Super League Round 17 Review

Central Coast threw their hat into the top-five kafuffle with a 1-0 win against fifth-placed Fraser Park, Liverpool cemented third place with a 5-0 thumping of Mount Druitt, Granville jumped into fourth spot by beating Rockdale 1-0, and Uni surprised the Northern Tigers 1-0.
Parramatta pound St George
Goals in each half gave PCYC Parramatta Eagles a 2-0 win over St George Saints at Belmore Sportsground on Saturday night. The result broke a three-game game losing streak against St George, and lifted Parramatta to equal-first with Bonnyrigg on top of the points ladder. The White Eagles stay in front on goal difference alone, but they do have a match in hand over the Eagles.
Parramatta took the lead midway through the first half when Fred Graham connected well on the edge of the area and slammed home a ferocious shot through a wall of players. The Eagles suffered a setback when they lost central defender Achilleas Markopolous a few minutes later but St George could not capitalise on the situation.
Saints forward David Wilson had a number of chances that didn?t quite make the target, while halftime substitute Goran Popovski?s rocket was superbly blocked by Parramatta goalkeeper Stacey Alogdellis. Eagles player Mario Ghobrial finally sealed the win with a goal five minutes from fulltime. Parramatta coach Jason Falzon was very pleased to see his team stand at the top of the Super League pile.
?It was a good match, I was a bit disappointed with the surface as there was a lot of sand on the grass and very cold,? he said. ?I expected a tough match, which it was, and I can?t express my happiness for the boys. They deserved the result and deserve their position on the table.?
?When I took the job on, my passion, my goal, was for Parramatta to be in the Premier League. I wanted players to come to the club that wanted to play for these goals and I can?t be more happier with the way we are going. It?s great that we?re building momentum, and I now feel confident the boys can put goals away. We?ve had our own little goals that we wanted to achieve and we have done what we set out to do so far.?
St George coach John Calleja was disappointed to miss out on vital competition points but saw an improved Saints outfit on-field this week. ?I was disappointed with the end result, but the performance was way better than it was the previous week,? he said. ?The boy?s fought for the full 90 minutes and really gave it their all. We just weren?t good enough to take any of the chances we had.?
?We?re just a little bit low on confidence at the moment, but a finals position is most definitely there for the taking. Destiny is still in our hands, and if we can raise our game a little bit more, then I feel we will be right there in the mix.? The Saints can make inroads on a top-five spot when they take on fifth-placed Fraser Park this weekend.
St George Saints 0 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Fred Graham 24m M Ghobrial 83m)
Granville pip Rockdale
Granville Rage took maximum points from their match against Rockdale City Suns at Garside Park on Saturday night, Nenos Bobo finishing off a first-half opportunity to secure a 1-0 result. The win consolidated Granville?s top-five spot and kept Rockdale on the outside looking in for a finals position, despite picking up a 3-1 win in a midweek catch-up game with Sydney Uni.
In an arm-wrestle of a game, pressure from Bobo on 37 minutes saw him steal the ball from a Suns defender, play a deft one-two with a team-mate before slotting home for a 1-0 lead. With seven players out for reasons varying from injury to overseas work to World Youth Day, Granville mentor Lee Sterrey said he was playing his last deck of cards.
?I even had a kid from the under-18s sitting on the bench, so we were struggling for depth,? he said. ?But Domenic [Mercuri] was excellent at right fullback in his first first-grade game, and the performance of other players was encouraging. All in all it was good match. We had a couple of chances to finish them off but, for what we put out on the park, I was very happy with the result.?
Rockdale coach Michael Grbevski refused to give up on a finals berth, but realised it was now or never. ?Three games in six days took its toll last night, even though we finished stronger. We just gave away a silly goal, and that?s how it goes. I?ll never give up. The players knew it was a big week for us. As it?s turned out the other teams aren?t too far away, and it?s just a matter of going out there and getting the points we need.?
Granville Rage 1 (Nenos Bobo 37m) Rockdale City Suns 0
Rescheduled game: Round 11: Sydney University 1 Rockdale City 3
Coast better than Park
Central Coast Lightning moved to within one point of the top-five with an excellent 1-0 victory against Fraser Park at Pluim Park on Saturday night. A superbly struck half-volley from Xavier Forsberg on 24 minutes set up the home side?s victory and put Central Coast within sight of a possible finals berth, now just one point behind fifth-placed Fraser Park. Lightning coach John McLafferty was pleased.
?We?re getting near the end of the regular season and it is livening up a bit,? he said. ?I was surprised with how much room they gave us at the start of the match ? they gave us a lot of respect, and we came out and had a go at them. We?ll plod on, we?re young and the boys are doing really well.?
?I?ve been telling them to get some points on the board and make sure we?re not scrapping around in the relegation zone, and they?ve done that. I?ve been really pleased with how the boys have learned as they?ve gone on. It?s good signs for the future, but I?ll buy you a beer if we make the finals.?
