Bankstown happy with result as Bonnyrigg see another draw

Jensen Park, the home of Bankstown City is your classic football ground.

A small all-seater stand on either side of the pitch, a BBQ at the clubhouse and if you want to smoke you move to the fence. This really is a football club at its simplest and purest, and it is amazing.

Having grown up watching Bankstown City play their hard, aggressive and quick passing game, their style of football has not changed under the reign of new coach, Blagoja Kuleski. He fielded a strong side who have gone through a huge personnel change after the mass exodus of the off season.

Brian Brown hasn’t had the same issue at Bonnyrigg White Eagles. Considered one of the most consistent performing sides last season, and seeing two draws in the opening two rounds of the competition, the Red and White side went into this match looking for three points.

With Bankstown City setting up in a 5-3-2 shape they looked like they were more prepared to defend than they were going to be troubling Bonnyrigg’s ‘keeper, Phil Zabaks. Bonnyrigg sent out a traditional 4-4-2 with Brad Broadman and Daniel Serverino leading the attack.

The 500 plus fans who were at the park didn’t have to wait long for the first shot on goal. Seven minutes into this fixture Bonnyrigg had a corner which Bankstown’s shot stopper, Zlatko Joseski could only push as far as Jamie McMaster who fired his shot agonisingly close to the bar. This was only the start of Bonnyrigg’s strong attempts on goal.

Former Central Coast Mariner and North Queensland Fury left back Chris Tadrosse was involved in everything going forward for Bonnyrigg. Just before half time he had a shot from range but again Bonnyrigg failed to capitalise on their opportunities. It seemed the half time whistle couldn’t come soon enough for Bankstown City.

At the break the instructions were clear for both sides, Bankstown needed to be more confident in the final third of the pitch and simply take a shot. For Bonnyrigg, Brian Brown instructed them to not rely on Chris Tadrosse as much and to look for the accurate shot on goal rather than constantly going for the power shot.

As a result both Bankstown and Bonnyrigg went on the attack with no less than five attempts on goal in the opening 15 minutes. However it was not all good for Bankstown as they lost star striker Hussein Salameh through injury as he fell awkwardly after a shot on goal.

Watching Bonnyrigg’s passing game was at times beautiful to watch, and at others it was frustrating. On a good day they look like they could beat most A-League clubs with their passing, against Bankstown though they looked like an amateur side with stray passes and aimless kicks in the backline.

Bankstown capitalised on this fact and pushed higher up the park looking to open the scoring. With 15 minutes of the game left, Bankstown had a corner. A free header in the box which would have been a sure goal was stopped once again by Bonnyrigg’s ‘keeper who really was in fine form.

Although there were a lot of positives the two coaches could take from the game, there were moments of madness which will cause a headache heading into next week’s matches. Bankstown City’s Peter Peralta and Bonnyrigg’s Daniel Serverino both received their marching orders for two yellow cards apiece.

The match ended on a sour note with Bankstown defender Daniel Slaveski being taken to the hospital with a suspected broken nose and black eye.

Full time result: Bankstown City 0 – Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0