Super League Round 16 Review
Spirit FC fell five points behind the leaders after losing 1-2 to St George, who joined Macarthur and Sydney Uni in a three-way tie for fourth spot. Northern missed their chance to stay in the top-five, losing 2-3 to Granville, and are just one point behind in the race to the finals. The Rage and Central Coast are lurking three points further behind.
Liverpool bolstered their hopes of staying in Super League by dispatching Central Coast 2-1 to draw alongside Mount Druitt, who were blitzed 5-1 by a Uni avalanche. This left Fraser Park in the cold, seven points adrift at the bottom of the table, but with a couple of games in hand and a Tiger Turf Cup quarter final on Tuesday night to look forward to.
In the goalscoring stakes, Saints striker Juan Carlos Chavez and Spirit?s Tim Simpson both scored to take their season tallies to 14 and 13 goals respectively, with Mount Druitt?s Troy Eedy also in the mix with 13 goals. Five goals in two games has lifted Uni player Christian Soares to an impressive 11 goals, with the Lightning?s Tom Gibbs (8) and Tigers ace Scott Balderson (7) the next in line.
Rage turf Tigers
Granville Rage powered home to beat bogey side Northern Tigers at Garside Park on Saturday night to suddenly entertain a finals place. Northern had won four of their six previous encounters at Garside and they started off well with a Thomas Spencer strike giving them a 1-0 lead after 15 minutes. Kris Holbrook responded for Granville eight minutes later before a Scott Balderson goal on the half-hour mark wrestled back a 2-1 halftime lead for the Tigers.
The second half was just as frenetic with both sides pressing forward for goals, and it took a five-minute patch of brilliance from Ali Al Sarkhi, who scored on 68 and 73 minutes, to lift the Rage 3-2 in front. However, Granville?s jobs were made a little easier when Northern lost a player to a second yellow card with 20 minutes to go, giving the Rage their second win at home this season.
Granville coach Hugh McCrory said the win against his old club was another step towards the finals, but kept it in perspective. ?For us the win was vital, and it was a terrific strike by Ali Al Sarkhi, but they were understrength and we only just deserved to win,? he said. ?[In regards to beating his old club] For me, it?s just another game. I?ve got a job to do at the Rage. To be honest, there?s a bit of character in the side and hopefully we can keep going to make the top-five.?
Tigers coach Jason Eager remained optimistic. ?It?s always disappointing to lose; we didn?t play particularly intelligently and made some poor decisions. We had the lead twice, so it?s frustrating to let them back into the game,? he said. ?We?re still positive things will happen for us.?
Granville Rage 3 (Kris Holbrook 23m Ali Al Sarkhi 68/73m) Northern Tigers 2 (Thomas Spencer 15m Scott Balderson 32m)
Uni thrash Rangers
Sydney University made the most of a changed fixture against Mount Druitt Town Rangers, beating them 5-1 after the game was shifted a day forward and to a different venue altogether, at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday night. The convincing win elevated Uni into a top-five positive for the first time in a while, and gave them a delicious 12 goals in the past three games.
Daine Merrin?s first goal of the year got the ball rolling for Uni after just five minutes and Mount Druitt?s trouble amplified when a defender was sent off for a late tackle in the penalty box. Uni?s Christian Soares converted the spot kick to take a two goal lead and team-mate Emilio Vigliante made it 3-0 with a well taken opportunity on the half-hour mark. Vigliante has been in fine form of late and notched up his sixth goal in six games.
To their credit, the under-manned Rangers came out firing in the second half and pegged a goal back through Michael Haberman midway through the term to keep up Mount Druitt?s incredible run of scoring in every game this season. Uni coach John Caruana?s pulse would have quickened after he also had a player sent off, but Soares scored again, his 11th of the year and fifth in two matches, and defender Darren Vujovic bobbed up late to seal a 5-1 victory.
