NSW Super League Round 10 Review
The Saints, Spirit FC and Granville Rage sit threateningly behind the Rams, each with a game in hand. West Sydney Berries stayed fifth after punishing Dulwich Hill with five although Hills Brumbies, despite gaining a point up the Coast, stay bottom, but only on goal difference.
Feature Match of the Week
West Sydney Berries v Dulwich Hill
West Sydney Berries claimed their third win in a row in Super League, and their fifth in both league and cup, after defeating Dulwich Hill 5-2. It has been a change of fortune for the Berries who struggled to accumulate wins early in the season but maintained their top five spot with this victory.
This was an open game with both sides keen to attack, testing each other early. The Berries came closest, Ante Deur not far away while Steve Wright just couldn?t get to the ball quick enough before his chance was deflected for a corner. Liam McKenny also came very close, being just wide with a header.
Ten minutes after conceding, Dully?s best chance to equalise arose. Robbie Shields was set up by Troy Eedy, and seemed likely to score but sliced his shot wide of the post.
Kodjo Adjassou then stretched Matthew Kasbarian, the keeper diving to his left to prevent number two but Dulwich Hill?s defence was cruelly breached for the second time just a minute before half time. Some quick passing eventually saw Stefan de Jesus slam home under Kasbarian.
It seemed comfortable for the Berries at half time, their defence tending to match the Dully frontline. And when the third went in just after the restart, it did seem that the win was already safe. Adjassou was brought down midway through the Dully half, his resultant injury ending his participation in the match. And Dulwich Hill paid the price. Another furious lob into the penalty area, Tsironis again nodded down, leaving Steve Wright to turn and put away in the bottom left. It was a nice goal by Wright, who showed good technique after receiving the ball with his back to goal.
Deur then got his second and the Berries fourth, just on the hour and Dully?s night seemed over.
Jack Sobczyk came on for the Berries for the final twenty minutes in his first appearance since early last season as the home side looked to canter home. Tsironis went off with Louis Duchesne, normally found at the centre of defence, finding himself as striker.
And then Dulwich Hill scored twice.
Admittedly, the first was an own goal and at 4-1 with ten to go, any comeback did seem unlikely. With five to go, it became 4-2 when Rocky Gabey headed in a cross and the unthinkable became just slightly possible. But that thought lasted not much more than sixty seconds. A Berries cross was whipped in from the right, catching the unfortunate Matt Toogood, who deflected the ball cleanly into the net.
5-2 the final score, one which a clearly disappointed Paul Carter found difficult to fathom.
?I can?t believe we conceded five. But we defended very poorly, with some schoolboy stuff,? was his simple summation.
Steve Karavatakis was of course happy with another win.
?I thought they started off well, and they had a couple of chances, but once we came into the game, we looked ok. I actually thought we could have done with Dimitri Zakilis at the start [he was unavailable for this game] as I was sure he would have put away a chance or two?.
?But Stefan de Jesus played well, he is really on fire for us at the moment. And overall things are going well. We just have to stop giving away silly goals, we have done that a bit too much this year.?
West Sydney Berries 5 (Ante Deur 26?, 61?, Stefan de Jesus 44?, Steve Wright 51?, Toogood o.g. 88?) v Dulwich Hill 2 (Sobczyk o.g. 80?, Rocky Gabey 86?)
22 May 2011
At Lidcombe Oval
Referee: David Christie
Assts: Joon Park and Janne Sjagren
West Sydney Berries: 22. George Bouropoulos 13. Ryan Emerton 5. Liam McKenny 6. Nick Tantalos 2. Steve Wright 37. Alex Becerra (4. Jack Sobczyk 70?) 12. Stefan de Jesus 9. Kodjo Adjassou (16. Phil Reilly 50?) 11. Aram Tayebi 8. Ante Deur 10. John Tsironis (3. Louis Duchesne 80?).
Subs not used: 41. C Becerra 17. M Zezovski
Yellow Cards: Nick Tantalos 34?, Aram Tayebi 86?
Coach: Steve Karavatakis
Dulwich Hill: 40. Matt Kasbarian 12. Rocky Gabey 2. Daniel Masters 15. Darren Stapleton 18. Joseph Savor 17. Steve Donevski 7. Matt Toogood 10. Jason Garrido (3. Thomas Sowden) 11. Mark Pinto (14. M Ferreira) 8. Robbie Shields 9. Troy Eedy (M Bianco).
Subs not used: 22. R Peresteiro 6. Jack Long
Yellow Cards: Joseph Savor 49?, Darren Stapleton 65?
Coach: Paul Carter
Central Coast v Hills Brumbies
Hills Brumbies took the lead twice against Central Coast but had to settle for a share of the points in a 2-2 draw at Pluim Park.
