White Eagles FC not only beat the Blacktown Spartans 2-1 last night at Bonnyrigg Sports Club, they were the only south west Sydney club to taste victory this round.
The miserable season of the Marconi Stallions continued when they suffered a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of the Sutherland Sharks last night.
But of more concern is Sydney United 58 FC, which was thrashed 5-0 by Manly at Cromer Park, also last night.
Sydney United 58 FC assistant coach Jerry Bilokapic conceded it was “a bad day at the office.’’
Back at Bonnyrigg, the Eagles bagged the three premiership points thanks to strikes from Tynan Diaz and Yuta Kokoda.
Robert Younis did not find the back of the net, but caused plenty of headaches early on and was denied a penalty when he looked to be fouled by two Spartans defenders as he brought down an aerial ball and shaped up for a volley.
The referee declined to blow his whistle and play continued but the White Eagles remained on top.
Diaz tried his luck after nine minutes with a long range effort, but never looked like hitting the target, before Younis and Aaron Peterson lined up well to release Kokado who could not capitalise on the good play.
It should have been 1-0 in the 26th minute when Diaz beat Saliadarre with a fine cross to Ray Miller at the far post, but the midfielder could not reward his late run into the box as he lost his footing at the crucial moment.
Diaz proved more clinical with his next chance two minutes later when the ball broke to him down the right.
With the whole attacking third before him, Diaz left the recovering defenders for dead as he drove towards goal and dispatched a lovely finish into the back of the net.
It was the only goal of the half, but far from the last bit of goalmouth action.
A Spartans shot on goal through a tree of defensive legs forced a good save from James Chronopolous before Bonnyrigg was back on the front foot.
A trio of chances in the 36th minute should have provided a second goal as Kokado hit the post, before Miller’s shot from the rebound was blocked.
The teams went into the break with the score 1-0 in Bonnyrigg’s favour, but the Spartans looked a different side when they returned for the second half.
Fresh from a Ben De Haan spray, the Spartans took the initiative and had a penalty in the 50th minute following a jinxing run from Shu Sasaki.
The pacey forward stepped up to take the spot-kick, but could not convert as he sent his shot towards the bottom-right corner, only to be denied by a sprawling Chronopolous.
The Spartans hardly deserved to be on level terms, but the save proved the crucial point of the game as the White Eagles took control again.
Spartans were duly punished by Kokado when the Japanese winger picked up the ball inside the box and hammered it home.
Subsititute Carlos Enwiya scored a consolation in stoppage time for the visitors but it was too little, too late as Bonnyrigg held on to win, much to the delight of their coach, Brian Brown.
“I was very happy with the performance particularly the first half,” Brown said.
“Our movement was class and we were unlucky not to get a few goals.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“But if we can get on a decent flat pitch, we’ll be a threat to everyone. Our form, last week’s 45 minutes aside, has been good and we’ve shown the sort of team we are tonight.”[/social_quote]
