Super League Round 10 Review

hree games were washed out because of the weekend rain, the Eagles versus Uni match on Friday night, Liverpool at Fraser Park on Saturday night, and the Northern Tigers-Mount Druitt fixture at Popondetta Park on Sunday was also called off.
In other games, Granville shot back into the bigger picture with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a gallant nine-man St George outfit, while Spirit pummeled Central Coast 7-1 to reclaim a top-five position. A hat-trick from Spirit striker Tim Simpson took his season tally to eight goals, one behind Mount Druitt?s Troy Eedy and three in arrears of top gun, St George?s Juan Carlos Chavez.
Rockdale, Macarthur stalemate
Rockdale City Suns and Macarthur Rams locked horns in an epic 1-1 draw between the first and second ranked sides at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon. The result shuffled Macarthur ahead of Parramatta on goal difference (both on 19 competition points), with the two teams now trailing Rockdale by a solitary point. The stalemate also allowed the chasing sides (Tigers 17 points, Spirit 16) a platform to draw level in the rounds to come.
A hotly contested affair, the Suns dominated for much of the game only to see the Rams grab the lead on the counter attack via a Daniel Fogarty strike shortly after the hour mark had passed. But their joy was short-lived as the home side rallied and quickly equalised through Sam Awad. Rockdale piled on the pressure but couldn?t find a second goal and may have even lost the game had Macarthur taken advantage of a last-minute opportunity.
The 1-1 draw maintained two records, with Rockdale still yet to lose at Ilinden this season and Macarthur remain unbeaten on the road. It also takes the overall Super League record between the two giants to a win each and two draws in four meetings.
Suns mastermind Mile Todorovski had mixed feelings about the result. ?It was a tight game, but we dominated a lot of the game,? he said. ?They played on the counter attack and take the lead. We have more possession and more chances, but there was some confusion in the players in the last part of the field. We equalised but couldn?t score the winning goal… and then they have a chance in the last minute and could have won the game. I?m happy with the effort as it was good football, but today wasn?t our day.?
Rams coach Paul Carter will gladly take the point back home to Campbelltown. ?It was always going to be tough and territorially Rockdale had it. They stepped up the tempo in the last part of the game, but we two chances that were crystal clear and blown them both. They did have the ball, but I don?t think they did as much with it as they would have hoped for. A draw was probably fair.?
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Sam Awad 69m) Macarthur Rams 1 (Daniel Fogarty 66m)
Spirit crush Central Coast
Spirit FC sent Central Coast Lightning home packing from a 7-1 annihilation at Christie Park on Sunday afternoon, picking up a top-five spot in the process. The six-goal drubbing ? following hat-tricks from Tim Simpson and Con Paradisis ? was the biggest result of this year?s Super League from a team who?s having their first crack at it. The fact that Spirit did it against a top-five contender in Central Coast shows how dangerous the league newcomers are.
Paradisis broke the shackles when he scored twice inside the opening quarter-hour (his first goals of the season) before Ryan O?Connor also broke his duck to bring Central Coast back to 2-1 down. But this triggered an avalanche of goals as Simpson scored three in quick succession to make it 5-1 at halftime. Paradisis notched up his hat-trick with another goal on 55-minutes and a Daniel Cunningham penalty to bring it to 7-1 before the hour-mark was up rounded out a spirited Spirit display.
Spirit coach Jason van Blerk applauded his players after a clinical display. ?I think they realised that they would roll up their sleeves and put in a better performance this week,? he said. ?We change a bit of the personnel and the boys who came on performed tremendously well. Central Coast put up a fight, but we put a lot of pressure on them and scored some tremendous goals. There will always be ups and downs; we just have to learn from the downs and take advantage of the ups.
Central Coast coach Peter Preston did not use any excuses but was frustrated about going on from Sydney without a win yet again. ?They were just too good; full credit to them. They won all the individual battles across the park and were better in every department. It was very disappointing, and this will happen from time to time with a young side. But I?m not going to take anything away from Spirit, they bounced back well from last week [a loss to Rockdale], now we?ll will show what sort of character we have in the group when we respond to this next week,? he said.
Spirit FC 7 (Con Paradisis 5/15/55m Tim Simpson 24/29/43m Daniel Cunningham 58m penalty) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Ryan O?Connor 17m)
Granville bring down St George
Granville Rage held off an under-manned St George Saints 1-0 at St George Stadium on Sunday afternoon, extending an unbeaten run to five games [including Tiger Turf]. Granville took an early lead through Kris Holbrook and then had their chances of winning boosted when St George players Yavuz Ekinci and Rheuben Lagos were sent off for dangerous tackles before the halftime whistle had sounded. The Rage drew level with the Saints in ninth place on the ladder, now just five points behind the top-five.
Granville coach Hugh McCrory was pleased to grab some vital points before they start a nine-match stretch at home. ?We were playing very well and scored early, but they could have easily pinched a draw in the end. We had 5-6 chances to bury them and just couldn?t finish them off,? he said. ?They were terrific in the second half, so it was good to get away with the three points. We?re starting to gain some momentum and if we can get a result next week we?ll be right back in the mix.
St George Saints 0 Granville Rage 1 (Kris Holbrook 11m)
Round 10 results
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Sam Awad 69m) Macarthur Rams 1 (Daniel Fogarty 66m)
Spirit FC 7 (Con Paradisis 5/15/55m Tim Simpson 24/29/43m Daniel Cunningham 58m penalty) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Ryan O?Connor 17m)
St George Saints 0 Granville Rage 1 (Kris Holbrook 11m)
PCYC Parramatta Eagles vs Sydney University washed out
Fraser Park FC vs Bossy Liverpool washed out
Mount Druitt Town Rangers vs Northern Tigers washed out
Grade 20 results
Rockdale City Suns 0 Macarthur Rams 2
Spirit FC 3 Central Coast Lightning 3
St George FC 1 Granville Rage 2
PCYC Parramatta Eagles vs Sydney University washed out
Fraser Park FC vs Bossy Liverpool washed out
Mount Druitt Town Rangers vs Northern Tigers washed out
Round 11 Matches
Round 11 of the 2009 NSW Super League sees a top-five clash between Spirit FC and Northern Tigers at Christie Park, Granville host Sydney Uni at Garside Park, and Central Coast play Rockdale at Pluim Park ? all on Saturday night, while on Sunday afternoon, Liverpool entertain St George at Ernie Smith Reserve, Macarthur visit Fraser Park, and Parramatta welcome Mount Druitt to Melita Stadium.
–By Daniel De Nardi