Super League Round 5 Review
Spirit FC jumped into fourth with a superb 3-1 win against previously undefeated St George, while Mount Druitt shifted to fifth after a 1-1 draw with unbeaten Uni. The Tigers grabbed their first win of the year, beating Granville 2-1, while Central Coast continued Liverpool?s woes with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.
Rams butt Eagles from perch
They say history is written by the winners, but there were two conflicting views on the Macarthur Rams beating PCYC Parramatta 1-0 win in a top-of-the-table arm wrestle at Lynwood Park on Saturday night.
The win boosts Macarthur to clear first place and was decided in the 77th minute when an Aaron Cimitile shot saved by the Parramatta goalkeeper fell for Chris Gomez, who successfully negotiated the ball into the back of the net on his second attempt. It was his third goal in as many games for the Rams.
The home side were then caught a man short when Cole Peverley was sent off in the 80th minute for his second bookable offence; and the referee had to reach for his card a number of times throughout a heated affair.
Rams coach Paul Carter was delighted with the result. ?I?m pleased with the result because it really tested my squad,? he said. ?I had a few players unavailable, and three players playing with suspect injuries.?
?Without doubt Parramatta has been the best side we?ve played. They dominated a lot of the match, but without really threatening us. That?s one up for us, and now we move onto the next match.?
Eagles coach Jason Falzon saw things a little differently, heaping plenty of praise onto the Macarthur custodian. ?The only person they need to thank is their goalkeeper,? Falzon said. ?We completely dominated and I feel sorry for the boys because they put a lot of effort into the game, but unfortunately we weren?t rewarded.?
?We threw everything at them and took the game to them at their home ground; their goalkeeper was outstanding. On another day we could have scored a few goals. We had a good chat about it. It?s three points dropped but it?s also only one game with a lot of the season still to play.?
?It?s been a pretty good journey so far in terms of the teams we?ve played and where we?ve played them at. We?re definitely on the right track. It?s my job now to get their heads up for next week.?
Macarthur Rams 1 (Chris Gomez 77m) PCYC Parramatta Eagles 0
Coast floods the ?Pool
Central Coast Lightning made it two wins on the trot when they came from a goal down to beat the hapless title holders Bossy Liverpool 2-1 at Pluim Park on Saturday night.
With their backs against the wall, win-less Liverpool [they also lost 3-0 to Rockdale in a midweek catch-up match] made a promising start to Saturday?s game when they scored inside the opening five minutes.
But Central Coast hit back with a double strike at the end of the first half to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing sheds. Despite playing some entertaining football, in pretty good conditions, neither side was able to add to the score.
The Lightning were also without their regular coach, with Peter Preston celebrating his sister?s wedding, but he received nothing but glowing reports about his side?s performance.
?Apparently they played quite well,? Preston said. ?Two in a row is good for our team, and I?m looking forward to getting back with the boys on Tuesday night.?
Boskovski was understandably disappointed to not be given a longer stay in charge of Bossy. ?On Tuesday, the club resign me from the job because they were not happy with my results. The injuries are a bit of a problem I couldn?t do much about it. I am not happy, but I can?t do anything about it now.?
Central Coast Lightning 2 (Tom Gibbs 32m Zav Wallis 41m) FC Bossy Liverpool 1 (Patrick Polito 3m)
Suns set on Fraser Park
Fraser Park were gallant but could not overcome a dominant performance from sleeping giants Rockdale City Suns at Fraser Park on Saturday night.
Rockdale won 5-2 to push their noses further up the leaderboard and continue their unbeaten run at Fraser Park?s home ground, while the defeated home side could also take plenty of positives out of a match virtually decided inside the first 10 minutes.
The Suns led 2-0 early and had doubled their advantage ? with a double to Bossy recruit Sam Awad and Igor Kotevski ? by the time Fraser Park chalked up their first score through Nicholas Kougious in the 55th minute.
Peter Apolevski made it 5-1 to Rockdale shortly afterwards with Diogo Andrade wrapping it up with a goal, his fourth of the year, in the dying moments to finalise the account at 5-2.
Rockdale coach Mile Todorovski said there was room for improvement in his side, despite the added bonus that his Suns charges enjoyed a 3-0 midweek catch-up win over his old club Liverpool.
?We played better and deserved to win,? he said. ?Fraser Park has a lot of problems; we played a good game, not maybe our best game, but good enough to beat Fraser Park.?
?Five goals is nothing. If you watch the game, it should have been more. We missed the penalty and hit the crossbar many times. We must remember that every chance is important to score; but I?m happy with the performance.?
Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon already had a tough ask in toppling Rockdale without his regrouping team conceding twice in the early stages of the match. Considering this, he was also pleased with the performance.
?We did a lot things well, and were mainly let down by some defensive issues,? he said. ?But we scored a few goals, and had a few more disallowed; Rockdale really won the game in the first 10 minutes.?
?Considering they have lost four games, the morale is not so bad to be honest. They can see they can go toe-to-toe with the opposition longer than they did before. The guts and determination needed to compete was with us for the whole game, and I believe better results are just around the corner.?
