Late Younis stunner breaks Stallions hearts

The round 18 local derby between Marconi Stallions and Bonnyrigg White Eagles at Marconi Stadium was a thrilling encounter which ended 2-1 to Bonnyrigg White Eagles thanks to a wonderful strike by Robbie Younis in the 97′ minute of play.

He had previously brought his side back into the game after Marconi had taken the lead. All goals were in the second half but this game was of the highest quality throughout.

Both teams pressed hard early on and at the same time they both managed to defend well. While there were no clear cut chances, it was obvious that both teams had been sent out by their respective dressing rooms to gain possession and dominate.

In the 17’ minute the small but vocal crowd witnessed the first real chance: a long ball forward by Adam Jenner reached Robbie Younis in the box and his header forced Marconi goalkeeper James Chronopoulos into a nice diving save to turn the ball away for a corner.

In the 21’ minute Bonnyrigg came close again to scoring when a Chris Tadrosse corner reached Aaron Peterson at the near post and he flicked on his header across the face of goal and just wide of the far post.

Marconi responded in the 25’ minute when a medium range shot by Christopher Nunes was saved by Tristan Prendergast, deputising in goal for the injured Matthew Nash, even though the ball appeared to be going just wide of the posts. It was his debut game in this competition and he performed admirably.

In the 37’ minute Tomislav Mijic should really have cleared the ball from his own area but under pressure from David Vrankovic, he brought down the Bonnyrigg player in the box instead of booting the ball away from danger.

A penalty was duly awarded by referee Chris Young and up stepped the ever reliable Robbie Younis, but this time his spot kick was a powerful drive straight down the middle that goalkeeper Chronopoulos did very well to parry away even though he had committed himself to a dive to his left.

In the 45’ minute, immediately prior to the break, Marconi should really have scored. Jared Lum flicked the ball forward with his shoulder for Shu Sasaki on the edge of the box and the classy Japanese import player struck the crossbar with his attempt at goal. It ensured that the scores were locked at 0-0 going into the break.

Straight after the break in the 47’ minute a free-kick by Tadrosse reached Adam Jenner in the box and his header from close range flew right onto the crossbar without the Marconi defence even realising what had happened.

Marconi replied in the 52’ minute when a diagonal shot by Milorad Simonovic hit Howard Fondyke and ended up just over the crossbar for a corner.

However, a minute later the Stallions did have the lead when a powerful free kick by Jared Lum beat goalkeeper Prendergast down low to his right even though he did manage to get both hands to the ball.

In the 71’ minute a great diagonal shot by an unmarked Tadrosse brought out the best in Chronopoulos and a minute later Bonnyrigg did indeed score. A well worked move from a throw in saw Bo Hyun Chun feed the ball forward to Younis who met it first time on the volley and fired it straight into the back of the net.

The game was now well and truly alive and in the 75’ minute a Younis free-kick from a fair way outside the box was just over the crossbar.

In the 78’ minute Marconi came close to equalising when Christopher Nunes found an unmarked Simonovic who fired his shot onto the woodwork of the crossbar.

The end-to-end action continued with an immediate reply by Bonnyrigg through Bo Hyun Chun  who saw Chronopoulos pull off a marvellous save down low to his right to prevent the visitors from taking the lead thanks to a great strike by their substitute.

In the 86’ minute a long clearance from goalkeeper Prendergast found Canak who had goalkeeper Chronopoulos in two minds, but his long-range chip was only a fraction wide of the posts with the Marconi custodian back peddling after initially coming off his line.

Thanks to a number of stoppages in the second stanza of play a whopping seven minutes of time added-on was played and right at the death Robbie Younis stole the victory with a miraculous piece of work.

A goal out of nothing, on the turn from some 25 metres out, finished up over the shoulders of Chronopoulos for what will surely go down as one of the better goals of the season and didn’t Bonnyrigg celebrate such a stupendous win.

Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown, in action against one of his former clubs, expressed his delight.

“We needed the win and you could see the reaction from the players at the end,” he said.

“I thought that we deserved the win and we hit the bar a few times. It was a good game but when you come to Marconi you expect it to be tough. Robbie Younis scores two goals in classic Younis style and you would go anywhere to see finishes like that.

“I was very happy with the performance because when we went 1-0 down, the players lifted and chased the game and we got the three points.”

Even though he was heartbroken to have lost in such a fashion Marconi coach Paul Carter was still very pleased with his side’s performance. He stated: “It was actually a goal in the 97th minute and 45 seconds because I was timing it. It was a great strike – no question.

“I thought that it was a great performance by my team. Both teams hit crossbars but I am proud of what we did tonight.

“I just think it was pretty harsh to end that way but that’s football and that’s life and we put on a great show.”

Match Stats

Marconi Stallions                  1        

(Jared Lum 53’)    

Bonnyrigg White Eagles        2

(Robbie Younis 72’ and 90’+ 7)

Saturday 19th July, 2014

Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park

Referee: Chris Young

Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Mitchell Clark

Fourth Official: Kearney Robinson

MARCONI: 22.James Chronopoulos, 2.Mitchell Thompson, 3.Ali Haydar, 4.Trent Barton, 6.Jared Lum, 10.Milorad Simonovic (5.Brenton Rhodes 80’), 15.Tomislav Mijic, 17.Steven Drewery, 18.Jake McGing, 20.Shu Sasaki, 23.Christopher Nunes.

Substitutes not used: 1.Nathan Campbell, 9.Marco Sama, 16.Bruno Antelmi, 21.Zakeriya El-Rich,

Yellow Cards: Ali Haydar 35’, James Chronopoulos 66’, Trent Barton 73’

Red Cards: Nil

BONNYRIGG WHITE EAGLES: 20.Tristan Prendergast, 4.David Vrankovic, 5.Chris Tadrosse, 6.Nikola Zonjic, 8.Alexander Canak, 9.Robbie Younis, 12.Dylan Fox, 13.Adam Jenner, 16.Howard Fondyke, 19.Aaron Peterson (21.Bo Hyun Chun 55’), 35.Terry McFlynn.

Substitutes not used: 2.Alexander Mansueto, 3.Benjamin Spruce, 14.Jordon Crighton, 22.Liam Gobbo

Yellow Cards: Alexander Canak 18’

Red Cards: Nil

– By Joe Russo, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Marconi Stadium