White Eagles power over Saints

Bonnyrigg Sports Club was the venue for the round six clash between Bonnyrigg White Eagles and St George FC of the IGA National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 competition where the homes side took all three points thanks to three second half goals.

In the 3’ minute a powerful shot from Mitchell Long was destined to end up in the bottom left hand of the net until the St George FC custodian Dion Shaw made a beautiful diving save down low to his left. It was a great opening chance to Bonnyrigg White Eagles.

In the 18’ minute an indirect free kick from close range was awarded to Bonnyrigg for dangerous play in the box from a corner.

Up stepped Robbie Younis who fired his rocket into the tight St George FC wall and, from the rebound, Tynan Diaz shot just over the crossbar. It was another close call where the home side should have taken the lead.

In the 32’ minute Howard Fondyke tried a drive from well outside the box and the ball didn’t end up too far from the intended target. It wasn’t a bad effort indeed but still no result for Bonnyrigg.

In the 40’ minute a looping cross from the left by Adrian Ucchino found Younis lurking with intent at the far post, but his header lacked the necessary venom to end up in the net even though it did create a few moments of nervousness for St George FC before they cleared.

In the end both sides went into the break with the scores level but clearly Bonnyrigg White Eagles had the clearer of the potential scoring chances in the first stanza of play.

In the second half in the 53’ minute George Codrea received a nice ball from the left and, from just outside the box, saw his shot sail over the crossbar thanks to a slight Bonnyrigg deflection. It was the closest the visitors had been all night.

Shortly afterwards Bonnyrigg replied through Younis who curled a ball from just outside the box agonisingly wide of the right hand post. A few centimetres of more curl and it could have been the opening goal of the night.

In the 63’ minute Alexander Canak from extremely close range scored for the home side when a corner was deflected straight into his path. Even though it was no more than Bonnyrigg deserved, St George FC can feel unlucky after the corner had to be re-taken when a second ball was kicked into play just after the visitors had cleared the first attempt.

In the 80’ minute Bo Hyun Chun gave a nice ball to Canak who with all the time in the world unfortunately sent the ball over the crossbar for the home side.

In the 85’ minute Younis doubled the scoring for Bonnyrigg when he headed home a delightful cross from Howard Fondyke.

A few minutes later Bonnyrigg could have made it three when Chun chipped the goalkeeper but it hit the crossbar and bounced back into the field of play.

In the 92’ minute a penalty was awarded to Younis after he fell in the box and he made no mistake from the spot with his kick straight down the middle.

After the game Brian Brown, coach of Bonnyrigg White Eagles, was delighted to have won by three goals.

“I was very, very pleased with the performance and the result,” he said.

“St George came here well organised and we knew that they would make it difficult for us.

“I always thought that if we could get one goal we would open them up a bit and in the end that is what happened."

His counterpart Manny Spanoudakis took home many positives for his team too from the game.

“I think we were in it until we conceded a very soft goal from a corner,” he said.

“At half time it was pretty level, we showed very good composure and played quite well but unfortunately at this level if you drop your concentration for a split second, you’re punished.

“Bonnyrigg is very good team who are the current champions; they have good players and they can operate on a much bigger budget than us but I was still happy with all our effort."

Match Stats
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3 (Alexander Canak 63’, Robbie Younis 85’, 92’)
St George 0
Saturday 19th April, 2014
Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg
Referee: Chris Young
Assistant referees: Mitch Clark and David Haslett
Fourth Official: Craig Fisher
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Matthew Nash; 5.Chris Tadrosse, 6.Nikola Zonjic, 7.Tynan Diaz, 8.Alexander Canak (19.Aaron Peterson 88’), 9.Robert Younis, 10.Mitchell Long (13.Adam Jenner 88’), 11.Benjamin Spruce (2. Alex Mansueto 90’), 16.Howard Fondyke, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 21.Bo Hyun-Chun
Substitutes not used: 15.Stevan Ilic, 20. Tristan Prendergast
Yellow Cards: Benjamin Spruce 49’
Red Cards: Nil
St George: 1.Dion Shaw; 2.Costa Andricopoulos (16.Jonathan Castano-Acero), 3.David Dascal, 6.Mirko Jurilj, 7.Christoper Gomez, 10.Bruno Pivato (11.Laureano Gomez-Castro 70’), 12.Aleksander Jovocic, 13.Lenox Tweneboa, 15.Djordje Degenak, 19.David Talevski, 23.George Codrea
Substitutes not used: 5.Bill Tsanidis, 9.Jason Naidovski, 21.Lucas North
Yellow Cards: George Codrea 15’, Christopher Gomez 45’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Chris Tadrosse (BWE)
2 – Robbie Younis (BWW)
1 – Mitchell Long (BWE)
– By Joe Russo, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre