Super League Round 15 Review
And to emphasize their sensational start to the year, its league newcomers Spirit FC who stand on top of the pile after a topsy-turvy round 15.
The tightness of the competition over the past few seasons of the state?s second tier competition has been phenomenal and this year is proving no different. First Parramatta tasted top on Saturday night with a 2-1 upheaval of fifth-placed Northern Tigers. Then Rockdale muscled ahead the next day on goal-difference following a 1-1 struggle with defending champions Liverpool, only for Sprit FC to leapfrog both with a 3-0 disposal of bottom side Fraser Park. Uni then caused the round?s boil over in a 4-2 thumping of Macarthur on Sunday to join St George on the top-five outskirts after the Saints drew 3-3 with Mount Druitt.
In the individual stakes, Mount Druitt?s Troy Eedy drew alongside Saints striker Juan Carloz Chavez with 13 goals of the season after the Rangers ace netted in their 3-3 draw with St George. Spirit spearhead Tim Simpson, with 12 goals, also poked his nose into the super boot affair by scoring in his side?s 3-0 demolition of Fraser Park. Uni front man Christian Soares was the biggest shaker and baker with a hat-trick against Macarthur taking him to nine goals for the year. Central Coast?s Tom Gibbs was next with eight successful strikes.
Eagles claw past Tigers
If points were distributed for bravery, the Northern Tigers would have collected a handful in coming so close against top guns PCYC Parramatta Eagles at Melita Stadium on Saturday night. With their backs against the wall, a 10-man Northern failed to defend its early one-goal lead and fell 2-1 to Parramatta. It extended the Eagles unbeaten Super League run over the Tigers to six matches, and mirrored their 2-1 win at Mills Park in round four.
The Tigers came out with all guns blazing and were rewarded for their enterprise with a goal to Geoff Dwyer in the first five minutes. But the Eagles passing game started to click and a Nathan Riveria free kick from 20-25 minutes out leveled the ledger at 1-1 not long afterwards. Disaster then struck for the visitors when a defender was sent off for a last-man infringement and they had to play the rest of the game with 10 men on the park. Parramatta dominated the second half but had to wait until the 86th minute for Fred Graham to head home a Chris Camelleri cross to give the Eagles a 2-1 victory.
Parramatta coach Jason Falzon commended Northern?s stubborn defence, but praised his own players? patience in finding a last-minute winner. ?[The Tigers] put us on the back foot early. We then started to play the way we would like to play and, in the second half, it was just for us to be patient and control the game,? he said. ?We dominated and should have scored a few more goals, but the ball just wouldn?t go in. To the Tigers credit they defended well and we just kept going and going and were finally rewarded in the 90th minute.?
Northern coach Jason Eager felt for his players. ?You could say that [a 90th-minut winner was heartbreaking]. A bit frustrating as well,? he said. ?Certainly, with the effort and commitment the boys showed, we probably deserved a point. But losing a player made it tough. It was backs to the wall sort of stuff. Parramatta controlled the second half, but our defence was brilliant. I?m satisfied with the performance, I?m just disappointed they didn?t get to play 11-v-11 for the full 90 minutes because I think we matched them in that first half.?
Northern Tigers 1 (Geoff Dwyer 5m) PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Nathan Rivera 9m Fred Graham 86m)
Lightning, Rage stalemate
A barrage of broadsides on a boggy Garside Park finished in a 2-2 draw between Central Coast Lightning and Granville Rage on Saturday night. These two sides have been very hard to separate over the years (only once in eight games has the scoreline been separated by more than one goal) and they showed why again in an entertaining affair.
Central Coast strike weapon Tom Gibbs scored first in the 65th minute, but Christian Bottalico restored parity for the home side less than a minute later. The Lightning returned to the front via a M Harper goal in the 86th minute, but the Rage responded once more and Ali Al Sarkhi grabbed a second equaliser just minutes before the fulltime whistle sounded.
Granville coach Hugh McCrory said a draw was probably a fair result in the end. ?It was fairly even. The ground was a bit heavy and a bit slippery, but it was still a good game,? he said. ?We needed to win, especially with what lies ahead of us [key player Nenos Bobo suspended for six weeks following his second serious offence for the year]. We went okay in the middle of the park, and worked a few of the kids on; I?ll walk away from that happy.?
Central Coast coach Peter Preston couldn?t hide his frustration. ?It?s disappointing to lose to another late goal,? he said. ?It was a bit boggy with the pitch, but both teams tried to play a bit of football. We led twice, so from our point of view, we had the three points in the bag and let it slip again. But the effort from the boys is still there; it?s still an enthusiastic young side. We?ve got Rockdale on Thursday night and we?re hoping to get a result there.?
Granville Rage 2 (Christian Bottalico 66m Ali Al Sarkhi 88m) Central Coast Lightning 2 (Tom Gibbs 65m M Harper 86m)
Spirit defeats Fraser Park
A half-hour fury unleashed by Spirit FC sealed a 3-0 win over last-placed Fraser Park at fortress Christie Park on Sunday afternoon (3pm kickoff), keeping their unbeaten home record in tack and shooting them to the top of the table in their first year. A double to Leo Papanicolaou and one to Tim Simpson inside the first 25 minutes was enough to decide the game for Spirit.
Spirit coach Jason van Blerk tried to keep the undeniable elation at the club in check. ?It?s still early in the second half of the season, but another three points today was crucial to keep us at the top of the table. In the end, we took advantage of the space of the field and led 3-0 after the first 25 minutes. We probably took our foot off the pedal and tried to force it a little too much after that. But we had done enough.?
The loss was another blow to Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon, who is also facing an injury avalanche at his club. ?It?s been a pretty bad week for us with injuries to seven of starting players. A few more players being sick didn?t help and it showed in the first 20 minutes. We dominated the second half, but they [the Saints] fully deserved their win. It?s been a year where we have had to survive, and the injuries make it all that much harder.?
Spirit FC 3 (Leo Papanicolaou 12/18m Tim Simpson 23m) Fraser Park 0
Bossy steal a point from Suns
Rockdale City Suns threw everything at Bossy Liverpool at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon, but they could not shake a dogged attempt by the Super League title defenders to take something from the match. Not only did the draw allow Spirit to overtake them at the top of the table, but the 1-1 draw also continued Rockdale?s misery against Liverpool at Ilinden ? they are yet to beat Bossy at home in the league. Jeffrey Issa?s 49th minute goal for Bossy cancelled out Saso Trajcevski?s seventh minute strike for the Suns.
Rockdale coach Mile Todorovski wasn?t happy. ?I?m always disappointed with not winning, but at the end of the day we did not deserve the one point [because] we didn?t play like we were talking before the game,? he said. ?We had 2-3 beautiful chance to score the goal, and we score a spectacular goal, but our opposition played like they did not want to lose the game and scored from their one chance, and that?s it.?
Liverpool coach Zlatko Nastevski was delighted with the theft of one point away from home. ?We went there for a point and didn?t expect any extra surprises, and to take any points away from the top teams is, to me, a great result,? he said. ?We are rolling forward slowly, slowly, and I?m very much pleased with how it?s all falling into place so far. We?re just happy to take on every game as it comes.?
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Saso Trajcevski 7m) Bossy Liverpool 1 (Jeffrey Issa 49m)
Uni buck Rams
A smart Sydney University side got the better of top-five side Macarthur Rams at Lambert Park on Sunday afternoon, winning comfortably, 4-2. Emilio Vigliante got the home side off to a great start with a snappy goal on two-minutes, and this paved the way for a Christian Soares hat-trick (goals 17, 65 and 82 minutes). Macarthur finally got on the board with two late goals to C Cooley, the second a penalty, putting some respectability back into the lopsided scoreline.
Uni coach John Caruana applauded an optimum display from his players. ?I?m quite happy. The boys were disciplined and kept to the basics. [Macarthur] are a very mobile side and we played to our limitations. We probably out-thought them a little bit at times, and out-grinded them,? he said. ?We must have shell-shocked them a little bit and they came out hard in the second half and pressed, but our defence held strong.?
When asked when the scenario moved away from a relegation battle to an assault on the finals, in relation to last year?s gallant end-of-season run, Caruana replied, tongue-in-cheek: ?I?ll tell you in the last round. It?s a work in progress for me, and we?re pulling in the right direction. I?m happy with what?s happening off the park as well as on the park, so it will come together for the club in the end.?
