Super League Round 9 Review

A 4-1 win to Rockdale over Spirit FC gave them a taste of top spot as Parramatta faltered against St George 1-3 and Liverpool held Macarthur to a 2-2 draw. Northern Tigers made it five on the trot with a 1-0 win over Sydney Uni, Central Coast skipped into thetop-five by beating Mount Druitt 4-2, and Fraser Park gained a valuable away point in a 1-1 draw at Granville.
Another goal to St George magician Juan Carlos Chavez in an impressive performance against top dogs Parramatta took the striker’s season tally to 11 goals from eight games. The Saints play a catch-up game against Mount Druitt during the week and could well add to his burgeoning swag. 
Saints topple Eagles
St George Saints may want to shift all their games to Melita Stadium after they won their fourth Super League game at the ground with a 3-1 demolition job on co-competition leaders PCYC Parramatta Eagles on Saturday night.
And while the reverse is also true, Parramatta have won both of their league games played at St George’s home ground, the manner of St George’s performance threw the competition wide open again.
Tanju Balabanel put the visitors in front on the quarter-hour mark and super ace Juan Carlos Chavez bobbed up for his 11th of the year midway through the second half. Balabanel made sure of a Saints victory when he scored another one on 78-minutes. Daniel Borg converted a penalty for the Eagles to make it 3-1 at the final whistle.
Parramatta masatermind Jason Falzon gave St George credit for stepping up for a big match, but lamented a few individual performances from his team. “I felt St George’s experienced players stood up, and we were beaten in many individual contests,” he said. “We’ll move on from this.”
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 (D Borg 80m pen) St George FC 3 (T Balabanel 14/78m Juan Carlos Chavez 75m)
Macarthur, Liverpool draw
Rankings flew out the window as Bossy Liverpool squandered a two goal advantage to draw 2-2 with highflyers Macarthur Rams at Lynwood Park on Saturday night. Liverpool belied their placing at the bottom of the ladder as they outplayed a fatigued Macarthur outfit.
Jeffrey Issa gave Bossy a dream start with a goal on 17-minutes, and he made it 2-0 with a well taken chance just after the halftime break. But fortune swung as Liverpool faded and Macarthur pounced with two quickfire goals to snatch an unlikely due.
Rams coach Paul Carter was impressed by Liverpool’s determination. “I’m not looking for any excuses because Bossy were the better team,” he said. “We’ve played a fair bit of football over the last few weeks and maybe that played a part, but we weren’t good enough to win.”
Bossy coach Zlatko Nastevski called the draw, which ended a seven-goal losing streak for the defending champions, a miracle. “We have a few new players [courtesy of the transfer window] and they made a little bit of difference, but you could see from the warm-up that the team was ready to turn their attitude around.”
“Of course, when you run and chase hard against a quality team like Macarthur, I knew that we eventually begin to tire, and we just let down our concetration. But it was a good result.”
Macarthur Rams 2 (Matt Toogood 53m pen A De La Cuadra 55m) FC Bossy Liverpool 2 (J Issa 17/49m)
Granville level with Fraser Park
A 10-man Granville Rage outfit overcame a Fraser Park FC at Garside Park on Saturday night, their first home fixture of the season. A David Harding header on the hour mark cancelled out Diego Andrade’s first half goal for Fraser Park, and Granville were perhaps a little unlucky not to have found a winner as they lucked out on several occasions.
Rage coach Hugh McCrory was delighted that his team claimed a point under difficult circumstances. “It was a pretty good performance considering we were a player short for most of the match,” he said. “We were probably unlucky not to get another goal, but I’m pretty happy with a point.”
Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon was also relieved to get something out of a match that swung against his team. “It was a game of halves to be honest, but we keep improving each week and we got a point away from home, so it was another good result.”
Granville Rage 1 (David Harding 60m) Fraser Park FC 1 (Diego Andrade 34m)
Lightning scatter Rangers
Central Coast Lightning jumped into fifth place on the ladder and extended their unbeaten Super League run against Mount Druitt Town Rangers to five matches following a 4-2 win at Pluim Park on Saturday night.
