Super League Round 7 Review
Parramatta stamped its spot on first position (with 16 competition points) following an emphatic 5-0 win over Liverpool in the grand final rematch, while thrilling victories to Macarthur (14), Rockdale (13), Spirit FC (13) Northern Tigers (11) and Central Coast (11) over Granville, Uni, Mount Druitt, Fraser Park and St George respectively saw each of the winners grab a top-five dividend.
Rams contain Rage
Granville Rage coach Hugh McCrory must by now be tempted to throw on a jersey himself after his team again failed to score in a hotly contested 0-1 loss to Macarthur Rams at Lynwood Park on Saturday night. An Aaron Cimitile bash in the 73rd minute secured victory for Macarthur against a Granville outfit that had to play out plenty of minutes with just 10 men on the park.
The Rage have now scored just one goal in more than nine hours of football, and are staring at a scrap at the bottom of the table with their next two opponents, Liverpool and Fraser Park. After a disappointing 0-2 loss to Uni midweek, Macarthur coach Paul Carter was pleased his team found some character to bounce back from their first defeat of the year.
?Uni are a well organised side and we found it hard to come back after conceding a couple of soft goals. But, honestly [on asked about his team?s third game in a week], before the Granville game, I had seven players to choose from. Some of it was caused by us with send-offs but, with injuries, I?m finding it hard to field a side at the moment. The extra game came at a really bad time for us.?
?[On the Rage] Granville are a very good side, and they will come back and cause a lot of problems. It was a good, hard battle between two good sides. We probably edged them a little bit on chances, and they had a send-off. I was quite proud of the players.?
Granville play Liverpool next weekend before lining up for their first home game of the season against Fraser Park a week later in what will be a true test of character for the Rage.
Macarthur Rams 1 (Aaron Cimitile 73m) Granville Rage 0
Lightning stings Saints
Central Coast Lightning made it three wins on the trot at Pluim Park with a well-executed 2-1 win over St George on Saturday night, their first Super League victory over the Saints in eight attempts. After a scoreless first half, Zac Willis put the home side in front with a goal inside the final 20 minutes. Saints midfielder Peter Crevani leveled the scored two minutes later with a well taken left-footer, but Tom Gibbs stole the win for Central Coast with a low blast 10 minutes from fulltime.
Lightning coach Peter Preston was delighted. ?It was a very good result. It was a good game and both teams played well. Territorially, they had the fist half and we had the second. It was one of those games where it looked like it would be a draw ? a fantastic performance from both teams.?
?We lost Neil Woodcock with a back injury in the warm-up [from a knock he picked up in a charity game against the Central Coast Mariners A-League side on Tuesday night], so I had to make a late change. The boy who came in did quite well, and it was a great result for us as far as the football we played is concerned.?
Central Coast Lightning 2 (Zac Wallis 72m Tom Gibbs 80m) St George FC 1 (Peter Crevani 74m)
Spirit snare Rangers
Spirit FC remained the only unbeaten side in the 2009 championship race following a neat 3-2 win over Mount Druitt Town Rangers at Christie Park on Sunday afternoon, but they certainly didn?t have it all their way. At 3-1 up in the second half, Spirit coach Jason van Blerk would have felt like he might have had it in the bag when the Rangers had a player sent off inside the final half-hour. But Mount Druitt managed to throw in some spice at the end of the match with a late goal to Troy Eedy make it a 3-2 finish.
Van Blerk said he was very pleased with his side?s continuity in gaining points form every match they have played, including three wins in a row at home. He looked past a 1-1 midweek draw with Fraser Park. ?It was a good performance, away [at Fraser Park] and at home [against Mount Druitt]. Fraser Park has stepped up their game and, really, all credit to them because they took the game to us. They are a different team to a couple of weeks ago. Now we?re starting to find ways to win we have to keep doing what we?re doing well. I?m very happy with the way it?s going.?
Spirit FC 3 (Daniel Cunningham 22m pen A Nicolaou 54m Tim Simpson 65m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Michael Haberman 4m Troy Eedy 67m)
Eagles squash Bossy
PCYC Parramatta Eagles spread their wings at the top of the table with a 5-0 demolition of Bossy Liverpool in the grand final rematch at Ernie Smith Reserve on Sunday afternoon. Parramatta?s sixth Super League win over Liverpool in seven games was as emphatic as many of their other meetings and started when Mario Ghobrial booted a goal in only the second minute of the game. Nick Tantalos added another on the quarter-hour mark, with second half goals to Fred Umlil, Craig Jacob and 18-year-old Fabian Iacovelli (his first in first grade) rounding out the score.
?We dominated. The boys wanted to work hard this week and went on the job from the second minute. Even at halftime [at 2-0 up], they just wanted to go straight back out there. In the end, we had a clean sheet and five different goalscorers, and scored some wonderful goals. The boys deserved what they got; away from home too.?
