White Eagles clinch first win for 2017 season
The Bonnyrigg White Eagles finally clinched their first win of the 2017 season in Round 9 of the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition with a 3-0 victory at WIN Stadium on Sunday night.
Bonnyrigg were dealt an early blow in the 4th minute with an injury to club captain Raymond Miller rocked the camp – with several players out of the side, Miller’s injury certainly did not help the club’s cause in getting a fit starting eleven thus far.
The White Eagles responded with the first chance of the game in the 6th minute, Martin Lo skipping past a few challenges on the edge of the box to create space for a strike that sailed over goal.
In the 8th minute, Peter Simonoski was picked out in the box and came close to putting Wollongong ahead with his effort flashing narrowly wide of goal.
The Wolves continually looked dangerous on the counter, however their chances lacked any final product.
Both defences were solid the first half, winning the aerial battles and limiting any clear cut opportunities.
It wasn’t until the 52nd minute that the deadlock was finally broken, substitute Gregory Kondek cut inside from the left wing onto his right foot to send an exquisite curling effort into the back of the net to put Bonnyrigg 1-0 in the lead.
The Wolves piled the pressure on Bonnyrigg, and despite dominating possession and creating a plethora of chances, they couldn’t manage to convert their opportunities.
Throughout the match, Joshua MacDonald’s quick and direct dribbling looked to threaten the Bonnyrigg defence.
In the 61st minute, MacDonald skillfully beat his fullback and swung in a cross from the right which found Nicolas Bernal whose header struck the upright.
Just minutes later, Simonoski’s sweetly struck volley from the edge of the area flew just inches high of goal.
One of Wollongong’s best opportunities came in the 83rd minute, when Bernal received the ball in the box, darted to the left and fired a close range shot, however James Chronopoulos was up to the task, coming out and making himself big to block the effort.
Moments later in the 84th minute, the White Eagles were on the counter with young gun Hassan Jalloh finding himself in behind the Wollongong defence. Jalloh demonstrated superb pace and composure to keep Hayden Morton at bay and calmly slot past Pasfield.
Bonnyrigg sealed the win in the 93rd minute, as Sam Gallaway unleashed a powerful left footed strike into the bottom left corner of goal to make it 3-0 after being offered too much time and space on the edge of box by the Wolves defence.
Speaking after the match, Wollongong Wolves coach Jacob Timpano was left bewildered as to how his team got nothing from the game.
“It’s a hard one to take because I thought we totally dominated the game. We probably had more chances this game than we have in most games all year.”
“I told the boys at half time, if we switch off that’s what’ll happen. Well done to Bonnyrigg, they were desperate and got the result.”
Bonnyrigg Coach Brian Brown was pleased that his side finally managed to snatch victory and will be hoping that this would be a turning point in their season.
“Great win. Very tough place to come and get three points. We defended well today, there was real enthusiasm and hard work – that probably sums up the game.
“We took our chances very well – our three goals were three exceptionally good goals.”
Match Stats
Wollongong Wolves FC 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3 (Gregory Kondek 52’, Hassan Jalloh 83’, Samuel Gallaway 93’)
WIN Stadium
Sunday May 7, 2017
Referee: R. Mattei
Assistants: S. Ho, V. Bertuccioli
Fourth official: B. Wright
WOLLONGONG WOLVES FC: 16. Patrick ANTELMI, 18. Nicolas BERNAL, 8. Brendan GRIFFIN, 23. Steven HAYES(11. Hristijan TANOSKI 73’), 14. Joshua MACDONALD, 6. Darcy MADDEN, 4. Hayden MORTON, 1. Justin PASFIELD, 7. Christopher PRICE, 17. Michael ROBINSON, 9. Peter SIMONOSKI
Substitutes not used: 5. James BALDACCHINO, 12. Luke KAIRIES, 10. David STOJIC, 30. Brett WILSON
Yellow cards: Bernal 59’, Pasfield 91’
Red cards: nil
BONNYRIGG WHITE EAGLES FC: 1. James CHRONOPOLOUS, 8. Troy DANASKOS, 16. Samuel GALLAWAY (36. Nikola ZONJIC), 12. Mun-Soo GIL, 27. Luke IVANOVIC, 21, Hassan JALLOH, 10. Martin LO, 6. Zachary MACKENZIE, 14. Taylor MCDONALD, 15. Raymond MILLER (7. KONDEK Gregory 4’) (13. James MCKENZIE 76’), 3. David VRANKOVIC
Substitutes not used: 17. Leon FARIA, 20. Stevan SAVICIC
Yellow cards: Lo 56’, Gallaway 73’
Red cards: nil
Player Ratings
3 – Hassan Jalloh (BWE)
2 – Joshua MacDonald (WW)
1 – Brendan Griffin (WW)
-By Edward Huang
