Super Youth League Round 2 Review

Two full fixtures were washed out completely ? Northern Tigers v Fraser Park and Central Coast v West Sydney Berries ? and that was due to the fact that the areas north of the harbour were reportedly the hardest hit by the rain.
Two other fixtures – Blacktown Spartans v Dulwich Hill and Schofields Scorpions ? managed to field the first four matches on the day before needing to close their grounds before the Grade 18 matches.
On Saturday I paid a visit to Francis Park where I was able to spend a few minutes with Blacktown Spartans president John Todd, a man with extensive experience in our game.
When asked about his expectations for the 2011 season, he said that while he did not want to make any predictions, he did have hopes for an improved performance from all teams and he added that he would like to think that a top five finish was possible for the club.
?We are significantly stronger than we were last season and I put that down to a few very important factors. Firstly, we have formed a very close relationship with Blacktown City FC and they have recommended players to us who would not normally have considered trials with our club? he said.
?Secondly, after receiving our greatest-ever number of coaching applications we have retained two of last season?s staff and added three very experienced coaches who can attract players to our club. We have backed these guys up by appointing assistant coaches in four of the five age groups?.
?In addition, we have appointed Dave Hubbard as our Director of Coaching and he is overseeing the coaching of our Metropolitan League and Youth League teams. Dave has a wealth of experience and he has been very successful at Youth League level and those factors are of enormous benefit to our coaching staff.?
?The administrative matters and day-to-day running of our Youth League squads is being looked after by our convener Dean Douglas, an extremely efficient, energetic and enthusiastic young man who is doing a terrific job for us.? Todd said.
For the record the coaching staff is: Grade 13 – Mick Bergin assisted by Todd Gagan, Grade 14 ? Steve Dalmazio assisted by Can Ozdemic, Grade 15 ? Fab Macerola, Grade 16 ? Brett Hill assisted by Mehmet Evin and Grade 18 ? Tony Muscat assisted by Rick Muscat.
The Spartans are fully owned by the Blacktown and Districts Soccer Football Association but they have autonomy granted by the parent body. Todd said, ?We have a strong and experienced hands-on committee and I am extremely proud of their efforts and achievements for the club. The Association backs us to the hilt but they allow us to make our own decisions.?
After more than two decades of calling Francis Park their ?home? the Blacktown Association and the Spartans are moving to a new base of operations by the end of this season.
Located in the Blacktown Olympic Precinct, their new facility will boast a playing pitch with an all-weather synthetic surface and a large grandstand, four training pitches, state-of-the-art lighting and a first-class administration centre for the Association. Work is already under way and progressing very rapidly indeed and when the new centre is ready for use, it will surely be the envy of many a club and Association.
So far, the Spartans have earned seventeen points from the nine games played over the first two rounds.  The club?s organisational ability and the quality of play in evidence on Saturday were very impressive. This all indicates that the Spartans, the Blacktown Association and football in the region should have a very bright future.
Club Championship
Gladesville Spirit had a very good day as they took all twelve of the available points from the four games played in their visit to Schofields Scorpions and that has given Spirit the early lead on this table.
Blacktown Spartans and Dulwich Hill split the points at five apiece from the four matches played on the day while Mounties Wanderers and Macarthur Rams took seven points each from their full schedule of matches.
Granville Rage and Sydney University also shared the spoils with seven points going to each club after five games were played.
Western NSW Panthers played their only scheduled match for the weekend, drawing with the Skillaroos, while the rest of the club enjoyed the bye.
Grade 13
Gladesville Spirit bounced back from a first game loss to post a 4-1 victory over Schofields Scorpions who were coming off a first game win while Mounties Wanderers and Macarthur Rams played out a 1-1 draw after both had registered first round success. 
Dulwich Hill recorded their first points when they were successful with a 5-2 result over Blacktown Spartans who had produced a win on the opening day. Dulwich Hill dominated the possession of the ball throughout the game and they were very effective in front of goal. Blacktown had their share of moments but they contributed to their downfall by wasting the ball and making some basic defensive errors. To add to their woes, the Spartans? goalkeeper was sent off before the interval.  Dully had established a 3-1 lead by half-time thanks to goals from J. Spinda, J. Acevski and P. Hooper while A. Gorgievski netted for the Spartans. Blacktown gained some hope when they scored the first goal of the second stanza through another strike from Gorgievski but then Dully added two more goals to their tally through T. Kain and a second goal from Acevski.
In a high scoring thriller Granville Rage and Sydney University fought out a 3-3 draw, the first point of the season for both teams while Western NSW Panthers were able to hold the Skillaroos to a 1-1 draw.
Grade 14
Gladesville Spirit made it two victories from as many matches when they registered a 4-2 scoreline in their win over Schofields Scorpions who are yet to collect their first point.
Macarthur Rams added to the point they had earned in the first round when they collected all three points with a 1-0 result over Mounties Wanderers who were also coming off a first-up draw.
Blacktown Spartans and Dulwich Hill shared the spoils when their clash ended in a scoreless draw. This was an interesting match, played mostly in the midfield. Both teams seemed to lose their way when the ball approached the opposing penalty area with the result that the shots at goal were few and far between. It seemed that whenever a shot was played, it either missed the target or it was easily dealt with by the respective goalkeepers.
Sydney University overcame the disappointment of last week?s loss by posting a 3-1 success over Granville Rage who had also lost their first round match.
Grade 15
Gladesville Spirit produced a very handy 4-1 result over Schofields Scorpions to make it two wins from as many games while the Scorpions are yet to earn their first point.
Mounties Wanderers came up with a very solid 4-0 victory when they faced Macarthur Rams to follow up on last week?s draw while the Rams had won their previous match.
Blacktown Spartans showed that their first round win was no fluke when they recorded a very nice 4-0 result over Dulwich Hill. The Spartans dominated play throughout the contest after they won plenty of balls in midfield. That provided the strikers with several opportunities and they took advantage of the service. Dully defended reasonably well but they tended to waste their share of possession and that made life easier for the Spartans. The first goal came in the fourth minute thanks to a strike from J. Douglas and that was followed by a goal from L. Faria eight minutes later. In the seventeenth minute Douglas found the net again and that gave Blacktown a three goal buffer at the break. Dully showed a lot more intensity in the second half but it was not enough to prevent Douglas from completing his hat-trick.
Sydney University bounced back from the disappointment of last week?s loss to post a 2-0 success over Granville Rage who had collected a point from their first round match.
Grade 16
Gladesville Spirit kept a clean sheet and collected the maximum points for the second week in a row when they were 6-0 winners over Schofields Scorpions who had lost their first round game.
Macarthur Rams produced a 2-0 win over Mounties Wanderers. The Rams had lost last week while the Wanderers were first-up winners.
Blacktown Spartans and Dulwich Hill battled out a scoreless draw in a game that will be remembered for the high number of missed opportunities. In truth, this game probably should have finished with a scoreline of 5-5 but neither team was able to take full advantage of the numerous chances they had. To be fair, the constant heavy rain was forming large pools of water in various areas of the pitch and that hampered both teams as the game progressed.
Granville Rage took the points from Sydney University with a very solid 4-0 victory after both teams had lost on the opening day of the season.
Grade 18
The Schofields Scorpions v Gladesville Spirit and Blacktown Spartans v Dulwich Hill matches were washed out on the day.
Mounties Wanderers came off last week?s draw to record a 2-0 success over Macarthur Rams who had also posted a first round draw.
Granville Rage made it two wins from as many matches when they registered a 3-1 victory over Sydney University who were first round winners.
-By Barry Davis