Fraser Park FC 2 (Nicholas Kougious 55m Diogo Andrade 88m) Rockdale City Suns 5 (Sam Awad 4/10m Igor Kotevski 36/53m Peter Apolevski 73m)
Saints, Spirit
Spirit FC beat St George Saints 3-1 in an open game at Christie Park on Saturday night. Both teams were undefeated heading into the match, and it was Tim Simpson who opened the scoring for the home team with a neatly taken chance right on halftime.
Spirit made it 2-0 eight minutes into the second half from a Miles Downie speculator from distance, but St George weren?t done with just yet. Juan Carlos Chavez continued his amazing run in front of goal with a seventh for the season putting the Saints back in the game at one goal down.
But the home side made sure of the win when substitute Adam Peatey put Simpson clear to hammer home a third for Spirit with a quarter of an hour to go, thus completing a brace for Simpson.
Spirit FC 3 (Tim Simpson 41/73m Miles Downie 53m) St George FC 1 (Juan Carlos Chavez 69m)
Tigers calm Rage
The Northern Tigers broke through for their first win of the year in beating Granville Rage 2-1 in slippery conditions at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon. Granville gave away a 1-0 halftime lead and an extra man advantage as Northern struck twice in the second half to claim a dramatic victory.
David Harding scored the Rage?s first goal in almost four full games of football in the opening 20 minutes before dual strikes to Tigers defender Michael Rolston ? his third in two games ? secured Northern?s first win of the year.
Tigers coach Jason Eager certainly earned his keep this week. ?It was a challenge, especially with Scott [Balderson] getting his second yellow card. That made it very tough.?
?But I?m happy with the performance and very relieved to break through for the first win. At 1-0 down and a man down at halftime we knew it would require a massive effort, and the players delivered. I knew Scott was disappointed [about being sent off], so I didn?t have to say anything to him.?
Granville coach Hugh McCrory was disappointed not to grab a win against his former club. ?To be honest I thought we were the better side. We pulverised them in the last 20 minutes of the game but couldn?t score,? he said.
?All credit to the Tigers, they fought on. I?m just disappointed with the boys; we were running the game and ended up with nothing. But I?ve got a lot of guys back [from injury], so we?ll be a lot better over the next 2-3 weeks. The score doesn?t reflect the side out there today. The signs are very positive.?
Northern Tigers 2 (Michael Rolston 52/57m) Granville Rage 1 (David Harding 17m)
Uni levels with Rangers
Sydney University again conceded late to share the points in a 1-1 draw with Mount Druitt Town Rangers at Popondetta Park on Sunday afternoon. Christian Soares put the visitors in the front seat with a well taken goal before the hour mark.
But all the good work was brought undone when Uni gave away a penalty deep into injury time to allow the Rangers a share of the points. Troy Eedy stepping up to take the spot-kick for Mount Druitt, notching up his fourth goal of the campaign.
Uni coach John Caruana said the penalty came after what seemed to him to be an eternity of stoppage time. ?It was a fair penalty for an obstruction type tackle, but I don?t think it was a fair result as we definitely played some great football, especially in the fist half. Their keeper did well and we should have scored a few goals.?
?Mount Druitt have some experienced players, so I didn?t expect to play an easy team. We?re still undefeated, but it would have been nice to pick up three points today. Our main focus is to keep working hard each week.?
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Troy Eedy 98m pen) Sydney University 1 (Christian Soares 51m)
Round 5 results
Central Coast Lightning 2 (Tom Gibbs 32m Zav Wallis 41m) FC Bossy Liverpool 1 (Patrick Polito 3m)
Macarthur Rams 1 (Chris Gomez 77m) PCYC Parramatta Eagles 0
Fraser Park FC 2 (Nicholas Kougious 55m Diogo Andrade 88m) Rockdale City Suns 5 (Sam Awad 4/10m Igor Kotevski 36/53m Peter Apolevski 73m)
Spirit FC 3 (Tim Simpson 41/73m Miles Downie 53m) St George FC 1 (Juan Carlos Chavez 69m)
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Troy Eedy 98m Pen) Sydney University 1 (Christian Soares 51m)
Northern Tigers 2 (Michael Rolston 52/57m) Granville Rage 1 (David Harding 17m)
Rescheduled game: FC Bossy Liverpool 0 Rockdale City Suns 3
Grade 20 results
Central Coast Lightning 2 FC Bossy Liverpool 3
Macarthur Rams 4 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3
Fraser Park FC 0 Rockdale City Suns 5
Spirit FC 1 St George FC 0
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 0 Sydney University 6
Northern Tigers 4 Granville Rage 0
Rescheduled game: FC Bossy Liverpool 1 Rockdale City Suns 1
This week?s games
Round six of the 2009 NSW Super League kicks off with the only Saturday night fixture, Central Coast at Fraser Park. On Sunday afternoon, Northern Tigers travel to Liverpool, Parramatta host neighbours Granville, Mount Druitt welcome Macarthur, cross-town rivals St George entertain Rockdale, and Spirit play at Sydney Uni.
-By Daniel De Nardi