?It was a solid performance and obviously I?m quite happy with it ? our confidence is a big thing,? Caruana said after applauding his team?s third win on the trot. ?Full credit to Mount Druitt, though. Their front-third is quite strong and we tried hard to keep them to nil. We kept one of the best strikers in the league [Troy Eedy] quiet, which was one of our aims, and I thought our defence did play well.?
The win came at a great time for Uni, who line-up against the competition?s top three teams over the next three weeks; Parramatta on Tuesday night before facing Spirit and Rockdale. ?That will be a big test for us,? Caruana said.
Sydney University 5 (Daine Merrin 5m Christian Soares 10m pen/80m Emilio Vigliante 29m Darren Vujovic 83m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Michael Haberman 70m)
Eagles fleece Rams
PCYC Parramatta Eagles battled glandular fever, influenza and injuries to beat a bed-ridden Macarthur Rams 1-0 at Melita Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With three games scored in four matches, these two top sides have been separated by a fleck of dust, and it wasn?t a great surprise that a sole strike to midfielder George Lagoudakis, his first of the season, made all the difference.
?The score probably didn?t reflect the game, we probably should have won more comfortably because we played some really good football,? Parramatta coach Jason Falzon said. ?We were told about it [the glandular fever outbreak in the Rams camp]; we had players out today as well with the flu. When you can say the boys will work to the end to get a result, you can be happy with that.?
Macarthur coach Paul Carter has massive trouble trying to get the club to battle through the illness breakout. ?We shouldn?t have even been on the field, so it was a gutsy effort,? he said. ?It has been confirmed as glandular fever, and there was even the fear of it being swine flu at one stage. There?s hardly anyone at training sessions, maybe 6-7 players; it?s just a disaster, mate, and it makes it very difficult for us.?
?Once you?re on the park you don?t make excuses, you just do the best you can. We held them as best we could and managed to hit the bar twice in the last 10 minutes. Hopefully we can hang in there and make the five.?
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 (George Lagoudakis 79m) Macarthur Rams 0
Suns pip Fraser Park
Bottom side Fraser Park stuck to top-of-the-table Rockdale City Suns in a battle royale at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon. A goal to defender Paul Dee in just the second minute of the game was enough to hand Rockdale its first win over Fraser Park at Ilinden and kept their noses in front of Parramatta at the top of the ladder on goal difference only. But they were lucky to hold off a spirited Fraser Park effort. The Suns remain unbeaten at home this season and haven?t lost since round six.
Rockdale coach Mile Todorovski said he would have handed in his resignation had his team lost. ?If we lose this game, every serious coach should resign; it?s a signal you must go. Fortunately for me and thanks to my players, I survive. But I walked on the wire like a magician for 94 minutes,? he said. ?If Fraser Park play like this every game they should be another 10 points extra, but I?m very happy at the end of the day as it is hard to motivate the players for the game against the last team.?
Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon wanted more for his team?s effort. ?We smashed them in the first half and dominated the whole game,? he said. ?It was pleasing to the eye, it?s just a cruel game sometimes and unfortunately fate seems to be crueler when you?re at the bottom of the league. We are the unluckiest team in the league, so a little bit of luck would be nice. But if we go down, we?ll go down on our terms.?
Fraser Park will look to take their positive efforts into Tuesday night?s Tiger Turf Cup quarter final against Blacktown Demons at Gabbie Stadium. They are the only Super League team left in the knockout competition and a win could kickstart a belated run in the league.
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Paul Dee 2m) Fraser Park FC 0
Saints upset Spirit
St George Saints did enough to blast past Spirit FC 2-1 at St George Stadium on Sunday afternoon and create a four-way tug-of-war for fourth and fifth spot. Saints weapon Juan Carlos Chavez took his season tally to 14 goals with a sixth minute strike and Yavuz Ekinci double the lead on 20-minutes. But Spirit striker Tim Simpson breathed some life back into the game with a goal on the half-hour mark, his 13th of the year, but the scores remained unchanged to fulltime.
