SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2 Round 12 Preview

The season turns around at the half way stage with the reverse fixtures taking place from this weekend. Again, top sides clash with Macarthur Rams taking on Bankstown City and Bankstown Berries having St George come to visit.
Macarthur Rams v Bankstown City Saturday 7pm Lynwood Park, St Helens Park
Macarthur Rams won’t have been happy with their stumble on Wednesday night against Fraser Park but they have a chance to get back into winning ways fairly quickly when they play on Saturday night. But Bankstown City are their opponents and with the Lions starting to hit their straps, the Rams will face another tough and physical encounter.
How they cope after their efforts on Wednesday remain to be seen but there was plenty of effort midweek without much to take home. The loss saw them remain in outright second but still four points off first and there is little margin for error. There were few clear opportunities from open play for the Rams during the week, their goal notwithstanding, with most of their danger coming from set pieces, so a sturdy Lions backline will be required at such times. Saso Petrovski has finished up at Bankstown City with his move to Dandaloo taking place so that is one less worry for Macarthur here.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers v Parramatta Saturday 7pm, Popondetta Park, Emerton
Neither of these two sides were happy with how last weekend went. Mt Druitt Town Rangers were hammered at home against Macarthur Rams and a vastly improved performance will be required if they are to take points away from Parramatta. Rangers, even at this stage of the season, look likely to be propping up the table for the remainder of the year unless they can start to produce some wins quick smart. Just one victory in their first ten games tells their tale.
Parramatta, after two 4-0 wins in a row, could have been expected to take the points last Sunday but a determined Fraser Park fought back from a goal down to upset the Eagles. A win would have lifted Parramatta to outright fifth, an opportunity not lost on coach Lee Sterrey. In the opening game of the season, this finished 0-0, but neither Nick Verdos nor Sterrey will be wanting a similar scoreline here.  
Mounties Wanderers v Sydney University Saturday 7pm, Cook Park, Mt Pritchard
Somewhat surprisingly, Mounties have hit a form slump and are now six points behind top spot, when just a short month ago they were outright leaders. After some excellent early season results, it is not going the Mounties’ way at the moment and that will be the biggest concern for the coaching duo of Glenn Lockhart and Aiden Desmond. Two goals scored in the past four games, one a penalty and the other from a corner, gives some idea where the Mounties are lacking at the moment, and a return to the scoresheet is the priority.
Sydney University have not quite got going this season. They are in eleventh position with just two wins from ten. Like Mounties recently, they have struggled to find the back of the net, and it looks increasingly likely that Uni will be residing in the lower half of the table all season unless there is a hurried change of fortune. 
Bankstown Berries v St George Saturday 7pm, The Crest, Bass Hill
It has been a good week for St George who skipped four points clear last weekend before reaching the semi finals of the Waratah Cup on Tuesday. It is the furthest that St George have ever progressed in this particular Cup with a mouthwatering tie against local neighbours Sutherland Sharks now lined up. But despite the Cup exploits, it is to the league that their priorities lie and the Saints will not want to undo their recent good work with a loss against the Berries. Bankstown will sure to be a difficult opponent again, and this is the case whether at home or away. The Berries equalised in injury time back in round one to take a point in a seesawing 3-3 draw, and it is likely to be as close again this weekend. St George will be hoping that Juan Chavez recovers after picking up an injury on Tuesday, the league’s top scorer a vital component of the Saints team. 
Northern Tigers v Spirit FC Sunday 3pm, Mills Park, Asquith
Both Tigers and Spirit had a week off last Sunday courtesy of the weather and so it goes without saying that they will relish the chance to return to the pitch this weekend. The two local rivals have had contrasting seasons so far, Northern Tigers being amongst the top five as expected, despite a brief poor run of results, but Spirit have disappointed on their early season expectations. They will have the opportunity to overturn the first round result, when they went down 3-1 with only ten men for the majority of the game, although they will all need to be firing to take the points from Mills Park. The extra week off may have benefitted the Tigers most, whose run of injuries has not helped their cause. 
