Super League Round 8 Review

Parramatta scraped past a spirited Fraser Park 3-2 and Macarthur dished out Spirit FC?s first loss of the season with a sensational 3-2 finish at Lynwood.
Rockdale overran Mount Druitt in a 4-2 epic, while the Northern Tigers made it four wins on the trot by beating St George 2-1. Uni jumped into the top-five with a 2-1 defeat of Central Coast, and Granville grabbed a welcome 1-0 win over Liverpool.
Eagles escape from Fraser Park
Competition leaders PCYC Parramatta Eagles got the fight of their lives in a 3-2 win at Fraser Park FC on Saturday night. The home side was in high spirits and took the lead through Leigh Gunn on 10 minutes, rattling the Eagles into action. A double to Fred Umlil either side of halftime put Parramatta in back in the game, and a Diego Andrade goal ? his sixth for the year ? for Fraser Park made it 2-2 just before the hour-mark. With the game in the balance, Chris Camilleri scored from a set piece on 77-minutes to make sure the Eagles stayed on top of the ladder.
Parramatta coach Jason Falzon left Fraser Park relieved? in the end. ?It was very tight; a very scrappy game, stop-start, and we couldn?t get into any rhythm,? he said. ?But I was happy that, both times we were down, we worked hard and got the result. We haven?t been in that position before, but we just did enough to win.?

Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon was pleased that his team was continuing to improve, but wondered what they had to do to get a win in the bag. ?We?re doing really well. Some crucial decisions went against us [a goal disallowed for offside and a penalty not given] and the guys were upset because we outplayed them,? he said. ?We can be proud and say we?ve improved out of sight, but lady luck hasn?t been on our side. It?s frustrating, to be honest; you wouldn?t know we were coming second last.?
Fraser Park 2 (Leigh Gunn 10m Diogo Andrade 56m) PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3 (Fred Umlil 40/52m Chris Camilleri 77m)
Rams deliver debut loss to Spirit
It took two months, but promoted Spirit FC finally crashed to their first defeat in a 2-3 loss to Macarthur Rams at Christie Park on Saturday night. It was an exciting finish to the game, after Macarthur Rams had set-up a 2-0 lead behind efforts from Matt Toogood and Craig Cooley. First, Tim Simpson scored for Spirit to cut the Rams lead in half and, with the game in its closing stages, Andrew McKee leveled for the home side. But Macarthur managed a quick reply through Josh Ford, when he pounced on a defensive hesitation from Spirit to nutmeg the goalkeeper and steal all three points for the visitors.
Rams coach Paul Carter became the first coach to walk away from Christie Park as a winner. ?They?re a good side, that?s why they?re near the top. We had chance to put them away, but they never gave up and put some pressure on us and got rewarded,? he said. Carter was excited ahead of Macarthur?s blockbuster game against Sydney FC ? at Lynwood Park this Wednesday night. It?s Sydney?s first game under new coach Vitezslav Lavicka.
Spirit coach Jason van Blerk was on the edge of his seat for most of the game. ?It was exciting, but not good for the nerves,? he said. ?You have to lose sometimes. The boys did well to come back into it at 2-0 down and gave a silly goal away in the last minute. That?s just the way it is sometimes. I definitely would have been happy with the point.?
Spirit FC 2 (Tim Simpson 72m Andrew McKee 89m) Macarthur Rams 3 (Matt Toogood 16m Craig Cooley 56m Josh Ford 90m)
Suns beat Rangers in goal-fest
Rockdale City Suns were very lucky to beat a 10-man Mount Druitt Town Rangers 4-2 at Popondetta Park on Sunday afternoon. After scoring a quick goal, the Suns were rocked by two counter strikes from the Rangers, giving them a 2-1 lead. But a harsh judgment from the Italian referee controlling the game saw a Mount Druitt player dismissed from the field and Rockdale ran in three goals to win 4-2.
Rockdale coach Mile Todorovski wasn?t happy with the overall performance, especially at the defensive end. ?Every game is very hard, but we give a present to Mount Druitt with some defensive errors, and they accepted the present,? he said. ?Then the Rangers lose a player for a red card and we were in full control after that. At the end of the day we play for points. Plenty players are new, only the committee and name is not new, and I need the time to build up the team.?
Rangers coach Phil Pavela was not happy at all with the send off, believing the referee overacted to a relatively low-key challenge. ?It?s the second week in a row that this has happened. The send-off was a turning point, and we were up against it after that,? he said. ?We were competitive, but it became a numbers game at the back, and we just didn?t have enough players.?
Rockdale City Suns 4 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2
Tigers tear into Saints
The Northern Tigers are hot, hot, hot after securing their fourth successive win in a 2-1 defeat of the Saints at St George Stadium on Sunday afternoon. St George super striker Juan Carlos Chavez started proceedings on fine fashion with an early goal taking his tally to 10 for the year. But the Tigers rallied and Paul Davies snared a brace, scoring his first from a header before smashing what proved to be the match-winner from a free kick just before halftime.
Northern coach Jason Eager was ecstatic as his side consolidated fourth spot on the ladder. ?We were a bit slow to start but played some of our best stuff after the goal, including a fantastic free kick to Paul Davies,? he said. ?Confidence is a great thing and the boys are really feeding off it. We?re competing well and playing with spirit, but we?ve still got some improvement to do football-wise. The commitment is certainly there.?
St George mentor Nikola Orlic knows his team can do better. ?We hit the post twice and played okay, but we didn?t take our chances once again,? he said. ?It?s pretty disappointing because we are paying well, we just haven?t got the results. It will take a bit more concentration from the players. I?m being positive about it.?
Northern Tigers 2 (Paul Davies x 2) St George Saints 1 (Juan Carlos Chavez)
Uni down the Coasties
Sydney University took a bite out of the top-five with a solid 2-1 win over Central Coast Lightning at Uni Oval on Sunday afternoon. Goals to Christian Soares ? his sixth of the year ? and Peter Gavaghan helped establish a commanding 2-0 advantage for the home side, with the Lightning scoring a consolation goal to make it 2-1. Uni have won all five Super League meetings with Central Coast, who suffered their first loss in over a month.
Uni coach John Caruana is happy with his side?s progress. ?They have a very attacking style of football and came at us in that first half. We had no chances in the first half, but we opened them right up in the second and hit them on the break,? he said. ?We were wasteful with a lot of opportunities and could have done a bit better, but I?m happy to get the three points. We?re still playing good football.?
Sydney University 2 (Christian Soares, Peter Gavaghan) Central Coast 1
Rage throttles Bossy
Granville Rage made the most of their opportunities to beat Bossy Liverpool 1-0 at Ernie Smith Reserve on Sunday afternoon. The visitors did it the tough way, with a penalty turned down, a goal disallowed, a player sent off and a plucky touch to grab the winning goal that takes them six points away from the bottom of the table, marked by an unlucky Bossy outfit which hasn?t scored in three games. It was also a good result for Granville before their first home game of the season against Fraser Park next week.
Rage mastermind Hugh McCrory was delighted to break through for their first win since the opening round. ?We?ve been knocking on the door for a couple of weeks. Bossy didn?t lie down, but it seemed like we did better as a team when we went to 10 men, just like against Macarthur last week,? he said. ?Bossy certainly don?t deserve to be where they are and had a lot of good chances, but we got the points and it?s good to get a win. We had a little bit of luck go our way.?
Liverpool coach Zlatko Nastevski will be looking for some new players during the transfer window to bolster his flailing side. ?We had a lot of chances, but we couldn?t score. Even the simplest of tap-ins we couldn?t get,? he said. ?But we?re getting better; we?re trying harder and only have a few more things to work out. We have a few players coming in the week or so, and it is looking promising.?
Bossy Liverpool 0 Granville Rage 1 (own goal)
Round 8 results
Fraser Park 2 (Leigh Gunn 10m Diogo Andrade 56m) PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3 (Fred Umlil 40/52m Chris Camilleri 77m)
Spirit FC 2 (Tim Simpson 72m Andrew McKee 89m) Macarthur Rams 3 (Matt Toogood 16m Craig Cooley 56m Josh Ford 90m)
Bossy Liverpool 0 Granville Rage 1 (own goal)
Rockdale City Suns 4 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2
Northern Tigers 2 (Paul Davies x 2) St George Saints 1 (Juan Carlos Chavez)
Sydney University 2 (Christian Soares , Peter Gavaghan) Central Coast 1
Grade 20 results
Fraser Park 1 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 0
Spirit FC 4 Macarthur Rams 2
Round 9 Fixtures
Round 9 of the 2009 NSW Super League sees Macarthur host cross-town rivals Liverpool, Granville welcome Fraser Park to Garside, and Mount Druitt travel to the Central Coast and St George play Parramatta at Melita Stadium for the Saturday night fixtures. On Sunday afternoon, Sydney Uni tackle Northern Tigers at Mills Park and Rockdale entertain Spirit FC at the Ilinden Sports Centre.

-By Daniel De Nardi