Super League Round 17 Review
But the Eagles have one extra game in hand and face the seven bottom clubs in their seven-game run home. The Suns, on the other hand, match up with two top-five teams in their six remaining fixtures.
In other results, Spirit FC, Northern Tigers and Macarthur consolidated their top-five positions, in that order, with respective wins over Sydney Uni (1-0), Liverpool (2-0) and Mount Druitt (2-1), while Fraser Park beat Central Coast 4-1 to sneak closer to relegation rivals Liverpool and Mount Druitt. Fraser Park were now just four points adrift at the bottom of the table with games against both Bossy and the Rangers to come.
Mount Druitt ace Troy Eedy surged further ahead in the individual stakes, with a goal against the Rams and a midweek score against Northern Tigers taking him to 17 successful strikes for the season. Eedy, who has scored in all but three games this year, leads St George?s Juan Carlos Chavez (15), Spirit?s Tim Simpson (13) and Uni?s Christian Soares (11) in the race to the competition?s golden boot award, with Central Coast?s Tom Gibbs (8), Rockdale?s Sam Awad (7) and Northern?s Scott Balderson (7) next in line.
Eagles silence Rage
PCYC Parramatta Eagles defeated Granville Rage 2-0 in a cross-town derby at Garside Park on Saturday night to remain on track for the 2009 NSW Super League minor premiership. It was the eighth clean sheet kept by Parramatta in 15 games and they face a luxurious run home to the finals, with all seven scheduled fixtures against the seven lowest ranked teams. They may be placed below Rockdale due to a six goal differential, but with an extra game in hand over their heavyweight rivals, the Eagles are looking down from up high.
Parramatta was methodical against Granville, with Nathan Rivera bagging two goals in a masterful opening half to set up the victory, their fifth win away from home in eight journeys this season. Granville tried hard but couldn?t match it with the Super League highflyers, especially with two players sent off in the second half. But it?s not the Rage defence that?s the problem, 16 goals in 16 games has them ranked as the competition?s worst offensive performers.
Eagles coach Jason Falzon is sitting pretty but was not about to lose focus. ?You have to be up for every game, so I?m not going to look into it [the run home],? he said. ?I just look at what we can do against each team each week and don?t really bother to look too far ahead. We still have to play teams fighting for relegation and teams fighting for the top-five, so each game has its challenges.?
?The boys were very focused [against Granville], and in the first half we played some very good football and controlled the tempo. We did all the things we needed to and should have been four up at halftime. In the second half we probably took the foot off the pedal, but it was still a professional performance from the players and I couldn?t be happier with the way they went on with their business.?
Granville Rage 0 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Nathan Rivera 21/36m)
Fraser Park thumps Central Coast
Fraser Park ignited at Pluim Park on Saturday night, blitzing Central Coast 4-1 to douse the Lightning?s finals chance while enhancing their own survival chances. Central Coast captain Jamie Lobb knocked in a cracker of an opening goal on 17-minutes to give the home side a 1-0 halftime lead, but they were buried under a second half avalanche from Fraser Park. First Leigh Gunn scored for the visitors on 74-minutes, with Paulo Oliveira converting an 83rd minute spot kick to make it 2-0. Gunn added another less than a minute later before Nicholas Kougious rounded out the scoring in injury-time.
Fraser Park coach Ramsin Shamon said the performance from his team was pleasing to the eye. The four-goal effort also broke a scoring drought stretching back to round 10. ?We made all the opportunities and they just put away a brilliant goal to be honest. But putting in four goals, we haven?t scored that many in four games.?
?I?ve had a few players come back this week and everyone is happy. The confidence has always been there, just the results haven?t gone our way. But we?re taking it one game at a time, one result at a time. We have set a target, and the challenge has been up to the boys for weeks. It?s only one game, but we needed a big win to get the monkey off our backs and we have done that.?
Central Coast coach Peter Preston remained upbeat. ?We were in it in the first half, but we weren?t getting ahead of ourselves; they were magnificent in the second half. It?s a little disappointing that we let it get away from us in the second half, but we?ve played without our best team on the park for the past month and just can?t seem to get anything going. We still want to finish off the season on a high.?
Central Coast Lightning 1 (Jamie Lobb 17m) Fraser Park 4 (Leigh Gunn 74/85m Paulo Oliveira 83m pen Nicholas Kougious 90m)
Suns slay Saints
Rockdale City Suns sent neighbours St George Saints home packing with a 5-1 flogging at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon. Cameron Jones pushed the Suns in front after just seven minutes before Juan Carlos Chavez equalised for the Saints on 20-minutes. But it was all Rockdale in the second term with Joshua Lawson scoring twice and goals to Sam Awad and Goce Trposki maintaining the Suns unbeaten run at home from nine matches this season.
Rockdale coach Mile Todorovski was delighted to have so many scorers on his team, but wasn?t about to applaud a five-goal effort from his team. ?I never fly, only when I go overseas on the plane, but I always keep both my feet on the ground. St George was completely on top of us in the first half, but fortunately for us they didn?t realise their domination. In the second half we came out a different team. It wasn?t promising in the first half, but we came home very strong,? he said.
The managerial mastermind is delighted to have found a dozen goalscorers in this year?s Suns squad. But he?s not alone. Not surprisingly, the top-five teams have enjoyed the fruits of the most multiple goalscorers, with nine players at Northern Tigers, 11 at Spirit, 12 at Rockdale, 13 at Macarthur and an astounding 15 at Parramatta finding the back of the net this season. ?In all my time, and I have played and coached plenty of soccer, I never have so many players in my team score the goal. It is very good,? Todorovski said.
