NSW Super League Round 8 Preview
Uni will be on a high after they came off the canvas against Mounties in Tuesday?s rescheduled round one match to storm home from three down to take away a point in a 3-3 draw. They will take great heart from that comeback but will want to ensure that such a mountain to climb does not recur. We may perhaps see some game time for Liam McConaghy who was on the scoresheet on Tuesday in the Under 20s, someone Uni will be glad to see back on the field in firsts.
Saturday evening sees three fixtures with the pick being at The Crest when the two Bankstowns, Berries and Lions meet. This should be packed with action and no little tension as each tries to maintain their strong positions. A loss for the Lions would see them go nine points behind the Berries, although they still have a catchup round to play. Not a scenario the Lions would appreciate so there should be some decent football here.
Mounties were shattered that they threw away a three goal lead against Uni on Tuesday and will need to recover from that quickly when leaders Northern Tigers come to visit. While the Mounties were playing Super League midweek, the Tigers were involved in the Waratah Cup. The draw has not been kind to the Tigers who faced another lengthy trip south, this time to Wollongong. They suffered their first loss of the season, but only by the single goal, against South Coast Wolves.
The protagonists meeting at Arlington Oval also had Cup games midweek. Dulwich Hill?s youngsters and squad players performed very admirably against the Premier League?s Parramatta FC, only going down by the odd goal in three. The recent results may have not gone in Dully?s favour, but coach Paul Carter has been more than satisfied with the performances shown. It should just be a matter of time before that second win arrives.
St George are the visitors and they were successful against Hills Brumbies in the Cup on Wednesday, winning 3-1. Like Dully, they need the points on Saturday so this may be a tense affair.
Sunday will see Spirit FC v Fraser Park and Hills Brumbies v Macarthur Rams. Fraser progressed through to the Cup?s fourth round with a 2-0 win over Fairfield City Lions but Spirit will wait till next week for their Cup clash. Both teams are equal on nine points in fifth and sixth respectively so a good result here for either team will really consolidate their healthy start to the season.
Hill Brumbies were eliminated from the Cup but the Super League is their priority. They gave a hit out to some youngsters on Wednesday but expect Hills to be back to full strength for the visit of Macarthur. The Rams have won three league games in a row, and have climbed to third, so they are well into form now, after those early draws.
Mounties Wanderers v Sydney University
For over sixty minutes in this game, Sydney University looked dead and buried. Down 3-0 before half time and reduced to ten men within a minute of the restart following the send off of Paolo Cianci, it seemed it would be a night to forget. But an amazing turnaround in the final fifteen minutes saw Uni drag themselves back to 3-3 and claim an away point which had never looked likely.
Uni were slow out of the blocks, and had gone two goals down within eleven minutes. A handball decision against captain David McMurray saw Mounties earn a penalty which Cole Peverley converted. That lead was doubled when Aaron Morley, under pressure, turned the ball into his own net, with just over ten minutes on the clock.
Missing the unavailable Matt Demetriou, University struggled to compose themselves and with Mounties pressuring Uni high up the park, the visitors certainly had difficulty getting into the game. When Fred Graham rose splendidly to nod home a Daniel Willoughby cross in the 38th minute, any thought of a comeback here would have been the last thing on one?s mind.
The dismissal of Cianci, for dissent, immediately after the break, must surely have shown to Uni?s John Calleja that the night was a write off, but matters turned with about twenty minutes to go.
Substitute Joel Rodden-Ward was brought down in a tackle and had to be carried from the field and with Mounties having used all three subs, it was now ten v ten. Perhaps Uni had a sniff that the game was back on. The introduction of Alvaro Malmierca from the bench had added some spark, and when substitute Adem Taslak headed home from a Malmierca free kick in the 75th, and within moments of coming on, the comeback had a glimmer of a chance.
Uni now pressed forward in waves, with Mounties sitting back, perhaps expecting to hold out, with little time left. At 3-1, it was probably a reasonable expectation but the pressure ultimately told. Malmierca reduced it to 3-2 with just four minutes left, and then, against all the odds, produced an equaliser with just two minutes remaining.
The Uni bench leapt as one, the points shared at 3-3, surely a result which shows that the game is never over until that final whistle blows.
Mounties Wanderers 3 (Cole Peverley pen 7?, Aaron Morley o.g. 11?, Fred Graham 38?) v Sydney University 3 (Adem Taslak 75?, Alvaro Malmierca 86?, 88?)
Rescheduled Round One
Tuesday 8 May 2012
at Cook Park, Mount Pritchard
Referee: Andrew Best
Assts: Scott Edeling and M Nieuwhaus
Mounties Wanderers: 21. Ali Akbal 11. Peter Day 16. Scott Goodwin 5. Mark D?Alessandro 2. Adam Huseyin 24. Cole Peverley 10. Daniel Willoughby 9. Matt Viera 17. Daniel McCann (15. Joel Rodden-Ward) 14. Mark Symington (23. Eli Squillacioti 60?) 4. Greg Baldock (18. Fred Graham 20?).
Subs not used: 31. Daine Merrin Rgk Gareth Jamieson
Yellow Cards: Daniel McCann, Peter Day, Cole Peverley, Matt Viera
Coach: Glenn Lockhart
Sydney University: 1. Jonathan Faerber 3. K Kurimara (15. Ihsan Savran 78?) 6. David McMurray 4. Aaron Morley 5. David Talone 7. Shaun van Rooyen 16. Nick Nisbet 17. Alex Crane (8. Adem Taslak 74?) 20. Paolo Cianci 11. Mojtada Mohebbee (12. Alvaro Malmierca 55?) 14. Jason Garrido.
Subs not used: 13. Yaw Billy 21. Costa D?Addona.
Yellow Cards: David McMurray, K Kurimara, Mojtada Mohebbee, David Talone.
Red Card: Paolo Cianci
Coach: John Calleja
-By Peter Rowney