Central Coast came from behind twice to cancel out Troy Eedy’s two goals for Mount Druitt, with Tom Gibbs, Jamie Lobb and William Lockley scoring three goals in the final half-hour to hammer home a two-goal win for the Lightning.
Central Coast coach Peter Preston was very pleased with the performance. “We passed well and gained good experience against a physical team like Mount Druitt,” he said. “We’re still a young side coming together, we keep it simple, and the boys are really enjoying their football.”
Rangers coach Phil Pavela was also proud of the effort put in by his team. “I thought it was a good performance. If we can get those little mistakes out of our game, we wouldn’t let in as many goals,” he said.
Central Coast Lightning 4 (Tom Gibbs 44/63m Jamie Lobb 80m William Lockley 89m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Troy Eedy 12/48m)
Rockdale crush Spirit
Rockdale City Suns thumped Spirit FC 4-1 at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon to take top spot on the points ladder. It was a convincing performance from the pre-season tip as Kurt Crnic racked up a hat-trick inside the opening hour, with Spirit only gaining some pride through a late consolation goal.
Rockdale coach Mile Todorovski hadn’t paid much attention to the competition leaderboard, which shows the Suns ahead of Parramatta on goal difference, but he applauded the quality of football his team played against a tough defensive unit in Spirit.
“I don’t watch where the other teams are, I only watch where my team is. I don’t use mathematics, I’m looking in my yard only,” he said.
“We play real football and everyone play their role perfect. Even though we played the last 30 minutes with 10 men, we were still creating the chances. It wasn’t easy, the result made it look easier, but the players were ready to give the best on the field.”
Rockdale City Suns 4 (Kurt Crnic 25/35/50m I Kotevski 57m pen) Spirit FC 1 (G Macdonald 90m)
Tigers edge out Uni
Northern Tigers took their winning streak to five games after holding out Sydney University for a 1-0 win at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers scored early through Scott Balderson and never let go of their lead throughout a tense match. They now take Uni’s top-five place, just two points of the competition lead.
Northern coach Jason Eager had problems early when he lost two defenders to injuries inside the opening half-hour. “It wasn’t pretty on our behalf, but we’ll take the win,” he said. “It was very close, but Uni certainly came at us in the second half and had a couple of close calls. We are riding on our confidence and winning some of those close games.
Uni coach John Caruana rued a missed opportunity. “We just couldn’t put it in the back of the net,” he said. “Full credit to the Tigers, they dug deep and their defence won them the game. It was just one of those things.”
Northern Tigers 1 (Scott Balderson 13m) Sydney University 0
Round 9 results
Central Coast Lightning 4 (Tom Gibbs 44/63m Jamie Lobb 80m William Lockley 89m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Troy Eedy 12/48m)
Granville Rage 1 (David Harding 60m) Fraser Park FC 1 (Diego Andrade 34m)
Macarthur Rams 2 (Matt Toogood 53m pen A De La Cuadra 55m) FC Bossy Liverpool 2 (J Issa 17/49m)
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 (Daniel Borg 80m pen) St George FC 3 (Tanju Balabanel 14/78m Juan Carlos Chavez 75m)
Northern Tigers 1 (Scott Balderson 13m) Sydney University 0
Rockdale City Suns 4 (Kurt Crnic 25/35/50m I Kotevski 57m pen) Spirit FC 1 (Graham Macdonald 90m)
Grade 20
Central Coast Lightning 2 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2
Granville Rage 2 Fraser Park FC 3
Macarthur Rams 2 FC Bossy Liverpool 1
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 5 St George FC 1
Northern Tigers 1 Sydney University 0
Rockdale City Suns 2 Spirit FC 1
Round 10 Fixtures
Round 10 of the 2009 NSW Super League pits Sydney Uni against Parramatta in a rare Friday night fixture at Uni Oval, while Fraser Park hosts Liverpool in a bottom of the table scrap. On Sunday afternoon, Spirit entertains Central Coast at Christie Park, Mount Druitt tackles Northern Tigers at Popondetta Park, the Saints meet Granville at St George Stadium, while Rockdale play Macarthur in a top-of-the-table clash at the Ilinden Sports Centre. St George and Mount Druitt match-up in a midweek catch-up.
-By Daniel De Nardi