NSW Super League Round 20 Review

Two midweek fixtures, St George v Bankstown City and Northern Tigers v Macarthur Rams may well make things a little clearer before next weekend.
Sydney University v Bankstown City FC
It was back to business for Bankstown City FC who showed their class in defeating Sydney University 4-0, the win keeping the Lions a point clear at the top of the table, going into the final fortnight.
It was a big night for the Sama brothers too, both Nicolo and Gosue getting a brace each, with Gosue even keeping a clean sheet for the final twenty five minutes, after he took over the keeper?s jersey. A red card to Zlatko Joseski, for handling outside the area, and with no listed reserve keeper on the teamsheet, saw Sama go in goals with just under half an hour left.  
Thankfully perhaps for Gosue, it was 4-0 by that stage, but even so, the leading scorer did well enough in keeping goal, to prevent Uni from getting on the scoresheet.
The win showed that the result last week was just an aberration for the Lions who never looked in any danger here, taking the game to Uni right from the kickoff. Robert Mileski, unsurprisingly, was the first to test Costa D?Addona with seven minutes gone, and it was Mileski who set up Nicolo Sama for the first goal It had looked like Mileski would strike, and the opportunity seemed lost at first, but a simple pass across to Sama gave him the relatively easy task of slotting home.
Uni looked mainly to Liam McConaghy for their goal chances, and the tall striker had a couple of strikes from distance, but Joseski was not in any real danger. Alex Crane was lively down the right too, but the experienced centre back pairing of Richard Luksic and Angelo Petratos, in for the injured Matthew Presello, snuffed out most efforts.  
Just before half time, Gosue Sama almost broke through, but D?Addona did exceptionally well in diving at his feet to keep the deficit at just the one, going into the break.
Sydney University were in the game at this point at 0-1, and started the second half well, an equaliser not right out of the question. Alvaro Malmierca tried from a long way out, optimistically, but it was to be the Lions who then ramped up the ante. Shannon Burgin had a great strike saved by D?Addona, a goal looking certain, and then a sublime ball by Nathan Ristevski set up Burgin again, who was only denied by a late tackle.
But it was two goals in two minutes by Gosue Sama which ended any thoughts of a Uni comeback. Possession was turned over in midfield, and a quick counter eventually saw Sama put away to double the lead.
And a minute later, he had his second, and it would be difficult to find him a simpler goal all year. A charge down the left, a low cross evaded D?Addona, and Sama merely had to push the ball into an empty net.
Uni had been torn apart in the blink of an eye and just six minutes later it was 4-0. A cross from the right from Reuben Lagos, playing in the unaccustomed position of right back in place of the suspended Steve Liavas, saw Nicolo Sama get to the ball first, in front of D?Addona.
At 4-0, the Lions were now cruising, but even so, Malmierca looked to pull one back on sixty five minutes. It seemed a good chance too, before Joseski saved with his hands, outside the box. A red card was the predictable result, but what was not predictable was the next turn of events.
With no substitute keeper listed, discussions on the sideline eventually saw Gosue Sama pull on the gloves. He was called into action immediately, with his first touch to hold McConaghy?s free kick. But it took close to fifteen minutes before he was needed again, Uni unable to pressure the stand in keeper. Instead it was the Lions who threatened most, Nicolo Sama in good form, Lagos showing his skills out wide, and then Damien Brosque, on as sub, having a couple of chances.
The quality of the Lions was on display, an impressive win erasing all memories of last week. Uni had battled hard, but against a strong Bankstown outfit, it was always going to be difficult.
?They have a lot of good quality,? accepted John Calleja, ?and Mileski and Sama were everywhere. It doesn?t help either, that we played such a good ball playing side on our pitch, they would have loved that surface?.
?I thought we did well in the first half but we would be disappointed with the second. We didn?t test Sama when he went in goals, though by that stage it was already four. So we will have to lick our wounds and be ready for next week against Dulwich Hill. That is the important one for us?.
George Nohra was very pleased with the result, and performance.
?We had to regroup after last week and I knew that we were capable of doing so. We were in sync, and in the zone, and we played some good football?.
?And the pitch did help. Even in the Premier League, you don?t get pitches like that and it suited us to a tee?.
Nohra was impressed with Uni too, despite the hefty scoreline.
?To be honest, they aren?t a bad side. I admire teams that try to play and good on them for giving it a go. They pressed well and tried to play out and for that, all merit to them?.
Sydney University 0 v Bankstown City FC 4 (Nicolo Sama 35?, 64?, Gosue Sama 57?, 58?)
Saturday 4 August 2012
at Hensley Field, Pagewood
Referee: Matthew Cropper
Assts: Joon Park and Gregory Clarke
Sydney University: 21. Costa D?Addona 3. Ko Kurihara 5. Nathan Clarke 11. J Pacheo (2. Aaron Morley 58?) 14. Nathan Amore 13. Ryo Kono (8. A Porcu 78?) 6. David McMurray 12. Alvaro Malmierca 15. Ihsan Savran (7. Joel Ainscomb 28?) 17. Alex Crane 9. Liam McConaghy.
Subs not used: 18. Paul Curjak 31. Riley Keayes
Yellow cards: Joel Ainscomb, Liam McConaghy   
Coach: John Calleja
Bankstown City FC: 1. Zlatko Joseski 41. Adem Kir 5. Richard Luksic 40. Angelo Petratos 6. Reuben Lagos 18. Nicolo Sama (19. Damian Brosque) 22. Zac Vallorani 14.Nathan Ristevski (31. G Prodanovic 82?) 10. Robert Mileski (23. Anthony Doumanis 70?) 9. Shannon Burgin 11. Gosue Sama. 
