Super League Round 16 Review

Goals galore in round 16 of NSW Super League
A breakaway top-three, deadlocked mid-table, bottom-table scrap for survival and 25 goals to boot from round 26 of NSW Super League football. Bonnyrigg (34 points), Parramatta (31) and Liverpool (28, with two games in hand) lead the way after they secured victories over Fraser Park (5-0), Central Coast (4-1) and Northern Tigers (3-1) respectively.
Fifth-placed Granville (22) inched back a point from fourth-placed Fraser Park (24) following a scrappy 1-1 draw with Fairfield, Rockdale smashed Mount Druitt 5-0 in a show of force, while Uni?s shock 2-1 win over St George kept them out of last spot. The Lightning (20), Tigers (19), Saints (19), Suns (18) and Rangers (15) are still within sight of a finals berth.
Lions, Rage share points
Fairfield City Lions continued their mini-resurgence in a gritty 1-1 draw with a shaky Granville Rage outfit at Norford Park in the only Saturday night game. Both sides will be grateful for the extra point as the run continues to end of the season. Fairfield have not been able to shift from the bottom of the table since the competition began, but a point keeps them in sight of a jump on their nearest rivals, Uni, who enjoyed a rare win. Granville stayed in fifth, keeping a string of chasers at bay.
Granville started the match stronger and lay siege to Fairfield?s goal, but it took an hour for the Rage to finally break through for a goal with Leon Pirrello heading back over the Lions keeper into goal on 60-minutes for a 1-0 lead. The Lions rallied ? aided by a three striker formation ? and, 15 minutes later, Mohammed Baghdadi blasted in a weak clearance from Granville to net an unlikely equaliser for the home side.
Fairfield coach Aydin Cetinay aims to be well clear of the relegation zone by the end of July. ?It?s our aim to get off the bottom, and I played three strikers in the last half-hour to look for the result. We managed to grab a draw,? he said. ?It was a good game, and the most pleasing aspect for me was the way the players are covering for those who are out with injuries. I?m happy with one point in the circumstances.?
Granville coach Lee Sterrey was not happy with what he termed the ?worst slipped points this season?. ?They [Fairfield] weren?t in the game,? he said. ?We dominated for long periods, dominated territory, had eight clear chances in the first half, we just lacked that intensity in front of goal. We?re just not finishing off our chances.?
?It?s a lost opportunity for sure; the worst slipped points this season. We were all pumped up for the second half of the season and have picked up one point in the last three weeks ? we?re shooting ourselves in the foot. There?s still good spirit in the camp, but the frustration is starting to test the player?s nerves. We have to keep the pressure up.?
Fairfield City Lions 1 (Mohammed Baghdadi 74m) Granville Rage 1 (Leon Pirrello 60m)
Eagles crack Lightning
Second-placed Parramatta PCYC Eagles smashed Central Coast Lightning 4-1 at Melita Stadium on Sunday afternoon to reassert themselves as a title force. A week after surrendering a two goal lead to an experienced Bonnyrigg outfit, Parramatta were a team on a mission against Central Coast, who themselves were looking to press for a top-five place. The result kept the Eagles in touch with the minor premiership, and shook the Lightning?s own finals hopes.
Parramatta were on fire early and took an early lead through Achilleas Markopoulos before Central Coast?s Jamie Lobb made the most of a momentary lapse in concentration from the Eagles defence to make it 1-1 not long after. The home side thrilled their audience when Markopoulos grabbed another goal shortly before the break to make it 2-1 at half-time. Second-half goals to Parramatta players Mario Ghobrial and Andy Amegashie sealed a comprehensive 4-1 victory.
Eagles coach Jason Falzon was satisfied with his team?s overall performance. ?The Boys played really well,? he said. ?Things didn?t completely go our way last week [in a 2-2 draw with Bonnyrigg], and boys have bounced back very well. The score could have been more, but to be rewarded with the goals we scored was the result of a real team effort.?
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 4 (Achilleas Markopoulos 25/45m Mario Ghobrial 59m Andy Amegashie 93m) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Jamie Lobb 39m)
Bossy tame Tigers
Bossy Liverpool made third spot on the table their own following a dominant 3-1 victory a fading Northern Tigers at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon. Liverpool was in complete control and avenged their 0-1 round-five loss to the Tigers at Moorebank. Bossy, with two catch-up games at their call, critically stayed three points behind Parramatta and within sight of leaders Bonnyrigg.
Daniel Nash got the ball rolling for the home side with a well taken goal ? his sixth of the season ? inside the opening 20 minutes to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. But their joy was short-lived when Super League?s leading goalscorer, Liverpool?s Alex Canak, restored parity with a return goal on the half-hour mark.
Bossy asserted themselves on the match early in the second half and Sam Awad bobbed up for Liverpool?s second goal just minutes after the restart. Canak assured the result was settled with a third goal for the visitors inside the closing quarter-hour.
Tigers coach Hugh McCrory isn?t quite ready to concede season 2008 but he is getting to the end of his patience. ?We?re not good enough at the moment,? he said. ?We couldn?t handle them at the back, and they blasted us. It should?ve been six goals against us today, we were that poor defensively. I?m still hoping we?ll make the semis, but every week it gets tougher.?