Russell Farrell scored his second in a week, getting on the end of a cross to put the Brumbies ahead immediately after kickoff, clocked at thirty five seconds. But Grant Maundrell, after getting back into goalscoring mode on Thursday, got the Coast on equal terms just before the half hour. Maundrell connected neatly with a cross from Geordie Howe, striking into the roof of the net.
But the Brumbies were playing well, and Dragan Savic then put them ahead for the second time, a lead they held until half time.
But in a see-sawing game, Matt Mitchell made sure the Coast would pick up more points this week, when he collected a through ball by Louis Bozanic, before shooting across the face of goal, into the far side.
?I am happy enough with the result?, remarked Mark Abi-Arrage, ?but we need to start winning?.
?We blew a couple of golden opportunities, especially near the end. But there was a period of about ten to fifteen minutes when they really carved us up completely, but we held together, held together. The second half could have gone either way, though?.
Peter Preston was of a similar view.
?I thought the draw was fair, when you look at the game over the ninety minutes. Both teams had some chances, but if either team had lost, it would have been a bit unfair?.
?The first goal was just crazy. It really gave the Brumbies a lift and when they got their noses in front again, they looked good, if they continue to play like that, they will get their results.?
It has been a good few days for Central Coast, after their win against St George on Thursday.
?It was a really tough game against St George. They made us work for the full match and I think we were affected by that tonight. We made a few wrong decisions tonight, we didn?t really capitalise on our opportunities, especially in some 2 v1 chances.
?St George?s subsequent defeat of Macarthur has tightened the table, leaving Central Coast just four points off the pace with a game to play. And they face Macarthur next weekend.
?Yep, that?s right. We have Macarthur next week and I am really looking forward to that one,? finished the Coast coach.
Central Coast FC 2 (Grant Maundrell 28, Matt Mitchell 64m) Hills Brumbies 2 (Russell Farrell 1m Dragan Savic 34m)
Fraser Park v Spirit FC
The horror run for Fraser Park continued with their sixth Super League loss in a row tying them to the bottom three after they succumbed to Spirit FC at home, 2-1.
It was 0-0 at half time but Kwabena Appiah-Kubi scored three minutes after the restart to put Spirit ahead. Appiah-Kubi finished of a great passing move by Spirit with a low header at the far post. Daniel Cunningham made it 2-0 connecting a corner with a trademark header.
In the dying moments, keeper Alex Augusto reduced the arrears with a penalty but by then it was all too late.
It was a nice return to form for Spirit, who had lost their previous two games and which had seen them tumble from top spot.
?We created plenty of chances, there were at least four or five clear cut ones,? said John McLafferty. ?We should have kept a clean sheet too. In fact, I would have liked it to be 2-0 as that would have put us ahead of St George, because of goals scored?.
McLaffery had certainly made changes to his defence, in an attempt to stem the tide of goals conceded lately.
?We changed three of our backline, putting in two young lads at left and right back, to try and shake things up a bit. Daniel Cunningham also went back to centre of defence to tighten things up. It worked today, though we will have to see how we do things next week.?
Times have been tough lately for Alex Augusto, after a bright start to the season.
?I like to play football, but we haven?t been able to play as I would like to play. We have had too many injuries and some players aren?t quite fit. Nothing flows this year?.
Results have been better since the 0-6 loss to Macarthur a few weeks ago, though.
?We have lost 2-1, 2-1, 2-1 since that night and I feel we are very close to a win. Hopefully, the sooner rather than the later. A win would really give us that boost,? he said.
Fraser Park FC 1 (Alex Augusto pen 88m) Spirit FC 2 (Kwabena Appiah-Kubi 48m Daniel Cunningham 65m).
Sydney University v Blacktown Spartans
Blacktown Spartans overcame Sydney University at Hensley Field with two second half goals enough to take the points.
James Young got the first just before the hour, knocking the ball in from close range after Tom Spencer had his shot parried. Spencer, with three minutes left on the clock sealed the victory, keeping his composure to slot away.
After a couple of losses, it was a satisfactory night for Ben de Hann.
?It was good to put some chances away. We could even have had a couple more?, said de Hann. ?We hit the post a couple of times and there were a lot of goal mouth scrambles. But I can?t complain?.
For John Calleja, it has not been a good week, the loss following on from last week?s to Dulwich Hill.
?We did alright in the first half and we were well into the game until half time. But we simply ran out of legs. Blacktown took the game to us and in the second half, they looked much fresher. We stopped playing after they scored?.
The result leaves Uni trailing in eighth spot although they do have the chance to make back some ground midweek. Uni will face West Sydney Berries at Lidcombe Oval on Wednesday in a matched rescheduled from round seven.
Sydney University 0 Blacktown Spartans 2 (James Young 57m Tom Spencer 87m)
Macarthur Rams v St George
Two second half goals, in a five minute period, saw St George come over the top of Macarthur Rams to take a hard-earned three points against the league leaders.
