In what is arguably the eye-catching fixture in this week’s Super League, Spirit FC take on St George at Christie Park in a mouth watering clash in Sunday’s only game, a match sure to tempt all fans to Marsfield.
While the season is still only in its early stages, both sides are undefeated with both also having the league’s tightest defences to date. Second placed Spirit have conceded only the three but have scored eleven in return while the miserly St George defence has only let in the solitary goal. It is likely to be a tight game as both sides look to gain an important edge.
To add to the spice of the match, it will be the first time that Juan Chavez has played against his old team, the club where he was the league’s top scorer two years ago. The Saints’ central defensive pairing of Mark Bariamis and Michael Smith will be keeping a close eye on Chavez, eager to limit any goalscoring opportunities. No doubt Chavez too, would like to put one over his old team.
But it will pay not to concentrate on Chavez alone. Spirit are not the competition’s top scorers for nothing. Seven different players have hit the mark in only four games, with Tim Simpson, Ricky Woodward, Kwabena Appiah-Kubi as well as Chavez all having scored twice each so far. Appiah-Kubi has been something of a revelation since joining Spirit from the Granville Under 20s, the pacy winger causing all manner of problems. This seems a match to savour.
But before this, there are five Saturday games to whet the appetite.
Central Coast, still sitting pretty in top spot, are defying all comers at the moment. They will travel though, for the first time in three weeks, as they head to Blacktown Spartans. The Spartans have had a reasonable start, picking up four points so far but will have to face the leaders without Luke Infanti, sent off amongst a mass of cards last Sunday. But with Mario Ghobrial back, and ready for selection, the Spartans will have some added strike power.
Central Coast side have impressed so far, and are clearly enjoying their time at the top. They will take some shifting the longer they settle down.
Fraser Park, comfortably in fourth, welcomes Northern Tigers to Sydenham. Fraser Park had a great win last weekend at Granville Rage and will be full of confidence for that result. Coach Alex Augusto has continued on where he finished last season with Fraser Park accruing victories like there is no tomorrow. They have only lost one game in their last eight going back to last year with six wins to show for their efforts. In fact, their run started at Mills Park in round 18 last year, their win putting paid to the Tigers’ premiership hopes at the time.
A win here for the Northern Tigers though is something Jason Eagar will desperately want. The Tigers have drawn their first three games but have led in each. They have conceded very late goals in two of those games, heartache for everyone concerned at Mills. This game has all the markings of a very tough night out.
Sydney University head back to Hensley Field to meet Macarthur Rams. Uni got their first win last week, a close single goal victory and welcome a Rams side coming off a large 0-3 home loss to Spirit. University are certainly heading in the right direction, their games so far being a loss, draw and now win. John Calleja acknowledges that they still have some work to do but their current fifth spot is reward so far.
It was perhaps a surprising result at Lynwood Park last Sunday, certainly the margin was unexpected. Macarthur will regather though and Uni will have a difficult game on their hands.
West Sydney Berries and Hills Brumbies meet at Lidcombe Oval with both sides looking for their first win. The Berries had it in their grasp last week, by all accounts, but squandered a two goal lead before coming back at the death to snatch a point. It has been a tough start for Steve Karavatakis, certainly not expecting to be in the bottom three at this stage of the season. It has been equally difficult for Brumbies head coach, Mark Abi-Arrage as he has seen his team battle in recent games but eventually come undone. Fortune is bound to turn at some point, though.
At Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill will be looking for their first win as well when they take on Granville Rage. Like the Berries, the Rage also squandered a two goal lead last Sunday but they left empty handed from Garside. Kris Holbrook took his tally to three with a double and it will be to the form striker that the Rage will look. For Dulwich Hill, we could see a starting berth for Troy Eedy, a scorer of twenty one goals for Mt Druitt Town Rangers two seasons ago. Eedy came on for the last half hour up at the Coast last Saturday, no doubt Paul Carter will be hoping that Eedy can return to that level of scoring.
-By Peter Rowney
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