Northern Tigers 1 (Daniel Nash 18m) Bossy Liverpool 3 (Alex Canak 28m, 77m Sam Awad 49m)
Bonnyrigg smash Fraser Park
An understrength Fraser Park fell 5-0 to a rampant Bonnyrigg White Eagles at Fraser Park on Sunday afternoon. The home side stayed in fourth spot on the ladder, but the tough match reminded Fraser Park coach Alex Augusto of what his side has ahead of them should they want to win the Super League title.
Fraser Park did extremely well to match it with their formidable opponents and a 0-0 halftime scoreline reflected the tight tussle going on. But the floodgates opened when Bonnyrigg midfielder Daniel Willoughby scored on 54-minutes, Dominic Curti adding another for the visitors a minute later. With 20 minutes remaining, Cutri completed his hat-trick with two goals in two minutes before Willoughby bagged a fifth goal within earshot of fulltime.
?We lost a few players for this game; Chris Skaroupka went out with an injury, and we lost four other good players, so I was always going to try and play for a draw if we could,? Augusto said. ?Bonnyrigg are very fit, but I think if I had all of my players available it would have been a different result. We are still a club on the build, and things are looking better.?
Fraser Park 0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 5 (Daniel Willoughby 54/88m Dominic Cutri 55/70/72m)
Suns scorch Rangers
Rockdale City Suns turned in a thorough job to annihilate Mount Druitt Town Rangers 5-1 at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon. The two sides have now generated 17 goals from their past four meetings together, for two wins each. But it was Rockdale who got the spoils of victory this time around, as they crept closer to regaining a top-five position.
The Suns went 1-0 up behind a Terry Atsas strike but were in trouble when they lost a player for retaliating half an hour into the match. But Mount Druitt lost a player in each half and trailed for most of the game, a sole Brendan Mitrovich goal splitting strikes to Rockdale?s Goce Trposki, Igor Kotevski, Peter Apolevski and Daniel Wilson. Suns coach Michael Grbevski said his players were committed to getting a better result than last week?s 2-0 loss to Liverpool.
?We were ready to play after last week. The boys were immensely prepared for it and went out and played some good football,? he said. ?We dominated and moved the ball around beautifully. We shouldn?t really be in this position and everyone knows it. So, we are trying very hard to get results now, being smarter about our play. The boys are starting to mature.?
Rockdale City Suns 5 (Terry Atsas 23m Goce Trposki 54m Igor Kotevski 73m penalty Peter Apolevski 74m Daniel Wilson 82m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Brendan Mitrovich 58m)
Saints beat Uni
Sydney University will claim it has one their club?s most courageous performances, beating the odds to overcome a talented St George Saints side 2-1 at Sydney Uni Oval on Sunday afternoon. The win allowed Uni some breathing space to bottom placed Fairfield, but the Saints are starting to feel the pinch as they stayed outside the top-five for another week.
St George came out full of running and Mitchell Keen hammered home from close range to give the Saints a 1-0 lead at halftime. But a fired-up Uni hit the second half with renewed vigour and stunned their more fancied opponents when James Hardy skipped through the defence midway through the half to tie the scores up at 1-1.
The home fans jumped even higher three minutes later when Jeremy Braude deflected the ball into goal to give Uni a 2-1 lead, which they held onto until the final whistle. It was Uni?s third win of the season, and kept them ahead of bottom-placed Fairfield. St George took up their regular position just outside the top-five.
Sydney University 2 (James Hardy 56m Jeremy Braude 59m) St George Saints 1 (Mitchell Keen 27m)
Next week?s games
A couple of great fixtures are showcased in an action-packed round 17 of the NSW Super League next weekend. On Saturday night, St George welcome Parramatta to Belmore Sportsground, Rockdale visit Granville at Garside Park, Central Coast host Fraser Park at Pluim Park, while leaders Bonnyrigg face trailers Fairfield at home. On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool tackles Mount Druitt at Ernie Smith Reserve, and Sydney Uni travel to Mills Park to take on the Northern Tigers.
Round 16 results
Fairfield City Lions 1 (Mohammed Baghdadi 74m) Granville Rage 1 (Leon Pirrello 60m)
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 4 (Achilleas Markopoulos 25/45m Mario Ghobrial 59m Andy Amegashie 93m) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Jamie Lobb 39m)
Fraser Park 0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 5 (Daniel Willoughby 54/88m Dominic Cutri 55/70/72m)
Rockdale City Suns 5 (Terry Atsas 23m Goce Trposki 54m Igor Kotevski 73m penalty Peter Apolevski 74m Daniel Wilson 82m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Brendan Mitrovich 58m)
Sydney University 2 (James Hardy 56m Jeremy Braude 59m) St George Saints 1 (Mitchell Keen 27m)
Northern Tigers 1 (Daniel Nash 18m) Bossy Liverpool 3 (Alex Canak 28m Sam Awad 49m Suad Ameti 77m)
Rescheduled R11: Central Coast Lightning 1 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0
-By Daniel De Nardi