Fans of defensive stalemates would’ve been left thoroughly disappointed at Blacktown Football Park on Saturday night.
An eight goal thriller gave fans plenty of excitement as Bonnyrigg White Eagles overpowered Blacktown Spartans 5-3.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the home side who had total control of the match after 45 minutes.
After a narrow 4-3 loss to Sydney Olympic at the same ground last week, the Spartans looked to take it to the big boys once again with an attacking focus from the opening whistle.
A sluggish Bonnyrigg defence was on the back foot for much of the opening exchanges as speedster Daniel Fogarty tore the opposition to shreds and eventually the pressure paid off.
Just 11 minutes in former White Eagles player Luka Dukic’s low and powerful free kick snuck under the Bonnyrigg wall from 20 yards out to give the home side the lead.
The goal provided the home side a platform to attack and they didn’t hold back going after their more favoured opponent.
Bonnyrigg had its chances too, but Carlos Saliadiarre was in fine form between the sticks.
Just on the brink of half time the Spartans struck again,
Jordan Crighton latching onto a pinpoint cross from Futa Nakamura to double the home side’s lead going into the break.
Whatever White Eagles coach Brian Brown said to his troops in the half time interval certainly worked.
Bonnyrigg were determined to find their way back into the match and it couldn’t be clearer on the pitch.
Wave after wave of attacks from the visitors had Blacktown struggling to keep its defensive line together.
On the 56 minute mark Bonnyrigg struck back through Tynan Diaz.
The fightback was on in earnest and 10 minutes later the scores were level when Robbie Younis hit the back of the net to make it 2-2.
Not satisfied with that, Brian Brown’s men continued to push forward and finally took the lead in the 75th minute, courtesy of Adam Jenner.
However the match would take another twist in the 80th minute when former White Eagles player Mitchell Long managed to peg one back for the home side to have the scores deadlocked once again at 3-3.
However it wasn’t enough to stop the momentum of Bonnyrigg with Younis scoring two late strikes to secure all three points for the visitors.
Brian Brown praised the fighting spirit of his side.
“It was great to see the players taking the positive step and giving it their all to win what could’ve been a massive defeat.
“Credit to Blacktown Spartans. They played well and really pushed us all the way.”
♦ Marconi Stallions pulled on a late show to a record a memorable 2-1 victory over the Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw under the new coaching director of Jeff Suzor.
Suzor replaced Paul Carter earlier in the week and the new manager got off to a belting start in his first grade managerial debut as goals to Robbie Shields and the winner from Milorad Simonovic sealed the victory over the Sharks.
The match was a lacklustre affair for the opening fifteen minutes as both sides tried to gain the upper hand in midfield with the experience of Sharks midfielder Steve Hayes and work-horse Stallions skipper Chris Nunes leading the way.
Nunes was delighted with what was a courageous comeback from the Stallions to get back to their winning ways.
“After such a slow start earlier in the season, this victory demonstrated the team’s commitment in never giving up, and we showed that this evening.”
