Super League Round 6 Review
A 10-man Parramatta trounced Granville 3-0, Northern Tigers beat Liverpool 1-0, while Spirit and Uni fought out a 0-0 stalemate.
PCYC Parramatta jumped to the top of the table ahead of Macarthur, Rockdale and Spirit FC, with St George, Mount Druitt, Northern, Central Coast and Sydney University just behind them. Granville will need to lift to steer away from the relegation battle being fought out by last year?s champions Bossy Liverpool and Fraser Park.
A double from St George dynamo Juan Carlos Chavez against Rockdale took his season tally to nine goals in five matches. But he is being neatly trailed by Mount Druitt striker Troy Eedy, who grabbed his fifth goal against Macarthur. Uni?s Christian Soares and Fraser Park?s Diego Andrade are next in line with four goals apiece.
Central Coast draw at Fraser Park
Fraser Park FC held on for a 1-1 draw with Central Coast Lightning at Fraser Park in the only Saturday night game of round six. It was a terrific result for the home side, their first point of the season, and is a good reward for all the hard work being put in under new coach Ramsin Shamon. But it could have been a different scoreline had the Lightning made more of their chances.
Alex Smith gave Fraser Park a dream start when he scored after 10 minutes and home fans were holding their heads when a penalty shout was turned down by the referee nearing halftime. But it was a different Central Coast team that came out in the second term and Bill Locklee found an equaliser just past the hour mark to grab the Lightning a share of the points.
?It was a game of two halves,? Lightning coach Peter Preston said. ?We were very poor in the first half; Fraser Park came out and put a lot of pressure on us and did quite well considering how they?ve gone this season. We changed some things around at halftime and our second half was a lot better. We could have gone on with it and I am disappointed we didn?t get the three points, but a draw was probably a fair result.?
?The way things turned out ? the way the boys bounced back in the second half and created other chances, there?s still some good positives from a young side. They adjusted very well at halftime.?
Shamon was pleased to see more improvement in his team, the competition point bringing them level with Liverpool at the bottom of the table. ?The improvements have been there for a few weeks. Slowly, slowly, we?re doing the simple things right. The game got away from us, we didn?t capitalise on more of our chances in the first half and we could have had a penalty or two. But we?re very pleased to walk away with one point. I think it was a fair result.?
?The players are improving with every session, and are happy. They?re disappointed, but happy at the same time. We gained one point but should have got all three; it just wasn?t our day in the frontline. But we?re growing every week and that?s a good thing.?
Fraser Park FC 1 (Alex Smith 10m) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Bill Locklee 65m)
Rangers rattle Rams
Noone suggested Mount Druitt Town Rangers as a likely title contender at the start of the season, but the western Sydney side is turning heads with some terrific results to start their 2009 campaign, this time a 2-2 draw with competition heavyweights Macarthur Rams at Popondetta Park on Sunday afternoon. The Rams ? who played Premier League last year while the Rangers began their second season of Super League ? have not beaten Mount Druitt in three league meetings.
In a jam-packed first half, Daniel Foggarty put Macarthur in front after 10 minutes before Stefan Delzio brought parity for Mount Druitt not nine minutes later. Rams midfielder Aaron Cimitile restored his side?s lead on the half-hour mark, but Rangers striker Troy Eedy converted a penalty [for a handball] to square proceedings up at halftime. It was Eedy?s fifth goal of a brisk season to date. Both sides had a player sent off early in the second half, and the game bogged down into a stalemate, the fulltime whistle blowing with the scores still locked at 2-2.
Rangers coach Phil Pavela has quietly gone about his business this year, preparing perhaps his strongest squad in the three seasons Mount Druitt has been in the state?s second tier competition. But he?s not giving too much away about his team?s great start to the season.
?We like to keep it low key. It?s still early days and a long way to go. Anything could happen between now and the end of season,? he offered. ?I?m happy with the boys. The downside to the start is, at times, we?re letting some simple goals get through us, which is costing us good results. [Against Macarthur] We had some chances in the second half that we just didn?t capitalise on it. I?m happy to get a draw out of it, but we could of have got a win.?
Rams coach Paul Carter didn?t think much of the game as a spectacle, but he was happy to get an away point. ?We were the lucky side, not Mount Druitt,? he said. We didn?t turn up focused at all. Maybe last week [a 1-0 win over rivals Parramatta] was a little too exciting for them [the players]. The winds were unbelievable; no team could really keep it down. But Mount Druitt showed they wanted the game and dominated the match. But it was a terrible game to watch.?
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Stefan Delzio 19m Troy Eedy 41m) Macarthur Rams 2 (Aaron Cimitile 31m Daniel Fogarty 10m)
Saints bring down Rockdale
St George Saints brought down guns Rockdale City Suns 2-1 in a Sunday afternoon shock at St George Stadium. Rockdale coach Mile Todoroski must think the historic ground is cursed because he can?t remember winning their as a coach or a player.
Rockdale took an early lead in the inaugural Rockdale Council-organised Mayoral Cup when Peter Apolevski found space on the right and shot over St George keeper Terry Dal Broi on seven minutes. The match turned on its head in the second half when Tanju Balabanel was brought down in the penalty area. Juan Carlos Chavez stepped up to take the spot kick and chalked up goal number nine of the year by finishing off some nice lead-up work by Saints team-mates Peter Crevani and Yavuz Ekinci, winning the game 2-1.
