Super League Round 12 Review
The Eagles leapfrogged Rockdale to take top spot on the ladder on the back of a 1-0 win over third-placed Spirit FC, as the Suns did well to scramble a 2-2 draw with fifth-placed Northern Tigers. Elsewhere, Central Coast inflicted Macarthur their second loss of the year, 2-1, Liverpool claimed their first win of the season in beating Uni 4-1, and St George won their third away game in a row in a 2-0 disposal of Fraser Park. Granville had their match with Mount Druitt washed out.
The results allowed weekend winners St George and Central Coast to close to within one point of the top-five, with Granville and Uni just a bee?s hop away. Mount Druitt, Fraser Park and Liverpool are separated by three points at the bottom of the table. There will be three round-13 matches featuring teams from the top-seven, including a top-of-the-table meeting between Parramatta and Rockdale.
Bossy down Uni for first win
Defending champions Bossy Liverpool have finally cracked it for their first win of the 2009 championship, defeating Sydney University 4-1 at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday night. Uni were quick to take an early lead with Amin Hadid scoring in just the second minute of play, his first goal since the fourth round. But the home side seemed to lose their way after the half-hour mark and Baturay Akin bobbed up for his first of the season to bring Liverpool back to 1-1 at the halftime break.
Uni got a good jump on the second half but a double to Bossy midfielder Jeffrey Issa put ?the students? to the sword. Liverpool added a surprise fourth goal (just their 10th score of the season) inside the final 10 minutes to ice the game. Interestingly, two of Liverpool?s best results have come against Uni this year, following their 1-1 opening round draw. Bossy coach Zlatko Nastevski was overjoyed to speak on the winning side for the first time this year.
?Everybody is over the moon,? he said. ?It?s an excellent feeling. The boys survive the tests of the past two months, and it?s a different team now. There is still a lot of work to come from the team because they are a very young side. It?s a lot of hard work, but I love it. The win will give them a little bit of confidence and belief in themselves. They want to go forward and I?m really happy to be here to help them achieve our goals.?
Uni coach John Caruana was dumbfounded. ?We were shellshocked alright,? he said. ?We started off like we wanted to, but we just seemed to switch off. Credit to Bossy for taking the game, but we beat ourselves really. We had a couple of players who didn?t lift, and others put their heads down, but we have to move on from it and I?m quite confident the boys will come back from that. We have three key players back next week, so hopefully we can get it back on track.?
Sydney University 1 (Aman Hadid 1m) Bossy Liverpool 4 (Baturay Akin 34m, Jeffrey Issa 69m/78m, D Slaveski 82m)
Lightning sizzles Rams
Central Coast Lightning extended a dominant Super League record over Macarthur Rams and won their first game in Sydney this year with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Lynwood Park on Saturday night. It was a great turn-around from the Coasties, who were well beaten 6-0 by the Rams in the first round. But it was Macarthur midfielder Aaron Cimitile who bothered the scorers sheet first with a goal on 41-minutes.
The Rams joy was short-lived when Ryan O?Connor equalised for Central Coast two minutes later and handyman Tom Gibbs added another for the visitors two minutes after the restart to make it 2-1. The action ebbed and flowed until the fulltime whistle went without any further adjustments to the score. For Gibbs it was goal number seven from a busy season, moving him into fourth position on the goalscorers ledger behind Mount Druitt?s Troy Eedy (9), Spirit?s Tim Simpson (10) and St George?s Juan Carlos Chavez (12).
Lightning coach Peter Preston was scratching his head for answers. ?Amazing,? he said. ?I don?t know really know [how it happened], it was just a really good performance from the boys. They were very disciplined and organised. We were beaten 6-0 by them in the first round, so it was a massive turnaround from our side of things. We were pretty confident. We addressed a few things and had a chat, and they want to do well and make things better for round two [of the season].?
Rams coach Paul Carter wasn?t happy at all. ?It was very disappointing from our point of view. They were more enthusiastic on the night. We probably put on a 30 minute display and they were out there playing for 90. It is only our second loss, and it?s more a case of that?s what young kids will do at times. They will be a bit inconsistent. I?m disappointed because I have high expectations of them. But if you don?t match the other team?s energy and enthusiasm, you will get punished.?
Macarthur Rams 1 (Aaron Cimitile 41m) Central Coast Lightning 2 (Ryan O?Connor 43m, Tom Gibbs 47m)
Saints triumphant at Fraser Park
St George Saints marched closer to a top-five spot with a resounding 2-0 win at Fraser Park on Saturday night. Esali Ali opened the account for the visitors on the half-hour mark, his first goal of the year, while Tanju Balabanel doubled the advantage with a second strike just minutes into the second half. The clean-sheet ended an amazing run by Fraser Park, who had managed to score a goal in every match before meeting the Saints. And the only team left with the stat of a goal every match? Mount Druitt.
Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon said he was disappointed with the result. ?We had a few chances early in the first half, but unfortunately we also got a few injuries and had to make some changes,? he said. ?St George deserved the three points. We have got a good team, and all the positives are there, we just had a rough day at the office to be honest. But, no excuses, St George deserved to win it.? Shamon was looking forward to Tuesday night?s Tiger Turf Cup round-of-16 match against Camden Tigers.
Fraser Park 0 St George Saints 2 (Esali Ali 30m, Tanju Balabanel 48m)
Eagles soar higher than Spirit
PCYC Parramatta Eagles won an arm-wrestle at Melita Stadium on Sunday afternoon, edging out Spirit FC 1-0 to go top of the table. The match failed to live up to any great expectations but Parramatta forged out a result when Tom Wilson latched onto a George Lagoudakis cross and put it neatly over the Spirit goalkeeper to score what would ultimately be the match-winning goal just before the stroke of halftime.
Eagles coach Jason Falzon was thrilled. ?It was a good victory by the boys, who worked hard, especially after missing two weeks. I couldn?t be happier for them because they really deserved it,? he said. ?We prepared well, we learned from the first game we played them [a 2-2 draw in round one]. To grind out a solid result, I can?t ask for more than that as a coach.?
Spirit mentor Jason van Blerk knew it wasn?t his side?s best performance. ?[The game] wasn?t a classic, and even though we?re traveling well on the ladder I?m not sure if we?re getting the full respect we probably deserve. But we?re enjoying being in the Super League. We only started four years ago in division one, so it?s all for experience really. They?ll learn from today.?
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 (Tim Wilson 44m) Spirit FC 0
Suns, Tigers in a thrilling draw
The Northern Tigers had competition leaders Rockdale City Suns on the ropes at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon, but couldn?t take advantage of a two goal halftime lead ? both scored by Tim Gledhill, his first goals since the opening round ? and a Suns send-off and in the end had to settle for a 2-2 draw, Peter Apolevski and Paul Dee scoring second half goals for the visitors. The result extended Northern?s unbeaten Super League record over Rockdale to six games, which now includes five draws.
Tigers coach Jason Eager had mixed emotions about the match. ?2-2 against the competition leaders looks like a terrific result, but we were 2-0 up at halftime and they had a player sent off,? he said. ?I was very happy with the first half; we worked hard and took two good goals. I said to the boys at halftime that the game was there for us to win or lose. We missed a simple chance early in the second half then gave away a penalty. Looking back on it we could have done better, so, yes, it was disappointing.?
Suns mastermind Mile Todorovski was delighted with the comeback against the odds. ?Of course I?m very happy. We went 60 minutes with 10 men ? it?s like a miracle,? he said. ?We started very weak, with everyone looking to someone else to do the job, and with that came two very cheap goals. But the boys find the energy and a good attitude to come back and now I?m not happy we didn?t win the game. But it?s a new story next week.?
Northern Tigers 2 (Tim Gledhill 12/25m) Rockdale City Suns 2 (Peter Apolevski 60m penalty, Paul Dee 67m)
Round 12 results
Macarthur Rams 1 (Aaron Cimitile 41m) Central Coast Lightning 2 (Ryan O?Connor 43m, Tom Gibbs 47m)
Fraser Park 0 St George Saints 2 (Esali Ali 30m, Tanju Balabanel 48m)
Sydney University 1 (Aman Hadid 1m) Bossy Liverpool 4 (Baturay Akin 34m, Jeffrey Issa 69/78m, D Slaveski 82m)
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 (Tim Wilson 44m) Spirit FC 0
Northern Tigers 2 (Tim Gledhill 12/25m) Rockdale City Suns 2 (Peter Apolevski 60m penalty, Paul Dee 67m)
Granville Rage vs Mount Druitt Town Rangers washed out
Grade 20 results
Macarthur Rams 1 Central Coast Lightning 3
Granville Rage Mount Druitt Town Rangers washed out
Fraser Park FC St George FC washed out
Sydney University 2 FC Bossy Liverpool 1
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 Spirit FC 0
Northern Tigers 3 Rockdale City Suns 2
Round 13 Fixtures
Round 13 of the 2009 NSW Super League sees Granville host Spirit FC at Garside Park, Sydney Uni welcome Fraser Park to Hensley Athletic Field, and Central Coast entertain Northern Tigers at Pluim Park, all on a Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, Mount Druitt play Liverpool at Popondetta Park, St George take on Macarthur at Saints Stadium, while Rockdale and Parramatta meet in a top-of-the-table clash at the Ilinden Sports Centre.
-By Daniel De Nardi
