White Eagles tame Lions with impressive display

Bonnyrigg White Eagles secured an impressive 4-0 defeat of Bankstown City in a dominant display on Saturday evening at Bonnyrigg Sports Ground.

The visitors started the game on the right foot, pressuring the Bonnyrigg White Eagles defence from the first whistle.

The first chance of the match fell to Bankstown in the 5’ minute as a cheeky cross from the right by Steve Liavas allowed Tallan Martin to chest the ball back to Hussein Salameh but his soft shot didn’t test Phil Zabaks in goal.

Bonnyrigg responded with a half-chance on 10’ minutes. Good lead up play led to Nikola Zonjic crossing to find the head of David Gullo but his soft header was off target and went out for a goal kick.

The game turned into a sloppy affair with both sides testing each other physically. Bonnyrigg had a chance to take the lead in the 17’ minute but again failed. After good lead up play, Milorad Simonovic shot from 20-yards out but did not test Joseski in goal for Bankstown.

The Eagles began to show their expansive style of football in the 20’ minute, moving the ball around the pitch well and forcing the Bankstown defence onto the back foot.

In the 22’ minute, their positive football almost turned fruitful only for Zlatko Joseski to acrobatically save a Daniel Severino volley and quickly gather the ball before rolling into the back of the net.

Bankstown seemed to be panicking against a far better White Eagles side, with the defensive line kicking the ball straight into the air.

The pressure cracked the Bankstown defence in the 27’ minute as Bonnyrigg took the 1-0 lead. A great through ball from the left by 17-year old David Gullo put Daniel Severino in on goal, with the midfielder slotting the ball past Joseski to put one nail into his former team’s coffin.

Minutes later and Bankstown almost had their equaliser. A silly miss punch by Zabaks in goal saw the ball fall on the goal line only for Wade Oostendorp to clear and save the goalkeeper any embarrassment.

Bonnyrigg however were not going to let their lead slip and, instead, extended it on 36’ minutes.

A mistake in the middle by Bankstown allowed Gullo to attack Joseski. His trickling shot got past the keeper as the 2009 NSW Premier League player of the year Brad Boardman picked up the scraps and tapped the ball into the empty net for the 2-0 lead.

Bonnyrigg were not done and further extended their lead in the 40’ minute. After a great ball down the left by Michael Brown, Gullo again turned provider as his cross found Severino who headed back across goal to find the foot of Brad Boardman to score his second, and his team’s third.

Bankstown seemed to be their own worst enemy, with countless chances on goal they failed to test Zabaks who was returning after missing last week’s game.

The Eagles were not content with their 3-0 lead as they searched to embarrass the visiting side on the stroke of half-time. A great ball by Shane Webb allowed Jamie McMaster to chest down and turn but his volley just missed the crossbar to take the game to a 3-0 half-time score.

Bonnyrigg returned for the second half on the attack again, with Oostendorp hitting the crossbar from a corner in the 49’ minute, sending chills down the spines of the travelling fans.

Bankstown attempted to compose themselves but their final ball failed to trouble the home-side.

Their night almost turned even worse in the 55’ minute as Tallan Martin passed the ball directly to an unmarked Severino who turned around and found Brad Boardman, but the sharp shooter could not score his third.

Bonnyrigg thought they had won themselves a penalty in the 60’ minute as Boardman seemed to have been pulled down in the six-yard box, only for the referee to wave play on.

In the 62’ minute Almir Dizdaric was injected into the game for Bankstown in the hope for the former Bonnyrigg marksman to score while for the home side the ever impressive Gullo was replaced by former Melbourne Victory striker and latest White Eagles signing Nathan Elasi.

Their plan almost worked as two minutes later a free-kick found Dizdaric on the back post only for his volley to be easily saved by Zabaks.

Bankstown continued to try their luck to peg the score back, but could not crack the stiff Bonnyrigg defence.

On the 72’ minutes, Shannon Burgin had the ball fall to his feet in shooting range, only for the up and coming youngster to miscue his shot out for a goal kick.

Another chance fell to the visitors in the 75’ minute as a nicely struck free-kick by Suad Ameti did not curl enough to hit the target in what summed up Bankstown’s performance.

Bankstown’s efforts were cancelled in the 79’ minute as Bonnyrigg made the score 4-0.

After breaking from a corner, Elasi fed the ball to Jamie McMaster on goal, with the in-form midfielder stepping past one defender before chipping the ball over Joseski to continue the embarrassment.

3’ minutes later and Bonnyrigg almost scored their fifth as Jamie McMaster crossed the ball across goal only for Boardman to hit the ball over the crossbar from almost on the goal line.

To their credit, Bankstown did not give up trying till the final whistle as Robbie Mileski tried his luck from distance, denied only by Zabaks in goal.

Following the match, Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown was happy with his team’s performance but thought they should have run away with it in the second-half:

“I think in the first-half we played really well and in the end we should’ve buried a few more goals.

“Our first-half performance was as good as we have played this year. We were very impressive all over the park tonight and it is very hard to pick a man of the match.’’

Bankstown City FC player/coach Peter Tsekenis was extremely disappointed with his side’s display:

“We just made too many schoolboy errors gifting Bonnyrigg chances on goal.

“Against a quality side like Bonnyrigg you cannot do that as you will get punished and that is what happened tonight.’’

In the Grade 20 encounter, Bonnyrigg White Eagles clawed back to snatch a 2-2 draw in a dire match.

Match Stats

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4 (Severino 27’, Boardman 36’, 40’, McMaster 79’)

Bankstown City Lions 0

Saturday, 3^rd April, 2010

Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg

Crowd: 1000 Approx.

Referee: Kurt Ams

Assistant Referees: Matthew Colquhoun & Bachar Allam 

Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 99.Phil Zabaks; 4.Michael Brown, 6.Vuko Tomasevic (C), 7.Nikola Zonjic (2.Paul Cotte 86’),  8.Milorad Simonovic, 9.Brad Boardman, 10.Daniel Severino (13.Juan Chavez 75’), 11.Shane Webb, 17.David Gullo (15.Nathan Elasi 62’), 19.Jamie McMaster, 20.Wade Oostendorp

Substitutes Not Used: 1.Ali Akbal, 5.Milan Zoric

Yellow Cards: Tomasevic 58’

Red Cards: Nil

Bankstown City Lions: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 2.Scott Thomas, 3.Shannon Burgin, 4.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic (C), 6.Peter Tsekenis, 7.Steve Liavas (99.Chris Goddy Bascur 76’), 8.George Nohra (14.Suad Ameti 56’), 10.Robbie Mileski, 20.Hussein Salameh, 23.Tallan Martin (11.Almir Dizdaric 62’)

Substitutes Not Used: 18.Will Angel, 22.Robert Napoleone

Yellow Cards: Studman 34’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 - David Gullo (BWE)

2 - Jamie McMaster (BWE)

1 - Brad Boardman (BWE)

-By Christopher Georges

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