St George coach Nikola Orlic took the win in his stride. ?It?s a result. The boys played well, but they are a very young team and will take some more time to develop. They still fluctuate in their play a little bit, but today was positive sign. We won some individual battles in midfield which gave us some room to move. Everyone did their job well.?
?It was not a good game for us. Personally, I never win the game inside St George Stadium, and I played many games there,? he said. ?We play and dominate some of the game. St George was on top of us in the second half and played much better. We not deserve the points, we deserve to lose. In the second half, every one was like they were on the picnic. I haven?t seen my team play like this before. But, now, the competition is well on. I only hope that after the rain, come the Suns.?
St George FC 2 (Juan Carlos Chavez 73m pen/82m Rockdale City Suns 1 (Peter Apolevski 7m)
Eagles silence Rage
A 10-man PCYC Parramatta Eagles defeated Granville Rage 3-0 in the local derby at Melita Stadium on Sunday afternoon to shoot to the top of the Super League table. Parramatta had a player sent off in the 50th minute before Mario Ghobrial grabbed a double to give the Eagles control of the match. Foti Hatzivalsamis added a third in the 90th minute to seal a convincing victory.
?The boys did a fantastic to play a whole second half with 10 men,? Parramatta coach Jason Falzon said. ?It wasn?t our best game and I felt for the player sent off [Lagoudakis]. We didn?t really change anything [after the send-off], the boys just lifted their intensity and worked together with 10 men. The discipline was fantastic and the guys showed wonderful determination to get a result.?
Granville coach Hugh McCrory was less than happy with his players? reaction to the numerical advantage. ?We gave them the game. We had a great chance to take the lead, then they had a player sent off and we just didn?t perform,? he said. ?All credit to [Parramatta], they kept battling away, but mistakes by us are costing us. The guys are pretty disappointed; they?re not that bad a team; it just hasn?t been happening for us on the park.?
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3 (Mario Ghobrial 51/72m Foti Hatzivalsamis 90m) Granville Rage 0
Tigers pip Bossy
The Northern Tigers took down Liverpool Bossy 1-0 at Ernie Smith Reserve on Sunday afternoon to notch up consecutive wins and move away from the relegation quagmire. The deciding goal came midway through the second half when Paul Davies broke down the right and cut it back in for Andrew Christiansen to slot past the Bossy keeper.
Tigers coach Jason Eager was pleased with performance. ?The scoreline suggested it was tight but I felt we were relatively comfortable for most of the game. We dominated the first half, and Liverpool came at us after we scored the goal. It wasn?t our best performance, but we were solid and deserved to win.?
New Liverpool coach Zlatko Nastevski saw the game as another step towards turning around the fortunes of the struggling titleholders. ?I am only new here; there is a lot of things to be done. It was always going to take a couple of weeks for the team to get together. We need the commitment and hopefully the results will come.?
Northern Tigers 1 (Andrew Christiansen 68m) FC Bossy Liverpool 0
Uni, Spirit draw
Sydney University and Spirit FC continued their unbeaten runs in the Super League following a 0-0 draw at Uni Oval on Sunday afternoon. Both sides had chances, but the conditions and a physical contest got the better of the game and the match finished how it started.
Uni coach John Caruana said the draw was the fairest result for a dreadful game. The conditions weren?t ideal for good football. We had a couple of chances in the first half we didn?t capitalise on. But it was one of those games ? a bit ugly. The positive for us is that we?re still undefeated and didn?t concede a goal. We matched them physically. It wasn?t our best game but a fair result. There wasn?t any highlights, that?s for sure.?
Spirit coach Jason van Blerk was less than flattering. ?Ugly?s not the word for it. That cricket pitch in the middle kills it a bit too. You can?t have a decent football match like that,? he said. ?We?ll take a point. We?re still unbeaten, and we kept a clean sheet. It?s just a bit frustrating not to get more out of the game.?
Sydney University 0 Spirit FC 0
Round six results
Fraser Park FC 1 (Alex Smith 10m) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Bill Locklee 65m)
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3 (Mario Ghobrial 51/72m Foti Hatzivalsamis 90m) Granville Rage 0
Northern Tigers 1 (Andrew Christiansen 68m) FC Bossy Liverpool 0
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Stefan Delzio 19m Troy Eedy 41m) Macarthur Rams 2 (Aaron Cimitile 31m Daniel Fogarty 10m)
Sydney University 0 Spirit FC 0
St George FC 2 (Juan Carlos Chavez 73m pen 82m Rockdale City Suns 1 (Peter Apolevski 7m)
Grade 20 results
Fraser Park FC 1 Central Coast Lightning 2
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 0 Granville Rage 1
Northern Tigers 4 FC Bossy Liverpool 2
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 Macarthur Rams 1
Sydney University 1 Spirit FC 5
St George FC 2 Rockdale City Suns 3
Round 7 Matches
In round seven of the 2009 NSW Super League, Macarthur host Granville at Lynwood and St George travel to Pluim Park to take on Central Coast on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, Spirit welcome Mount Druitt to Christie Park, Parramatta play Liverpool at Melita Stadium, Northern Tigers entertain Fraser Park at Mills Park, while Rockdale meet Sydney Uni at the Ilinden Sports Centre.
-By Daniel De Nardi