Fraser Park coach Alex Augusto believed his side threw three points away. ?We have six players out of the squad out with injuries and holidays, but the result wasn?t real because I feel we deserved to win the game. But life is like that. We had two chances with the goals open, but couldn?t finish them off. The boys have worked very hard, and we deserve better than that. I expected the competition to be this tight.?
Central Coast Lightning 1 (Xavier Forsberg 24m) Fraser Park 0
Liverpool boss Mount Druitt
Bossy Liverpool smashed Mount Druitt Town Rangers 5-0 at Ernie Smith Reserve on Sunday afternoon to make it a three-way battle for the minor premiership. Liverpool were unstoppable and pulled to within three points of Bonnyrigg and Parramatta at the top of the leaderboard, while the loss consigned Mount Druitt to a relegation dogfight with Uni and Fairfield.
Bossy were on the board early when Sam Mort scooted past two defenders to score from 20-yards out, and Liverpool probably should have extended their lead with a number of chances ? including a couple to Super League leading scorer Alex Canak ? left begging. Mount Druitt had a shot ricochet off the crossbar before the home side made it 2-0 when A Eljamal headed home a corner kick minutes from the halftime whistle.
Canak continued his frustrating night when he hit the post a minute after the restart, but Adam Kir was ready to clean up the scraps, his low power-driver blasting into goal for a 3-0 Bossy lead. Goals to Kasey Brown and Canak, finally, in the last 10 minutes rounded out a superb 5-0 performance from Liverpool. Canak, with 11 clean strikes this season, is now two goals clear of Parramatta?s Andy Amegashie in the race for the ?superboot? title.
Coach Mile Todorovski was ecstatic. ?Mount Druitt played attacking football like us, but we were too strong,? he said. ?We played very good from the first minute to the last, and if you win 5-0, it is a good result. Mathematically, we are clear of relegation, which is what we set out to do this year. If we strike to make one more step forward, then we can maybe share the first spot, but it is very hard. We?ll see what happens. I expect an exciting finish to the competition, and I will be happy with a top five position.?
Bossy Liverpool 5 (Sam Mort 3m A Eljamal 44m Adam Kir 46m Kasey Brown 82m Alex Canak 86m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 0
Uni trap Tigers
Sydney University sprung a 1-0 upset on the Northern Tigers at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon to breathe new life into their struggle against relegation. A sole Uni goal was enough to separate the two sides, the second time this season Uni has beaten Northern. Tigers coach Hugh McCrory was sure the game was headed for a 0-0 draw.
?There really weren?t enough chances created by either side to say one team deserved to win more than the other. We had a few chances that we didn?t take; they get one and get the win. We?re just not good enough at the moment. If we can?t string two or three wins together soon, then the finals are gone.?
Northern Tigers 0 Sydney University 1 (James Alcorn 58m)
Rescheduled game: Round 11: Sydney University 1 Rockdale City 3
Bonnyrigg, Fairfield postponed
The scheduled fixture between Bonnyrigg and Fairfield City Lions was postponed while the White Eagles battled Premier League outfit Bankstown City in a Tiger Turf Cup semi final showdown at Seymour Shaw on Sunday afternoon. Bonnyrigg were unlucky not to break a 0-0 deadlock before the game was decided on a penalty shoot-out, Bankstown edging ahead 6-5 to advance to next month?s final.
White Eagles coach Blagoja Kulevski was disappointed at missing out on the Cup decider, but was full of praise for his players. ?We had lots of chances to force one in, and were unlucky not to win. But I am very, very proud of the boys. They did fantastic in difficult conditions,? he said.
?The Super League is now more interesting with Parramatta winning and coming equal with Bonnyrigg and Bossy winning 5-0 to be just one game behind. But our focus is now on winning the Super League and going up into Premier League. It should be a fantastic finish to the season.? 
This week?s games
Round 18 of the NSW Super League is highlight by some key fixtures. Fairfield host Central Coast at Norford Park in the only Saturday night game, but Sunday comes alive with Parramatta playing Northern Tigers at Melita Stadium, Rockdale tackling Bonnyrigg at home, Liverpool traveling to Sydney Uni, Mount Druitt welcoming Granville, and St George visiting Fraser Park.
Round 17:
Central Coast Lightning 1 (Xavier Forsberg 24m) Fraser Park 0
St George Saints 0 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Fred Graham 24m Mario Ghobrial 83m)
Granville Rage 1 (Nenos Bobo 37m) Rockdale City Suns 0
Northern Tigers 0 Sydney University 1 (James Alcorn 58m)
Bossy Liverpool 5 (Sam Mort 3m A Eljamal 44m Adam Kir 46m Kasey Brown 82m Alex Canak 86m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles vs Fairfield City Lions postponed
Rescheduled game: Round 11:
Sydney University 1 Rockdale City 3
-By Daniel De Nardi