Super League Finals Series Review

Suns rise while Eagles fly in NSW Super League finals football
Parramatta defeated Liverpool 3-2 to set up a major semi-final clash with Bonnyrigg at the Sports Club this Saturday night (7.30pm kick-off), while Bossy will host Rockdale ? 3-0 winners in their elimination final against Granville ? at a venue and time still to be set by Football NSW. With the Premier League final taking place on Sunday afternoon, and Ernie Smith Reserve not set up for night games, Liverpool may lose their home ground advantage should they not be allowed to take up their normal Sunday timeslot.
Suns overshadow Rage
Rockdale City Suns closed a gloomy day on Granville Rage with a 3-0 shutout at Garside Park on Saturday night. Construction is still to start on new amenities at the ground, with Football NSW informing Granville and Parramatta Council that future matches would not be played there until the upgrades were completed. But in what was to be the last game at Garside in quite some time, the Rage were disappointing and fell to a three-goal knockout punch from the Suns.
Rockdale were in control throughout the encounter, and David Nastoski and Orhan Dincer linked-up well early on to put the Granville under pressure. A good quality passing game down the left and right flanks nearly paid dividends in the seventh minute when Peter Apolevski struck a shot from just outside the 18-yard box only for it to just sail wide of goal.
The Suns took the game to the Rage, Pece Zaikovski and Terry Atsas dominating the midfield as Granville struggled to hold possession. This proved costly in the 17^th minute when a well-placed cross from right midfielder Apolevski found Dincer lurking in the middle. He didn?t need a second invitation and slotted home the first goal of the night.
Granville struggled to build momentum in the game until a shot at goal from Christian Bottalico in the 24^th minute just missed to the left. However, chances went begging again shortly after. In the 32^nd minute a sensational cross from the right side was headed in well again by Bottalico, though the effort was straight at Suns goalkeeper James Lowery.
Rockdale were the better side and made Granville pay for their missed opportunities in the 34^th minute when Dincer positioned  in a pin-point cross in for Goce Trposki, who slotted it nicely past Rage custodian Jason Holmes in style, giving his side a crucial 2-0 lead at half-time. It was also goal number seven for the season for Trposki.
Granville?s efforts were on notice as Fred Umlil and Bottalico tried to create some last ditch chances. However, Rockdale only inflicted more damage in the 89^th minute when a sensational 20-metre blast from Zaikovski found the top corner to give his side a solid 3-0 win and a place in the next round of finals football.
Rockdale playmaker Danny Wilson spoke after the game praising his side?s performance and a great effort all round: ?It was a sensational game tonight for the team,? he said. ?I thought we played a good quality passing game, and controlled the game throughout. It was a brave effort and it has given us great momentum for next week?s game.?
?I think the most important thing about this win is that we played good football, we have had an inconsistent season, and we want to change all that in this finals period. We?re confident as a team with a great coaching team and club that we can improve our chances by playing the way we played tonight,? Wilson concluded.
Suns coach Michael Grbevski was pleased that he didn?t have to yell at his players all game. ?The boys showed they can listen and stuck to the game plan,? he said. ?We knew we were up against strong opposition in Granville and had to keep the ball flowing. Now I?ve got to get them back on the ground and ready for Bossy.?
Grbevski said he remained cautious of Liverpool even though he didn?t think much of the way they went about their major preliminary final against Parramatta. ?I think the game was played as though the two teams knew they had an extra life; it was quite relaxed until the goals came out and opened it up a bit.?
?But you can?t dismiss Bossy. Mile [Liverpool coach Todorovski] is a very smart man ? he knows not to talk it up; he knows he just has to get the job done. But I?m pleased; we?re in a good place at the moment. The boys are confident and playing good football. We should give them a good run.?
Granville coach Lee Sterrey wasn?t happy with the way the Rage bowed out of Super League, but said the foundations are in place for the club to continue to make inroads in Super League. He wished them well as he prepared to head across to join Premier League outfit Marconi next year.
?At the end of the day it says 3-0 on the scoreboard, so you know our finishing let us down again, badly,? he said. ?But all credit to Rockdale, had we been able to score then it could have been a different story. Good luck to them, they?ve got confidence, but I?m not sure how far they?ll go in the finals.?
?It was a disappointing way to end the season, but our blokes gave us everything, and their passion and desire throughout the year has been first class. I fully respect the squad at Granville, it was just a shame it had to end while we had a good thing going.?
Granville Rage 0 Rockdale City Suns 3 (Orhan Dincer 16m Goce Trposki 35m Pece Zaikovski 88m)
Eagles take charge of Bossy
PCYC Parramatta Eagles stretched their unbeaten Super League run against Bossy Liverpool to five wins with a 3-2 victory at Melita Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Parramatta always looked in control of a scrappy affair, although a late goal to Liverpool set up a thrilling final quarter-hour of play.
Both sides probed early on before the Eagles stamped their authority with a well-taken Fred Graham chance in the 24^th minute setting up a 1-0 halftime lead. Bossy returned a different side in the second half and equalised through Sam Awad on 57-minutes ? Liverpool?s first goal against Parramatta in more than six hours of Super League football.
It was a handy time for Awad to score his sixth of the season for Bossy but the goal only seemed to ignite the Eagles back into action, and successful strikes to Graham and Mario Ghobrial either side of the 70-minute mark took them to a 3-1 lead. The frontline partnership continues to work well for Parramatta after Graham and Ghobrial grabbed their eighth and seventh goals of the campaign respectively.
Brown?s late goal for Liverpool caused a few more headaches for the home side, but the fulltime whistle blew with Parramatta?s noses still in front, 3-2, much to the delight of coach Jason Falzon. ?A semi-final can be one of those games that get a bit scrappy, and the weather played its part. It was tight, but I felt we had control,? he said.
?To their credit, Bossy came out and gave it to us early in the second half, although a lack of concentration didn?t help from our end. But we played some good football when we needed to, and the goals Freddy Graham scored were both a touch of class ? real team goals.?
Liverpool coach Mile Todorovski said it was tough to win semi-finals after conceding three times. ?Defensively we were very poor,? he said. ?Having said that, the difference between the two sides was only one man [Graham]. He punished our mistakes. In fact, Parramatta capitalised three times on our mistakes, otherwise I?m happy with how we did. We see what happens now with Rockdale.?
White Eagles coach Blagoja Kulevski wasn?t shocked by either result and anticipated a good weekend of finals football ahead. ?I won?t be surprised if Rockdale beat Liverpool as the Suns are playing very well and are full of confidence, while Bossy looked a little flat to me,? he said.
?Against Parramatta, I am only worried that we might be a bit complacent having beaten them well this year. The Eagles have two of the best strikers in the competition [Ghobrial and Graham], and the last game between us they played unbelievable football in the first 45 minutes. It should be a good game.?
Falzon also looked forward to this Saturday night?s blockbuster at Bonnyrigg Sports Club. ?The game should be a pretty good one,? he said. ?We outplayed them in the first half the last time we met, but fell apart after that, so we can only hope that we?ve learnt something from that game. The boys are definitely up for it and I think we can match them.?
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3 (Fred Graham 24/68m Mario Ghobrial 72m)
Bossy Liverpool 2 (Sam Awad 57m Kasey Brown 75m)
Grade 20 finals
It was a great weekend for both the Rockdale and Parramatta clubs with their under-20 squads also advancing to the second week of finals football. The Suns upset second-place finishers Central Coast Lightning 2-1 in the major preliminary final on Sunday to set up an enticing clash against minor premiers Northern Tigers this weekend. The Tigers have only been beaten twice all season, and the winner will go straight into the grand final. Central Coast Lightning tackles Parramatta in the knockout game after the Eagles edged out Fraser Park 1-0 in sudden death on Saturday night.