Two top four clashes catch the eye this weekend with leaders Spirit FC travelling across town to Hensley Field to face fourth placed Sydney University while second placed St George, who leap-frogged Central Coast after their mid week win, travel to Pluim Park.
Spirit, one of only two undefeated sides left in the competition, took over top spot last week and have looked good value so far. It will be an interesting few weeks for the leaders who, after overcoming St George last Sunday, follow Uni this week with a home match against previous leaders Central Coast.
It will be a tough period but if Spirit can come through that unscathed, it augers well for their season. Their defence was superb last Sunday but they will need to do without the services of Tom Lovell for the foreseeable future, Lovell being stretchered off on the weekend.
University have snuck up to fourth after two wins on the trot. They will improve too as the season moves along, remembering of course that they still have a catch up game to play. It will pay not to underestimate the Students.
Central Coast will want to rebound after their first loss of the season. They face a St George side who recovered from their loss to Spirit by defeating Fraser Park on Wednesday night. It keeps St George well on the tail of Spirit and another win here is vital to keep pace. But the Coast will want to do likewise and won’t want to suffer two defeats in a row. This will be tight, and close. A late kick off change will see this match commence at 7pm.
Macarthur Rams have slipped down to tenth after two successive losses. It is a sign of how close the competition table is that a loss or two can see a slide of that proportion. They meet West Sydney Berries at Lynwood Park on Saturday, the Berries finally having got their first win last week. It may be just what West Sydney needed too, as they certainly expected to be challenging for the title and now that a win has come, the pressure is off somewhat. Following the retirement of James Stubbs-Mills, their defence will need some alteration but Steve Karavatakis is confident that he has the squad to cover that loss.
Fraser Park meet lowly Hills Brumbies, also on Saturday. Fraser Park lost again midweek, hot on the heels of their loss last Saturday and will need to regain their good early season form. The severe injury crisis is not helping matters and they will still be without a number of first team selections. Fred Umlil has returned though and he will add experience to the lineup. Hills Brumbies will need to start gaining points if they are not to drift away at the bottom. There is a gap starting to occur between the bottom two and the rest of the table and it will be a long season if things don’t start to turn around soon.
There are two Sunday matches this round. Granville Rage have been steady in mid table without catching too much attention and they meet Blacktown Spartans at Garside Park. The Rage have the quality and strength to have a successful season, and have probably enjoyed the focus being placed on others. They still have a catch up game to play too, scheduled for Thursday 21 April against Sydney Uni, and so the potential is there to have a rapid climb over the next week or so.
But the Spartans won’t be easy to knock over. They were the first to defeat Central Coast this season and have always proved difficult to beat. They have some quality players too, with Super League experience, and the Rage will need to be on the lookout.
Northern Tigers, the other club apart from Spirit to be undefeated, face Dulwich Hill at home. The Tigers got their first win last weekend, finally overpowering Fraser Park at the end, in a dominant second half performance. They will be a relieved lot, and will now expect to climb the table. Dulwich Hill are still seeking their first win, which is bound to come soon, a victory at Mills Park will be a great shot in the arm.
Catch Up fixture: St George v Fraser Park
St George didn’t waste any time in getting back into the winning groove when they defeated Fraser Park 3-1 on Wednesday night in their re-arranged round two clash.
It took only nine minutes for the Saints to get on the scoresheet, James Kovas netting for his second of the season. Reuben Lagos made it two before twenty minutes were up and things were looking good for the home side.
A penalty though to Fraser Park, awarded for handball, gave the visitors the chance to reduce the deficit but Daniel Nash saved well, denying Fred Umlil’s spot kick.
A cracker of a goal from Ivo de Jesus from the edge of the ‘D’, not for the first time, gave St George a healthy 3-0 lead before a late goal from Masanari Omura, with just three minutes left, got Fraser Park some consolation.
St George 3 (James Kovas 9’, Reuben Lagos 18’, Ivo De Jesus 69’) v Fraser Park 1 (Masanari Omura 87’)
-By Peter Rowney
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