the Suns returning to Rockdale with a point following a 1-1 draw.
An early corner for the visitors, taken by Brendan Gan, resulted in a free-kick to Bonnyrigg for pushing inside the box as the Suns looked to dominate the opening minutes.
Paul Kohler intercepted a pass on the halfway line and played a beautifully weighted controlled pass forward to Gan who rounded a defender, and the goalkeeper, but the angle took him wide and his shot slid past the upright in the 7’ minute with the goal gaping.
Chris Tadrosse was forced to clear off the line shortly after from an Alec Urosevski effort as again Rockdale looked livelier and hungrier in the middle third.
Nikola Zonjic, playing his first game since the opening round, ironically against the same opposition, worked tirelessly at the back for the White Eagles and it was hard to believe he had been absent from the side for so long making a telling contribution in keeping Rockdale at bay.
Bonnyrigg finally awoke from their slumber and began to assert some pressure in midfield, however the couple of chances they created were easily dealt with by the Suns defence.
David Talevski saw his dipping shot clip the bar with Matthew Nash well beaten in the 13’ minute that should have had Rockdale in the lead, and only time would tell if they would rue their spurned opportunities as the game wore on.
The White Eagles went on the attack again and Takuya Murayama was three times forced into three clearances in the space of a minute, approaching the quarter hour mark.
Bonnyrigg found their rhythm eventually and put plenty of pressure on Rockdale with their free-flowing passing game, however the Suns these days are made of sterner stuff with a new found purpose and belief and weathered the storm and still created half-chances of their own.
Mitchell Long found himself on the end of a corner in the 26’ minute with a header that goalkeeper Diego Barcena looked to have tipped over the crossbar at close range – the attempt was deemed to have been over the line before he touched it and a goal-kick resulted in Bonnyrigg’s best chance of the half to that point.
What ensued was a tigerish struggle for control that employed hard, but fair, tactics where either could, and should, have taken the lead.
In the 39’ minute it was oh so close for Bonnyrigg from a free-kick that Aaron Peterson was unable to get a clear header on to steer home.
Askin Oygur, Suns’ skipper, was in the mood for all comers and his battle with Robbie Younis, Bonnyrigg’s talented striker, was titanic and a highlight of the match as the pair clashed many times in and around the box.
The half-time whistle blew without troubling the score board as an epic encounter unfolded, neither asking nor giving any quarter, both knowing the importance of the result to the final standings this season.
In the 48’ minute it was Younis who was unable to gain enough purchase on a header to place the ball past Barcena between the sticks, although on target.
Peterson won a free-kick in the 51’ minute in a central position that spelt trouble for Rockdale, taken by Tynan Diaz who curled it around the wall but straight into the grateful arms of Barcena – the goal would not have counted as an infringement in the wall allowed Rockdale a free-kick of their own and the danger passed.
Richard Cardozo took a corner for the Suns that put White Eagles goalkeeper Matthew Nash under pressure from Themba Muata-Malow. The ball was fumbled over the line for an own goal to give the visitors the lead in the 66’ minute but was later credited to the Suns’ midfielder.
Rockdale then won a free-kick in a central position after Bo Hyun Chun fouled Richard Cardozo. Gan stepped over, leaving the ball for Cardozo to curl around the wall but Nash, alert to the tactic, gathered comfortably.
Bonnyrigg thought they had restored parity when Zonjic placed a neatly cushioned header into the space vacated by shot-stopper Barcena, only for the goal to be disallowed for a goalmouth infringement that saw the goalkeeper receive treatment inside the box.
The home side were certainly a goal down, but in the ascendancy, and piled on the pressure in search of the leveller and methodically pushed Rockdale back and perhaps could have restored parity in the 87’ minute with skipper Tadrosse sending over an inviting cross for Aaron Peterson to head wide.
There was to be no respite for the Suns as a minute later substitute Aleksander Canak weaved his way through the defence and fired home a low shot to bring the scores level again.
It was a hotly contested 5’ minutes of stoppage time with Rockdale for the most, under the pump but they managed to hold on for a valuable point that had skipper Askin Oygur admitting afterwards:
“We knew Bonnyrigg would be a tough match and to come here and get a point is not a bad result, but we are disappointed with conceding the late goal.
“I felt we were the better side in the first-half and controlled much of the second but in saying that we feel we should have come away with all the points.
“It was a terrific team performance and we had to battle hard as it was a tough match so perhaps a draw was a fair result.”
On his personal battle with White Eagles striker Robbie Younis he added:
“I’ve known Robbie for many years and he is a prolific finisher and tough opponent and you always know you are in for a hard match against him, and tonight was no different.
“I’ve played against him many times, maybe not too many more, and I suppose you could say I won the battle tonight as he didn’t score,” said with a cheeky grin.
Brian Brown felt it a game to two halves when afterwards stating:
“I think it was a classic game of two halves, they were much better than us in the first and we picked it up in the second and restricted them to perhaps just the one chance in what was in reality a pretty soft goal.
“The rest of the second-half we pretty much dominated and did we look like scoring? “Probably not but it was a hard fought draw but take nothing away from Rockdale as they are a very good team.
Brown rates Nikola Zonjic coming back into the side as a major plus:
“Getting him back in defence is a huge bonus for us as he gives us that bit of stability in there and this was his first game since we played Rockdale in the first round so for him to come back and play how he did is tremendous.”
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Aleksander Canak 88’)
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Themba Muata-Malow 66’)
Saturday, 13th July 2013
Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg Heights
Referee: Chris Young
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Sarah Ho
Fourth Official: Sebastien Brennan
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Matthew Nash; 4.Vuko Tomasevic, 5.Chris Tadrosse (C), 6.Nikola Zonjic, 7.Tynan Diaz, 9.Robbie Younis, 10.Mitchell Long, 14.Jordan Crighton, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 19.Aaron Peterson (8.Aleksander Canak 73’), 21.Bo Hyun Chun
Substitutes Not Used: 33.Nikodin Matic; 3.Majjakaju Tanaka, 15.Steven Hesketh, 16.Howard Fondyke,
Yellow Cards: Ucchino 22’, Peterson 49’
Red Cards: Nil
Rockdale City Suns: 22.Diego Barcena; 6.Takayu Muruyama, 7.Brendan Gan, 8.Paul Kohler, 9.Alec Urosevski, 10.Richard Cardozo, 11.David Talevski (14.Nikola Taneski 56’), 13.Sam Munro, 12.Idriss El Hafiane, (18.Seiya Kawamura 72’), 23.Askin Oygur (C), 42.Themba Muata-Malow
Substitutes Not Used: 24.Aaron Liddell; 15.Max Burgess,18.Seiya Kawamura, 20.Roberto Speranza
Yellow Cards: Oygur 44’, Muarta-Malow 50’
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock
