Bonnyrigg triumph against battling Wolves

MIK_3972


Bonnyrigg White Eagles returned to winning ways with a Robbie Younis goal sealing the points against South Coast Wolves on Saturday evening.
Bonnyrigg were quickly into their stride spreading the ball out wide and attempting to get in behind the defence early, particularly down their left that had Wolves’ right-back Jack Keating involved early on making a couple of timely interventions.
Tynan Diaz tried his luck from distance, though didn’t test Daniel Collison in the visiting net, but showed the home team ethos for the night, attack, attack, attack.
All the early action of the opening 7’ minutes was centred in the Wolves’ half as they struggled to clear their lines from the onslaught that came at them, the only surprise being the profligate finishing of the home side.
Adrian Ucchino fired one goal ward in the 9’ minute that had Collison sprawling to reach, and he needed to hang on as Robbie Younis bore down for the follow up.
The first attack for South Coast resulted in a corner that forced Matthew Nash to punch clear amid a mass of bodies in the 11’ minute as finally the visitors found a short lived respite.
Chris Tadrosse was having a field day in a roving role that allowed him to put in plenty of crosses and one which found Younis lurking at the back stick should have landed the opener, although the striker was adjudged to have committed a foul in the box and once more the Wolves survived the unrelenting pressure of their hosts.
Mitchell Long was next to go close for Bonnyrigg in the 21’ minute but his header, from almost under the crossbar, went out harmlessly for a goal kick.
The reply from South Coast was a Peter Simonoski attempt from distance that was angling in toward the top left hand corner that Nash comfortably plucked from the air, but it was scant relief as Bonnyrigg went straight up the other end for Younis to put away in the 25’ only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.
South Coast were frustrating their opposition, however Bonnyrigg were still able to find space and time across the park and other than a few sporadic counter attacks it was one-way traffic for the home side.
With 33’ minutes on the clock a flick-on corner came too quickly for Younis to nod home as again South Coast rode their luck.
With the match encamped inside the Wolves’ half, it was testament to their new found defensive prowess the game remained scoreless entering the dying moments of the first period and it would surely be Richard Lloyd who would be by far the happier at the break if it stayed that way.
Collison was forced to save from Alex Canak and Younis in the 42’ minute when the former’s shot rebounded to the latter to keep South Coast in the game when it could have signalled the opening of the flood gates.
The half-time whistle blew and the travellers needed a well-earned rest however the tactics employed just 6-days earlier were serving them well again this evening, but only time would tell if they could hold out for another 45’ minutes against a very spirited White Eagles were certainly up for this one.
Bonnyrigg started the second period as they finished the first, on the attack but still they couldn’t find a way through the packed defence of the Wolves.
Right-back jack Keating is fast becoming Mr Reliable for South Coast and surely it is only a matter of time before he makes the step-up to the A-League with his accomplished performances.
Mitchell Long set off on a weaving run in the 54’ minute culminating in a semi-blocked shot that found its way past both Canak and Younis, who were unable to assist the ball over the line.
Less than a minute later, it was Collison who was called into action to save another Younis effort from a tight angle.
Long couldn’t gain enough purchase on a header he steered wide as the frustration mounted for the White eagles in the 57’ minute that had the sparse crowd holding their heads in desperation.
Collison needed to be sharp in the 64’ minute to keep out a pile-driver from Howard Fondyke when unsighted and when Canak lobbed him he scrambled back to recover seconds later as Bonnyrigg continued to assert themselves for no reward.
Midway through the half and South Coast were still to mount a serious attempt on the Bonnyrigg goal on the few occasions they were able to break the shackles imposed upon them but they came with a game plan and it was proving effective for a side that had been the whipping boys for much of the season to date.
The relentless pressure told from a short corner routine when Diaz laid it off for Canak to cross to the back stick for a header Younis gratefully accepted to open the scoring and send the crowd into raptures.
It was little more than they had deserved for their endeavours but it had looked like being a fruitless night for all their supremacy.
With renewed vigour the home side began to pepper their visitors goal and substitute Aaron Peterson had Collison batting the ball away from a shot too powerful to hold in the 73’ minute and a grandstand finish was on the cards.
Peterson and Younis played a couple of sweet one-twos in the box that sadly for Younis stuck under his foot as he lifted the ball over the crossbar from 6-yards out.
Shortly after, James Baldacchino took the ball off Younis’ foot from another Tadrosse cross from the left in the 80’ minute.
Collison was alert to the near post ball and managed to palm it away from Younis, again, from a Long in-swinger on the right when on another night the burly striker could have had a hat full.
The frustration almost boiled over when Diaz took exception to a Joseph Lavalle tackle that ended with the Wolves midfielder receiving the first caution late into the match.
In stoppage time Younis had a golden opportunity to settle proceedings but watched as his angled shot slipped slowly past the far post just before the final whistle.
Brian Brown commented for his Bonnyrigg charges afterwards:
“We created enough chances tonight to win half a dozen games I think, but our finishing, final touch and final ball were perhaps not the right quality and we had a chat at the break and said if we keep doing what we are doing it will come and a one-nil win is as good as a thumping when you are chasing points.
“All we needed tonight was the three points to get us going forward again and I felt our performance was very good, the effort, endeavour and work rate was top notch and on any other day we probably could have e scored plenty more.”
Against a side that packed the midfield and attempted to thwart the mobility of the White Eagles in attack but to still come away with the win should stand them in good stead come finals time:
“Look, there are no easy teams in this competition and when sides come to Bonnyrigg we expect that and there hasn’t been much wrong with our performances of late other than perhaps the work rate and desire hasn’t always been there but we’ve spoken about that, and where we want to be, and I feel we have shown that tonight against a resilient Wolves outfit.”
Steve Hayes responded for the absent Richard Lloyd:
“Sadly for us it has been the story of the season and we couldn’t hang on in the end.
“The tactics were basically to hold off to the centre-circle and then pile the pressure on them and maybe force something from them.
“For the first 70’ minutes it worked well in trying to win the ball that way.
“We did that part pretty well tonight but we didn’t use the ball well enough and that is what let us down tonight, the cheap turnovers and Bonnyrigg snapping away all the time so we made it more difficult than it could have been at times.
“The little things count for a lot and we are fighting for everything at the moment, every point and in the bigger picture we want to pick up every point we can, and hopefully next week we can bounce back with all three and keep our season, and our club, alive… that is what we are trying to do.”
Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Robert Younis 69’ )

South Coast Wolves 0
Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg Heights

Saturday 27th July, 2013
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Daniel Stack and Andrej Giev
Fourth Official: Mitchell Clark
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Matthew Nash; 4.Vuko Tomasevic, 5.Chris Tadrosse (C), 6.Nikola Zonjic, 7.Tynan Diaz, 8.Aleksander Canak (15.Steven Hesketh 90’), 9.Robert Younis, 10.Mitchell Long, 16.Howard Fondyke, 18.Alex Ucchino, 21.Bo Hyun Chun (19.Aaron Peterson 66’)
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Alex Mansueto, 14.Jordan Crighton, 33.Nikodin Matic
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
South Coast Wolves: 1.Daniel Collison; 2.Jack Keating, 5.James Baldacchino, 6.Chris Nathaniel, 8.Steve Hayes, 9.Peter Simonoski, 11.John Martinoski (10.Ricky Zucco 57’), 12.Joseph Lavalle, 14.Mitchell Del Turco, 17.Zac Mackenzie, 26.Jacob Timpano (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Matt Kook, 4.Sam Chapple, 13.Matt Floro, 15.Dusan Kolonja, 20.Thomas Hamilton
Yellow Cards: Lavalle 85’
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock