Super League Round 4 Review

Central Coast grabbed their first win beating Granville 1-0 on Saturday night, while Parramatta leapt to the top of the points table with a 2-1 win over Northern Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
All other matches ? Spirit FC and Fraser Park, Macarthur and Sydney Uni, St George and Mount Druitt, Rockdale and Liverpool ? were abandoned due to the wet weather. The Super League breaks for Easter next weekend, although it has been suggested some of the washed out games may be played sooner rather than later.
Lightning strike upsets Rage
Central Coast Lightning provided the Super League season?s first boilover by disposing of Granville Rage 1-0 at Pluim Park on Saturday night.
On the ropes without a win in three starts, and with 10 goals against their name, the young charges from the Coast held firm to score their first victory of the year in a tough and at times uncomfortable affair.
Worrying for Granville is they have now been held scoreless for the third straight time. In fact, all three of their goals have come from their first half of the year in a 3-1 round-one win over Mount Druitt.
After a swinging first hour on Saturday night, the Rage could have taken the lead when a Lightning defender handballed inside the box from a corner kick, resulting in a penalty to the visitors. But with Luciano Berbis? spot-kick seemingly headed for the top corner of the net, Coast keeper Jake Purches pulled off a miraculous save to keep the scores level at 0-0.
Worse was to follow for Granville. On 66-minutes, a sweeping counter attack saw Lightning midifelder Matt Kenny drive home an 18-yard rocket to put his side in front 1-0 ? a scoreline they held onto until the fulltime whistle blew.
Central Coast coach Peter Preston was understandably delighted to break the duck. ?It?s a fantastic result. Obviously it?s great to get the rabbit off the back; the spirits are very high at the moment. The boys are pretty happy; they needed it for their confidence,? he said.
?Right through the squad, we were solid everywhere. Matt Page gave us a bit of steel at the back; they were a good tight unit at the back. I think we got a fair bit out of the Parramatta game last week and just needed to improve on some little things. The boys took another step forward last night and saw that the results will come when we dig deep.?
?Granville were excellent, but they had a couple of players out, so they will only get better. It?s a great result but there?s a long way to go, so we?re not going to get carried away with ourselves.?
Granville coach Hugh McCrory was disappointed with two things: That his players weren?t as hungry to win as Central Coast, and that the team hasn?t produced a goal in over five hours of football. But he did see signs of improvement.
?We played better than we did last week, and missed a penalty that could have changed the game,? he said. ?Frankly, Central Coast were good value for their win; they harassed us the whole night. It [the goal drought] has been on my mind, and missing a penalty doesn?t help either, but the players are getting better and I think over the next 4-5 games you?ll see a massive improvement.?
?We?ve still got a couple of guys to come back [from injury] and they?ll make a significant improvement to the team. I?m more disappointed for the boys because they are not far away at all from getting the results they deserve.?
Central Coast Lightning 1 (Matt Kenny 66m) Granville Rage 0
Eagles claw Tigers on way to top
PCYC Parramatta Eagles soared to the top of the 2009 NSW Super League table with a finely crafted 2-1 win over the Northern Tigers on Sunday afternoon. A Craig Jacobs goal midway through the second term sealed it for Parramatta, who have now found seven different goalscorers in this season?s squad.
Eagles midfielder Tom Wilson opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, finishing off some great team build-up with a shot that cannoned off the inside of the far post. With the clock ticking towards halftime, Parramatta playmaker Ben Delicata went down with back spasms and his substitution paved the way for a shot on goal for the Tigers. The ensuing free-kick caused bother for Eagles keeper Stacy Alogdellis and his fumble allowed Michael Rolston to pounce and level the scores.
The home side came out firing in the second term and perhaps should have scored more before Jacobs cut inside from the right and nailed a left-footer inside the far post to make it 2-1 on 65-minutes. With efforts from both sides failing, including two Parramatta attempts that ricocheted off the crossbar, the Eagles picked up maximum points when the whistle blew for fulltime.
Eagles mentor Jason Falzon was delighted with the performance. ?We played some wonderful football and then had a hiccup when Ben [Delicata] had to come off. We had to rearrange the positions but they [the Tigers] scored off a free-kick just on halftime to make it 1-1,? he said. ?We regrouped at halftime and dominated in the second half; we should have scored a few more.?
?It was good that we were patient enough and held control until the goal came. But we should have been in a more comfortable position. I?m just glad we were rewarded for our hard work. The greatest thing so far is that we still have improvements to make; but we are heading into the right direction through all the good work the guys have been putting in.?
In regards to the pressure of leading the competition, Falzon was matter-of-fact. ?To be honest, it?s where you want to be at any time of the year. We just try and keep going the best way we can.?
Tigers coach Jason Eager had mixed feelings about the 2-1 result that went against his side. Falling just short against one of the league?s best was coupled with the fact his team has two points from four games. It needs to be taken into account that Northern?s tough schedule to start the year has included battle-heavy matches against the pre-season top-three, Rockdale, Macarthur and Parramatta.
?I think 1-1 in the first half was a fair reflection of what we?re capable of; we competed well and did well with the ball. We just struggled to keep possession in the second half, and they came at us,? he said. ?The boys worked very hard and were disappointed not to get something more out of the game. But there?s still plenty of positives. Unfortunately it will take a little while for everyone to gel ? there were a couple of new boys out there again today. We?re certainly not settled yet.?
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Thomas Wilson 9m Craig Jacob 65m) Northern Tigers 1 (Michael Rolston 44m)
Round 4 results
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Tom Wilson 9m Craig Jacob 65m) Northern Tigers 1 (Michael Rolston 44m)
Central Coast Lightning 1 (Matt Kenny 66m) Granville Rage 0
Fraser Park FC Spirit FC washed out
Macarthur Rams Sydney University washed out
St George FC Mount Druitt Town Rangers washed out
Rockdale City Suns FC Bossy Liverpool washed out
Grade 20 results
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 Northern Tigers 2
Central Coast Lightning 6 Granville Rage 1
Fraser Park FC Spirit FC washed out
Macarthur Rams Sydney University washed out
St George FC Mount Druitt Town Rangers washed out
Rockdale City Suns FC Bossy Liverpool washed out
Round 5 Fixtures
The 2009 NSW Super League breaks for the Easter long weekend but returns on April 18-19 with round five action. In what promises to be the game of the year so far, top-of-the-table heavyweights Macarthur and Parramatta go at it at Lynwood Park on Saturday night (April 18), while Central Coast hosts Liverpool and Rockdale play at Fraser Park. On Sunday (April 19), St George travel to Spirit FC, Northern Tigers welcome Granville, and Sydney Uni visit Mount Druitt Town.
-By Daniel De Nardi