It has been slim pickings in recent weeks but hopefully, at last, we get the chance to enjoy a full round of Super League this weekend.
It will be a relief to get back on the park for many clubs, but three in particular, St George, Central Coast and Hills Brumbies, will relish the turnout, having been idle, as least as far as competitive matches are concerned, for virtually the past month.
It will seem like the season has started again for these three clubs, though at least St George will have the benefit of a Waratah Cup runout on Thursday to blow away the cobwebs. The Saints will meet Inter Lions in a game switched from Wednesday night while Hills Brumbies’ cup match against Gladesville Ryde Magic was postponed. Central Coast are not due to play their round two cup game until next week.
It should be a good run for the Saints who have to travel to Northern Tigers on Sunday in a grand final rematch. They will need to be at their best to overcome the Tigers, but the memory of that 0-4 loss in last season’s decider will be lingering. Northern Tigers played midweek, but in the league, and suffered a stunning 0-3 home reverse against a rampant Macarthur Rams. It was their first loss of the season, the heavy home defeat very much a surprise.
Fraser Park will want to erase the memory of last Saturday’s destruction, also inflicted by the Rams, as quickly as possible. They meet Sydney University at Hensley Field and will be looking to come away with a more creditable performance, at the very least. They did manage to get over the top of Pacific Hills Dural in the cup on Wednesday, so all going well for Fraser, they will just put last weekend down to an aberration. New signing Tony Faria made his debut in the cup and he will be a fine acquisition for Fraser Park, once he settles into the squad.
Sydney Uni were also scheduled to play their cup game on Wednesday night, but a late switch saw the game moved to next week. Their last game was the 1-1 draw with Granville Rage, just prior to Easter, so the lack of recent football shouldn’t affect them so much.
West Sydney Berries and Spirit FC meet at Lidcombe Oval. Spirit’s lead at the top has been reduced to just the one point following Macarthur’s win on Tuesday so they will need to keep their momentum going, with a host of clubs right behind them. The Berries are just off the pace but a win here will put them right back in it. They also played in the cup midweek, and had a comfortable 4-0 win against Stanmore Hawks, their best result of the season.
Macarthur Rams, after that great victory against the Tigers, welcome Dulwich Hill to Lynwood Park. The Rams are the only club to have completed all their fixtures, perhaps their run of success can be partly put down to as little interruption as possible, notwithstanding their impressive recent play. They are probably not the team that Dully would really want to meet at the moment, especially away, the Rams seemingly firing on all cylinders. They have won their past three now, scoring twelve goals along the way.
It has been a slow start for Dully, although they have gained some decent results at Spirit and Northern Tigers, so clearly they do have the ability. They also ran St George very close, so it seems just a matter of time before a win comes their way. It would be a great result for the club if it was to be this weekend.
The two promoted clubs come together at Lily Homes Stadium when last season’s division one Premiers Hills Brumbies meet runner’s up Blacktown Spartans. It has been the Spartans who have done the better since coming up, sitting in the top half of the table. Blacktown were active in the cup on Wednesday, overcoming Balmain 3-0 after extra time while Hills’ cup game was called off. The lack of activity for the Hills could well be a hindrance, the answer to that question will be provided on the weekend.
Granville Rage welcome Central Coast to Garside Park on Sunday. While the Coast, like Hills, also haven’t played for that month, Granville have been one of the busiest in recent times. It remains to be seen how the break has affected Central Coast who don’t play their cup game until next week. This is the only fixture where neither side played midweek, probably a welcome feeling for the Rage.
Midweek Round Two catchup
After smashing Fraser Park on Saturday, Macarthur Rams travelled to Mills Park on Tuesday night and inflicted Northern Tigers’ first loss of the season in another swashbuckling display. The Rams ran away with a 3-0 win, to lift themselves to outright second on the table.
It took only a minute for the Rams to get ahead, Callum Fleming getting on the scoresheet very early. Rams held the 1-0 lead until half time before two second half goals sealed the win. Peter Halstead scored with a left foot volley from twenty five metres to make it 2-0 before Shannon Hankin, after excellent buildup by Chris Gomez and Matt Sadler down the left, secured the win.
The goal was Hankin’s seventh of the season, and puts him top of the goal scorers list.
Northern Tigers 0 v Macarthur Rams 3 (Callum Fleming, Peter Halstead, Shannon Hankin)
Top Goalscorers
7 - Shannon Hankin (Macarthur Rams)
6 - Grant Maundrell (Central Coast)
5 - Kris Holbrook (Granville Rage)
4 - Juan Chavez (Spirit FC)
Travis Cooper (Northern Tigers)
Chris Gomez (Macarthur Rams)
Ivo de Jesus (St George)
Liam McConaghy (Sydney University)
-By Peter Rowney
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