Cutri strikes for Eagles as Tigers brought down at Leichhardt Oval
Rarely did they look like upsetting the Sydney Tigers, but that all changed after the only goal arrived on 76? minutes courtesy of substitute Domenic Cutri.
After the match, assistant White Eagles coach, Cliff Pointer, who deputised for Brian Brown who was overseas, acknowledged that the Tigers had the better of play in the first-half but that his own side clawed their way back into the match in the second stanza:
?I thought the first-half was pretty even, but probably the Tigers had the better of the chances,? he honestly stated.
?However, then I thought we got more and more into the game in the second-half.?
Bonnyrigg almost opened the scoring on 4? minutes when Milan Zoric, with a beautiful diagonal shot, rattled the outside netting which had the away supporters celebrating until the realisation dawned on them that the ball had gone dead and wide.
There wasn?t much more to entertain the wonderful crowd in the first stanza of play and the better of the few notable chances clearly fell to the Tigers.
In the 16? minute Jamie McMaster should really have steered the ball into the net from close-range after Mark Byrnes headed down a Michael Hawrysiuk free-kick into his path, but McMaster was off target.
Hawrysiuk himself tried to make up for the miss 5? minutes later, but his volley from just inside the box sailed over the crossbar.
In the 34? minute Robbie Younis dangerously charged towards the White Eagles goal only to spray his shot fractionally over the crossbar much to the disappointment of his team-mates.
As far as first-half chances went that was really about it on an afternoon of slim pickings. Perhaps it could be argued that referee Khodr Yaghi?s half-time whistle was a welcome reprieve for all.
The second-half was welcomed with much anticipation, but once again very little seemed to be on offer early on as both sides refused to concede an inch of space to each other in a tight midfield battle.
In the 57? minute Franco Parisi, with a precise cross, picked out McMaster close to the far post, but the former Leeds United player could only manage to head the ball wide and across the face of goal when he should have done much better.
On 63? minutes Bonnyrigg replied when Nikola Zonjic fired in a cross for Daniel Willoughby who was off target with his shot.
Moments later, Younis thought that he would try his luck from a free-kick from just outside the box, but even though several Tigers supporters thought that it might be their chance to take the lead, the former A-League striker was well off range and the ball never looked like hitting the back of the net.
The only goal of the game was opportunistic when Milorad Simonovic beautifully found Cutri and the first-half substitute finished off stupendously. The away supporters celebrated and they had reason to; a game that was never theirs was now firmly in their grasp.
?We took the chance when it came our way,? Pointer rightly said afterwards.
In the 91? minute though, the Tigers could have scored when a McMaster free-kick from the edge of the penalty-area failed to dip a fraction and it sailed just over the crossbar in what was a really close shave.
?I think the commitment from the boys has been fantastic since we [Brian Brown and Pointer] got here,? Pointer said.
?That?s our sixth game: we have drawn three, won two and lost one which is not a bad start out of six.
?The boys worked very, very hard today because the Tigers are always a hard team to beat and we matched them in the areas that we needed to match them.?
In the Tigers dressing room the coach, Luke McGuire, was very philosophical and praiseworthy of his players despite the harsh loss for his side:
?I can?t fault the players to be honest,? he said. ?They worked hard and we had eleven committed players on the field, but we didn?t win and I guess it wasn?t to be today.
?I thought we dominated for long periods of the game and I know we created our chances.
?We have certainly turned the corner in the way we are playing, but hopefully too the results we deserve will soon follow.?
Meanwhile, in the Grade-20 division, Sydney Tigers defeated Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3-2 thanks to a hat-trick of goals from Massimo Luongo.
Match Stats
Sydney Tigers 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Domenic Cutri 76?)
Sunday 24th May, 2009
Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Nicholas Back and Lance Greenshield
Fourth Official: Matthew Samson
Sydney Tigers: 99.Phillip Zabaks; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.John Kelso, 13.David D?Apuzzo (18.Bishara Stephan 64?), 12.Michael West, 15.Danial Cummins (8.Marino Musumeci 85?), 19.Jamie McMaster, 16.Michael Hawrysiuk (7.Stephen Kayes 90?), 24.Jason Trifiro, 10.Franco Parisi, 9.Robert Younis.
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Giancarlo Papaianni, 11.Carlo Musumeci,
Yellow Cards: D?Apuzzo 13?, Byrnes 92?
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Nenad Vekic; 2.Paul Cotte, 3.Graeme Forbes, 5.Mark D?Alessandro, 7.Nikola Zonjic (6.Ilkay Gurbuz 89?), 8.Daniel Willoughby (15.Steven Bozinovski 74?), 11.Almir Dizdaric, 17.Milorad Simonovic, 9.Jay Lucas (14.Domenic Cutri 24?), 18.Tayfun Devrimol, 20.Milan Zoric.
Substitutes Not Used: 23.Ali Akbal, 4.David Petrovic
Yellow Cards: Bozinovski 80?, Zoric 91?
-By Joe Russo