St George coach Nikola Orlic was pleased with the result. ?The last couple of weeks we?ve been playing reasonably well without getting the results and I think the young side we have is starting to realise what they?re capable of,? he said. ?I can?t say what our plan was but the boys played to their instructions today.?
?At the end of day we?d like to finish in the top five and I?m happy with how the boys are progressing. Hopefully they?ll step up to the grade that I think they should be in.?
St George Saints 2 (Juan Carlos Chavez 6m Yavuz Ekinci 20m) Spirit FC 1 (Tim Simpson 31m)
Liverpool accost Coast
Bossy Liverpool beat Central Coast Lightning 2-1 in a scrappy affair at Ernie Smith Reserve on Sunday afternoon. It was the first win at home for the defending champions and extended their unbeaten run to five matches, taking them further away from the drop-pit.
Goals to Sargun Georges and M Sehic from corner kicks was enough to put Liverpool in front, and they hung on for dear life after they had a player sent off early in the second half for a reckless tackle. The final half-hour was made more intense when Central Coast?s Matt Kenny converted a penalty following a goalkeeping indiscretion. The win delighted the Liverpool fans and would have provided some terrific footage for a documentary team filming the match as part of a look at Bosnians relocating overseas.
?It was a bit of a scratchy, scrappy win and we were somewhat fortunate,? Bossy coach Zlatko Nastevski said. ?Of course we had to play defensive [after the send-off]; we had a few counter attacks but couldn?t do anything. Central Coast dominated, but we somehow survived. We are doing it bit by bit [unbeaten in five games], but there is still a lot of work to be done. There is plenty of time with the young side I have.?
Beaten Central Coast coach Peter Preston was surprised his team couldn?t get over the top of Liverpool with a numerical advantage in the second half. ?I thought we played really well today, especially after a pretty disappointing effort against Rockdale. We had the ball and the territory [against the Lightning], just gave away two silly goals off corners.?
?The boys are playing well, we?re just falling down in a couple of areas, and we?ll work on that on the training pitch. We?ll make plenty of trouble for the other teams on the run into the finals, I?m sure of that.?
Bossy Liverpool 2 (Sargun Georges 14m M Sehic 17m) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Matt Kenny 59m penalty)
Round 16 results
Granville Rage 3 (Kris Holbrook 23m Ali Al Sarkhi 68/73m) Northern Tigers 2 (Thomas Spencer 15m Scott Balderson 32m)
Sydney University 5 (Daine Merrin 5m Christian Soares 10m penalty/80m Emilio Vigliante 29m Darren Vujovic 83m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Michael Haberman 70m)
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Paul Dee 2m) Fraser Park 0
Bossy Liverpool 2 (Sargun Georges 14m M Sehic 17m) Central Coast Lightning 1 (Matt Kenny 59m penalty)
St George Saints 2 (Juan Carlos Chavez 6m Yavuz Ekinci 20m) Spirit FC 1 (Tim Simpson 31m)
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 1 (George Lagoudakis 79m) Macarthur Rams 0
Rescheduled round 11
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 4 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1
Central Coast Lightning 0 Rockdale City Suns 3
Grade 20 results
Granville Rage 4 Northern Tigers 1
Sydney University 1 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 4
Rockdale City Suns 1 Fraser Park 1
Bossy Liverpool 0 Central Coast Lightning 4
St George Saints 2 Spirit FC 2
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3 Macarthur Rams 1
Rescheduled round 11
PCYC Parramatta Eagles 3 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 0
Central Coast Lightning 1 Rockdale City Suns 3
Rescheduled round 12
Fraser Park FC 2 St George FC 2
Round 17 Fixtures
Round 17 of the 2009 NSW Super League has two games on Saturday night, neighbours Granville versus Parramatta at Garside Park and Central Coast against Fraser Park at Pluim Park. On Sunday afternoon, Spirit FC take on Sydney University at Christie Park, Macarthur welcome Mount Druitt to Lynwood Park, Northern Tigers play Liverpool at Mills Park and Rockdale tackle St George at the Ilinden Sports Centre.
-By Daniel De Nardi