FC Bossy Liverpool 0 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 5 (Nick Tantalos x 1 Chris Camilleri x 2 O Frank x 1 Craig Jacob x 1)
Tigers struggle with Fraser Park
The Northern Tigers and Fraser Park FC turned on a crowd-pleaser at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon in a 5-3 goalfest won by the home side. The result, their third win in a row, lifted the Tigers into the top-five, while Fraser Park continued with their improvements. Nothern coach Jason Eager might have left a few hairs at the ground after such a tense affair.
?That?ll bring the fans back, but it?s not too good for the coaches,? he said. ?It was a little more open than loose, and lack of concentration with the goals we conceded. It was definitely free flowing; good for spectators. Fraser Park have some dangerous individuals and are a good unit. But that?s three wins on the trot for us, and I?ll always be happy with that. I just hope we can keep it on a roll.?
Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon was pleased with his side?s determination but upset with their lack of discipline. ?We were going very well and then were down 2-0 before we could say anything. We got it back to 2-2, and were 4-3 down at halftime. I lost the plot a little bit [with the players] at halftime, to be honest, and really gave it to them. I thought the discipline wasn?t there in the backline,? he said.
?Were still in transition mode, and when we get ourselves into a winning position, discipline lets us down [a player was sent off in the second half]. At that costs you games. We?ll dust ourselves off and get ready for next week. Playing three games in seven days was tough, but we are improving all the time.?
Northern Tigers 5 (Scott Balderson 26/28/43m Michael Rolston 40m Thomas Spencer 77m) Fraser Park FC 3 (Leon Cusack 30/32m Alex Smith 45m)
Suns sneak past Uni
Rockdale City Suns scraped past a gritty Sydney University 1-0 via a Kurt Crnic goal at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon, consigning Uni to their first loss of the campaign. It was the fourth time in six meetings Rockdale had beaten ?the students? by the narrow 1-0 scoreline, and Suns coach Mile Todorovski was full of admiration for his opponents.
?We win 1-0, but it was a very, very tough game,? he said. ?I?m very pleased for my players, they give 100 per cent against a very tough opponent. They took all responsibility for the last game [a 2-1 loss to St George]. Everybody was conscious about the situation and played good football and fight for every inch of the game. But they are a very tough team. I always have respect against Uni all the time, even when I play, and especially now they have a talented coach [in John Caruana] and the players are very good. But we play better today.?
Caruana was proud of his chargers, too. ?It was a very tough game and just got pipped,? he said. ?To be honest, three games in a week got to us a little bit towards the end, and we ran out of legs. But we made Mile?s [Todorovski] life a bit harder, and the pressure was all on them to get the result, so all credit to them. But I?m very happy with the boys, I couldn?t have asked more of them. We were flat, I could see that before the game, But we are showing that we can compete with the best of them.?
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Kurt Crnic 53m) Sydney University 0
Round 7 results
Central Coast Lightning 2 (Zav Wallis 72m Tom Gibbs 80m) St George FC 1 (Peter Crevani 74m)
Macarthur Rams 1 (Aaron Cimitile 73m) Granville Rage 0
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Kurt Crnic 53m) Sydney University 0
Spirit FC 3 (Daniel Cunningham 22m pen A Nicolaou 54m Tim Simpson 65m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Michael Haberman 4m Troy Eedy 67m)
FC Bossy Liverpool 0 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 5 (Nick Tantalos x 1 Chris Camilleri x 2 O Frank x 1 Craig Jacob x 1)
Northern Tigers 5 (Scott Balderson 26/28/43m Michael Rolston 40m Thomas Spencer 77m) Fraser Park FC 3 (Leon Cusack 30/32m Alex Smith 45m)
Round 4 rescheduled games
Macarthur Rams 0 Sydney University 2 (Christian Soares, Aman Hadid)
Fraser Park FC 1 (Paulo Oliveira) Spirit FC 1 (Leo Papanicolaou)
Grade 20
Central Coast Lightning 2 St George FC 1
Macarthur Rams 1 Granville Rage 2
Rockdale City Suns 0 Sydney University 6
Spirit FC 3 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1
FC Bossy Liverpool 0 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2
Northern Tigers 6 Fraser Park FC 1
Round 4 rescheduled games
Macarthur Rams 1 Sydney University 0
Fraser Park FC 1 Spirit FC 5
This week?s games
Round eight of the NSW Super League sees Spirit FC host Macarthur at Christie Park, while leaders Parramatta play at Fraser Park on Saturday night. Sunday afternoon fixtures include Granville at Liverpool, Rockdale at Mount Druitt, Northern Tigers at St George and Central Coast at Sydney Uni.
