Super League Round 4 Review

Liverpool the boss of NSW Super League after wet and wild round four
Bossy Liverpool slipped four points ahead of Bonnyrigg on the NSW Super League table after a thrilling 2-1 injury-time win over Rockdale, but the White Eagles signaled a dire warning to their rivals with a 5-0 whitewash of Parramatta.
Granville stole a 2-2 draw at Fraser Park to jump up into the top-five and Mount Druitt drew 1-1 with Fairfield to both remain in the doghouse.
The rain also showed its hand and washed out matches between the Northern Tigers and St George, and Central Coast versus Sydney Uni.
Bossy star Alex Canak also shot to the top of the Super League goalscorers list with his game-winner over the Suns taking him to five for the year.
Rangers, Lions stalemate
It was a dogged affair at Norford Park on Saturday night, with both Mount Druitt Town Rangers and Fairfield City Lions looking for their first win of the season but having to settle on a 1-1 draw instead.
Fairfield got off to the better start with Jarred Aligiannis scoring on the half-hour, only to see Mount Druitt?s Adam Roscoe hit back in the 78^th-minute.
The result keeps the Lions and Rangers winless after four weeks and languishing at the bottom of the table.
Bossy rock the Suns
Bossy Liverpool skipped clear of the Super League pack with a solid 2-1 away win over Rockdale City Suns at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon.
As expected, it was a tight all the way through with superboot Alex Canak the hero for Liverpool, scoring an injury-time goal to secure Bossy?s fourth successive victory of the year and their first victory over the Suns in almost three years.
A fast and furious start to the match brought the Rockdale crowd to the edge of their seats only for Bossy forward Sargon Dawd to send them reeling back again with a goal just seven minutes from the half-time break.
The game?s intensity picked up in the second half and it found an unlikely pacemaker in defender Marjan Novotni, who sent the home fans into raptures when he equalised in the 88^th-minute.
With the gut-wrenching contest seemingly headed for a draw, who else but Canak to steal the show, and his decider in the third minute of injury time stunned the home crowd and sent the visitors into a celebratory frenzy.
The winning goal took Canak to the top of the Super League goalscorers list with five scores for the season. He has scored five times in Liverpool?s past three games.
Bossy coach Mile Todorovski was delighted with a win away from home ? it took Liverpool 16 round to accumulate the same amount of points in 2007 ? but he remained subdued amid the festive feeling about the club.
?Yes of course I am happy, it was very tough game because Rockale are a very good team,? he said. ?It was an unpredictable game to say how it would happen. But, for the moment, Bossy is looking very far from where we were last year. Football is football.?
?Last year I could see the anger and frustration on all their faces. This year, they have elation to win ? this is the difference from last year. When you are last, everyone feels like they have no quality. But when you are at the top it is a much better feeling for the players, they have much more confidence.?
Todorovski also refused to be drawn to comparisons with Bonnyrigg, who beat Parramatta 5-0, preferring to point out the contrast in his side from 2007.
?I never compare with Bonnyrigg, they pay big money to their players and should always compete for the title,? he said.
?I?m not interested in our position at this stage. Our first goal this year was simple ? everyone in the club wanted to escape from the last spot. At the end of the day, if we are on top it is an extra bonus. It is very hard to stay at the top, much easier to chase on the heel, but we are comfortable.?
White Eagles soar
It may have taken four rounds but the Bonnyrigg White Eagles announced themselves in emphatic fashion at Melita Stadium on Sunday, winning 5-0. Bonnyrigg coach Blagoja Kulevski couldn?t contain himself after the game and spoke of a dominating display from his troops.
?I?m very happy,? he said.
?From the start the players played fantastic. The team played beautifully, from the goalkeeper to the striker, and we dominated the whole game. Parramatta didn?t have any control of the situation, and if we keep playing like this we can look forward to a good year.?
Dragons, Rage thriller draw
Granville Rage and Fraser Park Dragons played out an exciting 2-2 draw at Fraser Park on Sunday afternoon, but Fraser Park will be most relieved with the result.
Granville played all over their opponents and would feel disappointed they didn?t snatch all three points away from home.
Fraser Park rattled Granville early with Robert Di Meglio scrambling in a goal in just the 13^th minute before the Rage settled and Nenos Bobo bobbed up for an equaliser within 10 minutes.
With Granville full of running, the Dragons took the wind out of their sails with a goal to L Gomez and Fraser Park led 2-1 inside the opening half-hour.
A rev-up and change in formation from Rage coach Lee Sterrey had the desired effect and the Rage were all over Fraser Park in the second half, Bobo denied on several occasions and the Dragons defence clearing a number of other chances off their line.
The relentless pressure finally told with Bobo cutting inside two defenders only to be brought down inside the penalty box on the 80^th minute mark.
William Sanchez stepped up to convert the spot kick and level the scores at 2-2. Try as they might but Granville couldn?t find a winner, but they did consolidate a top-five position. Because of this, Sterrey had mixed emotions about the match.
?It was one of those games where you can think you got out of it with an away point, which is a good result but, with the amount of possession and run we had in the second half, we really dominated,? he said.
?We gave up possession a fair bit in the first 15 minutes and they scrambled one in, and we took another bad goal on the break. I think defensively we thought we?d turn up and go through the motions.?
?I made a few changes in the second half and had them in sixes and sevens, we were all over them. So, it was a game I think we let slip through the fingers. It always takes a bit of time to gel as a team and I am happy to be in the top four but, gee, the Bonnyrigg result is very scary. That?s a big result against Parramatta.?
Rain dampens fun
With plenty of rain forecast for Sydney this month it was inevitable some Super League would have to be postponed, and that?s precisely what happened at Sydney Oval with Sunday?s fixture between Sydney University and Central Coast Lightning declared a wash-out.
It leaves both teams having to wait an extra week to try and chalk up their first victory of the season.
The St George Saints versus Northern Tigers Sunday afternoon clash at Mills Park suffered the same wet fate, with the match also called off due to rain.
Incredibly, the Tigers maintain third spot on the ladder ahead of a testing fifth round meeting with undefeated league leaders Bossy Liverpool, also at Mills. The Saints go on to face Sydney Uni.
First Grade:
Fairfield City Lions 1 (Jarred Aligiannis 31m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Adam Roscoe 78m)
Fraser Park Dragons 2 (Robert Di Meglio 13m, L Gomez 27m) Granville Rage 2 (Nenos Bobo 22m, William Sanchez 80m pen)
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Marjan Novotni 88m) Bossy Liverpool 2 (Sargon Dawd 38m, Alex Canak 93m)
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 5
Sydney University Central Coast Lightning washed out
Northern Tigers St George Saints washed out
Grade 20:
Fairfield City Lions 1 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 5
Fraser Park Dragons 2 Granville Rage 1
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1
Rockdale City Suns 1 Bossy Liverpool 2
Sydney University Central Coast Lightning washed out
Northern Tigers St George Saints washed out
-By Daniel De Nardi