Subs not used: 8. George Nohra 99. Chris Godoy Boscur
Yellow Cards: Nathan Ristevski, Adem Kir
Red Card: Zlatko Joseski
Coaches: George Nohra and Bill Pilovski
Bankstown Berries v Fraser Park
Bankstown Berries rolled along with yet another win, this time 2-1 over Fraser Park, to stay within a point of Bankstown City FC.
Dimitri Zakilas scored the opener in the seventh minute but it was not until twenty minutes from time that the Berries got their second, via Aram Tayebi. A free kick to the far post was headed back by Liam McKenna with Tayebi knocking home.
There had been plenty of chances for the Berries prior to their second, but a lack of concentration and some poor finishing perhaps saved some Fraser Park blushes.
Anthony Villazon did pull one back for Fraser in injury time, but it was too late to affect the overall result.
For Berries coach Tony Pace, the result was the best aspect of the night.
?We will take the win but I am not happy with the performance. We dominated 70%, if not 80% of the game, and it could have been ugly for Fraser Park. We could have had four by half time, but we were not clinical enough?.
?It will be disappointing if the title comes down to goal difference as we had the chance to make some ground there. But now our objective will be to win our last two games and then it will be up to the gods of football to decide how things will pan out?.
Bankstown Berries FC 2 (Dimitri Zakilas 7? Aram Tayebi 70?) Fraser Park FC 1 (Anthony Villazon 92?)
Mounties Wanderers v Macarthur Rams
The points were shared at Cook Park when finals aspirants Mounties Wanderers and Macarthur Rams met.
Despite some early dominance by Mounties, they couldn?t produce a goal before a loss of possession, and a counter attack, saw Craig Cooley set up Michael Brown for the Rams? lead. Cooley?s cross was well met by Brown, whose header sailed home.
There were plenty of chances for Mounties to equalise, with Daniel Willoughby and Mark Symington to the fore, but Chad Taylor was in fine form.
But Willoughby it was who eventually drew Mounties level, fifteen minutes after half time, when he curled in a sweet shot over Taylor. The result means that Mounties? lead over sixth placed Granville is reduced to just three points while Macarthur remain fourth, one point ahead.
?It was a physical game?, stated Claudio Canosa, ?as it was last time too. A draw was probably a fair result, we both had chances, and they pushed hard to score a second once they equalised?.
?But we defended well, relied on the counter attack, although we didn?t capitalise on our chances. We are lacking momentum at the moment and need to get some consistency should we make the finals?.
Mounties Wanderers 1 (Daniel Willoughby 59?) Macarthur Rams 1 (Michael Brown 23?)
Dulwich Hill v Granville Rage
This was a game Dulwich Hill really needed to win but they couldn?t have got off to a worse start when Mario Ghobrial scored within ninety seconds, meaning that Dully had to chase the game almost from the beginning.
Things didn?t improve when Almir Dizdaric made it 2-0 to Granville Rage with half an hour gone, and when Dully?s James O?Rourke was sent off before the break, they really had a mountain to climb.
But despite being reduced to ten, Dulwich Hill made a go of it without getting on target. With Fabio Ferreira missing, and who is likely to sign for Adelaide United in the A-League, Dulwich Hill missed their ace, and they now go into next week?s match against Sydney University needing nothing less than three points.
Granville Rage stays in the fight for the semis, their last round fixture against Mounties looking decidedly crucial.
Dulwich Hill 0 Granville Rage 3 (Mario Ghobrial 2? Almir Dizdaric 31?, Milan Atlagic 91?)
Hills Brumbies v St George
St George kept their semi final hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Hills Brumbies, a victory which now moves them within five points of Mounties Wanderers with a game in hand, and with the two to meet next Saturday.
Sam Messam gave the Saints a first half lead against the Brumbies, heading home a Michael Yarnold corner, before Yarnold scored from the spot in the second period after Messam was brought down in the area by Daniel Ramirez.
A late send off to Paul Down reduced Hills to ten but they had time for a penalty of their own after Daniel Fallico handled in the box. Anthony Musumeci put away the spotkick with the last kick of the game.
Hills Brumbies 1 (Anthony Musumeci 90? pen) St George FC 2 (Sam Messam 44?, Michael Yarnold 82? pen)
Spirit FC v Northern Tigers
Two first half goals sealed the three points for Northern Tigers who made sure that they didn?t lose any ground in the title chase.
With both Bankstown City FC and Bankstown Berries winning on Saturday, the Tigers needed the win to keep the pressure on, and they came through with flying colours.
Both goals arrived in the first half, through Liam McCreesh and Tom Spencer, and the Tigers will now look forward to their clash with Macarthur Rams on Thursday evening.  
Spirit FC 0 Northern Tigers 2 (Liam McCreesh 26?, Thomas Spencer 38?)
Under 20s
Taking the lead from their first grade squad, Northern Tigers are making a late charge for the Under 20s title, coming away from Christie Park with a 3-0 victory to move within one point of the leaders Spirit FC. With the Tigers due to play their postponed match against Macarthur Rams midweek, the opportunity is there for a new leader come Tuesday evening.
St George moved into the five after a 5-2 defeat of Hills Brumbies. Stephen Grbevski, who seems to be scoring for fun at the moment, notched four goals with Johnathan Kontalis scoring the other. Hills replied through Ahmad Khan and A Onaghise.
GRADE 20: Bankstown Berries FC 1 Fraser Park FC 2, Dulwich Hill 3 Granville Rage 1, Mounties Wanderers 0 Macarthur Rams 1, Sydney University 1 Bankstown City Lions 2, Hills Brumbies 2 St George FC 5, Spirit FC 0 Northern Tigers 3.
 -By Peter Rowney