Hills Brumbies v Fraser Park Sunday 3pm, Blacktown International Sportspark, Doonside
Fraser Park have thrown down the gauntlet to a few more established top five teams and look likely to threaten the order if they can maintain their form of the past week over the next month or so. Two wins inside a week has lifted Fraser into the top half of the table and they still have a game over most of their rivals, with Mount Druitt Town Rangers scheduled for next Wednesday. They travel west to Hills Brumbies this weekend and it will be interesting to see how Fraser manage their third game in eight days, particularly when Hills can be expected to have the fresher legs, after their washout last Sunday.
One man Hills will need to keep a keen eye on will be Fraser’s Ben Vidaic whose recent return to the side has seen Fraser rise up the table. Vidaic set one up and scored the other against Parramatta and was also a direct threat on Wednesday. Fraser likewise, will do well to keep Dragan Savic under wraps, the Brumbies striker being their top goal scorer to date.
Fraser Park v Macarthur Rams
If there is a reward for effort then Fraser Park are certainly getting their due. After a tough come from behind win against Parramatta on Sunday, Fraser Park worked like trojans again to come away with another three points, just three days later. This time Macarthur Rams were the victims, the loss doing them no favours as they had sought to keep St George in check.
This game only really came alive in the second half, after the first forty five minutes had seen little goalmouth action. But within ten minutes of the restart, Fraser Park had had four good chances, but neither Andrew Vitucci, Hussein Akil, Fabio da Silva or Akil again, were able to make it count where it mattered. But the pressure on the Rams, which had been fairly intense, eventually told when Akil showed good skill to turn inside Slaven Ljuboja to shoot across Chad Taylor, low into the net.
The lead, after sixty one minutes, was well deserved and Fraser Park were lifted further by the goal. Ben Vidaic, with the best touch on the park, was always dangerous as was Akil who, like on Sunday, was always amongst it.
Macarthur Rams, by comparison had few clear cut chances, but Calum Fleming was close with a header from a corner, just failing to hit the target. The introduction of Reuben Agyei-Danso promised something and he duly delivered. With just seven minutes to go, the young substitute hit a well targeted shot from outside the area, with some power, past Michael Frost to bring the Rams level.
But the score remained equal for just one minute. A long range strike from David Wilson, in midfield, stung Taylor’s hands who failed to collect cleanly, and Mitchell Davidson, on the field for just ten minutes, picked up the pieces to put Fraser Park back in the lead almost immediately.
They made sure that they weren’t going to concede a second time, especially with so little time left. They packed the defence, leaving the Rams to come at them, which they consequently did. But even with close to five minutes of added time, and with Taylor throwing himself forward for corners, Fraser Park held firm again.
The only dark spot on the night for Fraser Park was the early departure again to injury of Paulo Oliviera, just fifteen minutes in.
But with the three points, and with a game still in hand, Fraser Park ended the night on a good note and they could soon rise even further than their current sixth.
Fraser Park 2 (Hussein Akil 61’, Mitchell Davidson 84’) v Macarthur Rams 1 (Reuben Agyei-Danso 83’)
Wednesday 5 June 2013
at Fraser Park
Referee: Kris Griffith-Jones
Assts: Sarah Ho and Joon Park
Fraser Park: 1. Michael Frost 2. Rocci Gabey 16. Robert di Meglio 19. Nicholas Dimitropoulos 3. Andrew Vitucci 17. Fabio da Silva (8. David Wilson 65’) 4. Thomas Taylor 10. Paulo Oliviera (c) (15. Sash Tirovski 15’) 11. Carlo Musumeci (18. Mitchell Davidson 74’) 20. Hussein Akil 14. Ben Vidaic. 
Subs not used: 21. Shivan Swamy 40. Wayne Estavao
Yellow Cards: Ben Vidaic
Coach: Albin Milkulski
Macarthur Rams: 1. Chad Taylor 18. Joseph Cartisano 13. Daniel Carroza 5. Calum Fleming 4. Slaven Ljuboja  2. Craig Cooley (c) (9. Shannon Hankin 70’) 15. Joel Craig 7. Reece Iredale (19. Alvaro Malmierca 55’) 17. Adam Wither (10. Reuben Agyei-Danso 74’) 12. Neftali Gonzalez 11. Almir Dizdaric.
Subs not used: 3. Emmanuel Elali 20. Augustin Machedo
Yellow Cards: Chad Taylor, Joel Craig, Joseph Cartisano.
-By Peter Rowney