Macarthur coach Paul Carter was annoyed at the inconsistent display from his players, but had already moved onto the next game. ?I?m very disappointed,? he said. ?It may have a bit to do with the break in play [wet weather interruptions], but the first two goals we gave away were soft, and that gave us an uphill battle. But we were lucky to field a side today and had forwards playing in defence. There?s nothing to worry about; there are games in hand to play. We just have to deal with it.?
Sydney University 4 (Emilio Vigliante 2m Christian Soares 17/65/82m) Macarthur Rams 2 (C Cooley 82/87m)
Saints level with Rangers
Mount Druitt Town Rangers continued to be a thorn in the St George Saints side with a last-gasp 3-3 draw entertaining the Sunday afternoon crowd at Popondetta Park. Mount Druitt seemed to be cruising at 2-0 up, courtesy of Troy Eedy and Caetano Lima goals, inside the final quarter-hour. But a three-goal blitz to Saints trio Yavuz Ekinci, D Celini and Peter Crevani gave the visitors a shock 3-2 lead with five minutes left on the clock. It was left to Rangers player Brendan Mitrovich to send the home fans into raptures when he got the ball over the line for a 3-3 scoreline with minutes left to play.
St George coach Nikola Orlic is starting to think he is living in a Groundhog Day. ?It was the same as always,? he said. ?I thought we played very, very well, and it was only a couple of little mistakes, that created the chances they finished off, that stopped us from getting a good result. Credit to Mount Druitt, but I was happy with the way we played. It comes down to a little bit of inexperience and our young players will benefit from this when they?re a bit stronger. I?m still happy with how they?re traveling at the moment.?
Mount Druitt coach Phil Pavela wondered what happened after his side led 2-0 to ultimately escape with a 3-3 draw. ?We just scraped in, didn?t we,? he said. ?We didn?t play too bad and I think it was a fair result for the day. The boys sort of dropped a bit when we were leading 2-0 and they bombarded us for 20 minutes and got three goals. I?m happy with the result to be honest because we aim for points wherever we are. The stop-starting [wet weather interruptions] makes it a bit hard to get momentum, and we have a few catch-up games to play over the next few weeks, so that should be exhausting to get through.?
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 3 (Troy Eedy 27m Caetano Lima 57m Brendan Mitrovich 90m) St George 3 (Yavuz Ekinci 77m D Celini 80m Peter Crevani 86m)
Round 15 results
Granville Rage 2 (Christian Bottalico 66m Ali Al Sarkhi 88m) Central Coast Lightning 2 (Tom Gibbs 65m M Harper 86m)
Northern Tigers 1 (Geoff Dwyer 5m) PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Nathan Rivera 9m Fred Graham 86m)
Sydney University 4 (Emilio Vigliante 2m Christian Soares 17/65/82m) Macarthur Rams 2 (C Cooley 82/87m)
Spirit FC 3 (Leo Papanicolaou 12/18m Tim Simpson 23m) Fraser Park 0
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Sasp Trajcevski 7m) Bossy Liverpool 1 (Jeffrey Issa 49m)
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 3 (Troy Eedy 27m Caetano Lima 57m Brendan Mitrovich 90m) St George 3 (Yavuz Ekinci 77m D Celini 80m Peter Crevani 86m)
Grade 20 results
Granville Rage 1 Central Coast Lightning 3
Northern Tigers 1 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1
Sydney University 0 Macarthur Rams 0
Spirit FC 2 Fraser Park 0
Rockdale City Suns 2 Bossy Liverpool 1
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 St George 1
Round 16 Fixtures
Round 16 of the 2009 NSW Super League sees Granville host Northern at Garside Park in the only Saturday night fixture. On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool plays Central Coast at Ernie Smith Reserve, Parramatta host Macarthur in a Melita Stadium blockbuster, high-flyers Rockdale welcome bottom-club Fraser Park to the Ilinden Sports Centre, the Saints entertain top-side Spirit FC at St George Stadium, while Sydney Uni tackle Mount Druitt at Uni Oval.
-By Daniel De Nardi