Rockdale City Suns 5 (Cameron Jones 7m Joshua Lawson 56/73m Sam Awad 72m Goce Trposki 88m) St George Saints 1 (Juan Carlos Chavez 23m)
Spirit sack Uni
Spirit FC stayed in third position on the ladder with a tight 1-0 victory over Sydney University at Christie Park on Sunday afternoon. In a game that could have gone either way, Spirit found an unlikely hero in defender Ross Kethel, who bobbed up for his first goal of the season on the half-hour mark. Uni striker Christian Soares probably should have equalised just before fulltime, but his glancing header from a free kick failed to find the target at Spirit won 1-0.
Uni coach John Caruana was disappointed to walk away without any points from a solid effort. ?We probably should have got a draw out of it; our second half performance was quite good,? he said. ?There weren?t a lot of chances to either team and the game was played at a high tempo, which probably suited them a bit better. It shows we can definitely compete against the top sides, but we have Parramatta on Tuesday and Rockdale on Saturday, so we?ll see where we stand at the end of the week. We?re still in a good position.?
Spirit FC 1 (Ross Kethel 32m) Sydney University 0
Tigers run over Bossy
Northern Tigers jumped back into fourth spot on the table with a double-win this week, beating Mount Druitt 3-2 midweek before shutting out Bossy Liverpool 2-0 at Mills Park on Sunday afternoon. It was a clinical performance against Liverpool, with goals in each half ? to Aaron Christiansen after four minutes and Thomas Spencer after 53 minutes ? sealing the victory.
Northern coach Jason Eager was pleased to break a two game losing streak with a double victory (including a 3-2 win over Mount Druitt midweek). ?Two wins on the trot is nice,? he said. ?We have had a ridiculous amount of sickness and injuries and that has tested the depth in the club, so the last week has been fantastic. It was tough against Mount Druitt and we gave Liverpool plenty of respect. It was an untidy game, but the outcome I was happy with. We?ll just try to rack up the three points each week and see how we go.?
Liverpool coach Zlatko Nastevski knew his five-match unbeaten run had to have a finish somewhere. ?After five good weeks, it did come to an end, but it was expected. It?s a young team without much experience, so it?s understandable that they drop a game. But we?re still on track. The players need to enjoy the game and show the other teams that we can play good football.?
Bossy Liverpool 0 Northern Tigers 2 (Aaron Christiansen 4m Thomas Spencer 53m)
Rams buck Rangers
Macarthur Rams overcame a sickness crisis at the club [glandular fever outbreak] to overpower Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2-1 at Lynwood Park on Sunday afternoon. With the sides locked a 0-0 at halftime, Rams player Matt Toogood drove home a penalty five minutes after the restart and Aaron Cimitile doubled the advantage five minutes later before Troy Eedy scored a consolation goal for the Rangers, his 16th in 16 games.
Macarthur coach Paul Carter was full of praise for his assembled motley crew and celebrated the club?s first victory over Mount Druitt in four Super League tries. ?It was a win that was very welcomed, I can tell you,? he said. ?We did very, very well for the position we were in. At one stage we had seven reserve graders on the park. [The fringe players] are certainly showing things; you have to take your hat off to them. We still have to play teams when we?re not quite up to strength, but we are slowly getting players back.?
Macarthur Rams 2 (Matt Toogood 50m penalty Aaron Cimitile 55m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Troy Eedy 87m)
Round 17 results
Central Coast Lightning 1 (Jamie Lobb 17m) Fraser Park 4 (Leigh Gunn 74/85m Paulo Oliveira 83m pen Nicholas Kougious 90m)
Granville Rage 0 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 2 (Nathan Rivera 21/36m)
Macarthur Rams 2 (Matt Toogood 50m penalty Aaron Cimitile 55m) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Troy Eedy 87m)
Bossy Liverpool 0 Northern Tigers 2 (Aaron Christiansen 4m Thomas Spencer 53m)
Spirit FC 1 (Ross Kethel 32m) Sydney University 0
Rockdale City Suns 5 (Cameron Jones 7m Joshua Lawson 56/73m Sam Awad 72m Goce Trposki 88m) St George Saints 1 (Juan Carlos Chavez 23m)
Rescheduled round 10:
Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Troy Eedy 27m Chris Lima 44m) Northern Tigers 3 (Chad Cowley 42m T MacKay 49m R Willams 50m)
Grade 20 results
Central Coast Lightning 6 Fraser Park 0
Granville Rage 1 PCYC Parramatta Eagles 4
Macarthur Rams 1 Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2
Bossy Liverpool 0 Northern Tigers 2
Spirit FC 0 Sydney University 1
Rockdale City Suns 0 St George Saints 0
Rescheduled round 10:
Mount Druitt Town Rangers Northern Tigers postponed
Round 18 Fixtures
Round 18 of the 2009 NSW Super League sends the Northern Tigers to Fraser Park, Liverpool to Parramatta at Melita Stadium, and Central Coast to St George Stadium on the Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, Granville face Macarthur at Garside Park, Mount Druitt entertains Spirit FC at Popondetta Park, and Rockdale take on Sydney Uni at their oval.
-By Daniel De Nardi