The win was vital for St George, who following on from their loss to Central Coast on Thursday, would have fallen eight points behind the Rams had they lost.
Things didn?t look too bright for the Saints at half time, the Rams holding a 2-1 lead. Chris Gomez, with his seventh goal of the season, put the Rams ahead after just eight minutes. Denis Cutura equalised on nineteen minutes but Macarthur again took the lead just two minutes after that, Alan de la Cuadra scoring.
But a second to Cutura brought St George level and then Michael Smith gave the Saints the lead for the first time on the night, ten minutes into the second half.
The win sees Macarthur still retain leadership of Super League but by a reduced margin of two points.
Macarthur Rams 2 (Chris Gomez 8m Alan De La Cuadra 21m) St George FC 3 (Denis Cutura 19/50m Michael Smith 55m)
Northern Tigers v Granville Rage
Granville Rage are on a roll at the moment and they claimed another scalp with a 1-0 win away at Northern Tigers.
Their cause was certainly helped by the sending off Tigers defender Luke Reading after just a quarter of an hour. But despite being reduced to ten, Tigers held firm and it was only later in the second half that Granville Rage were to get their winner.
A breakaway by the Rage saw Kris Holbrook get on the end of a cross and head in, the ball going in off the post, beating Stuart Page.
It was the only goal in a game of few chances, neither keeper being unduly tested during the afternoon.
While not an impressive performance, the win was gratefully received by joint Rage coach, Mauricio Islas.
?We weren?t really at the races today?, he stated. ?It was a bit scrappy and they did cause us a few problems. We won ugly for once?.
The win is Granville?s third in a row, but Islas is not getting carried away.
?We still have to play St George yet and we have Macarthur in two weeks time. The next month will see how we are going?.
Jason Eagar spoke proudly of his team, despite the loss.
?The effort today was brilliant?, he said. ?We were in a bit of trouble after the send off, but got a bit more compact and in the second half, we did very well. Our shape was right, and we held the ball well. Stuart Page was rarely troubled, though to be fair, we didn?t trouble Jason Holmes that much either?.
The lack of goals though continues to be problematic.
?It is very frustrating. We are short of a bit of experience up front and we have lost Paul Davies for the season. We have managed to get our defence right but we are just lacking in the final third?.
Northern Tigers 0 v Granville Rage 1 (Kris Holbrook 69?)
Rescheduled Round Six
Thursday 19 May
Central Coast v St George
Central Coast returned to winning ways, scoring two late goals to defeat St George in their rearranged round six match last Thursday.
It was a result that didn?t seem likely for the first hour of the game though as St George dominated from the kick off. They took control and set upon the Coast, their quick and accurate passing resulting in a one-way procession. But despite the chances they had, St George just couldn?t score. Peter Vassilis and Brad Gibson both had good chances, more than one, while Michael Smith hit the post with a header, from an acute angle.
The Coast really only had the one chance in the first half, Grant Maundrell having his shot smothered by Daniel Nash.
The second half commenced as the first had ended, with St George in charge, but slowly, as the Coast goal remained intact, the home side started to awaken. The introduction of Graham Toope added some verve and it was from his cross that the Coast took the lead, Matt Mitchell heading firmly into the bottom corner.
Maundrell then got Coast?s second, with four minutes to go, and the celebrations were wild. It seemed an unlikely victory for large parts of the game, but the Coast had dug in, the three points lifting them to joint second.
Central Coast 2 (Matt Mitchell 76?, Grant Maundrell 86?) v St George 0
Top Scorers
8 – Kris Holbrook (Granville Rage)
Grant Maundrell (Central Coast)
7 – Chris Gomez (Macarthur Rams)
Shannon Hankin (Macarthur Rams)
5 – Ante Deur (West Sydney Berries)
Liam McConaghy (Sydney University)
Dragan Savic (Hills Brumbies)
4 – Kodjo Adjassou (West Sydney Berries)
Juan Chavez (Spirit FC)
Travis Cooper (Northern Tigers)
Denis Cutura (St George)
Ivo de Jesus (St George)
James Kovas (St George)
Matt Mitchell (Central Coast)
James Young (Blacktown Spartans)
Dimitri Zakilas (West Sydney Berries)
Midweek Fixtures
Super League
Tuesday 24 May
Dulwich Hill v Hills Brumbies at Lambert Park
Wednesday 25 May
West Sydney Berries v Sydney University
Waratah Cup
Wednesday 25 May
St George v Parramatta Eagles
-By Peter Rowney
Some drastic defending by Dulwich Hill, living dangerously for a time, seemed to avert immediate danger but just a few minutes later, the Berries got their first of the night. A deep high ball was pumped into the area, flicked on by John Tsironis, leaving Ante Deur, unmarked, time to stroke the ball into the net. It was a feature of the Berries game, the high ball ultimately proving effective throughout the night.
