Another six intriguing matches in Super League this weekend with plenty of questions still remaining unanswered.
Who will be premiers? Who will make the five? And who will finish bottom? It is likely that we won’t know the answers until the final round so the next month promises much tantalising football. Every club has something to play for as it stands with the top nine all believing that the finals are possible. The bottom three are in a real battle too, what we do know is that there will be some heartbreak come mid August.
This weekend’s round kicks off up at the Central Coast where the home side tackle Spirit FC. The Coast grabbed a famous victory against St George last Saturday when finishing with nine players, but came undone against Sydney University on Wednesday night. They will be battling all the way and nothing less than three points will do this Saturday. They will meet a Spirit side who are just not firing at the moment. Times are tough and there is a real danger that, once the rescheduled games have all been played, they could have slipped further down the table. They will need a real turnaround in form if their season is not to end in disappointment. They will be without the suspended Jordan Simpson for this one, sent off last weekend.
At Hensley Field, it is Sydney University v West Sydney Berries. The Berries can consider themselves safe for one of the five spots barring a disaster but they want the premiership. If they drop points here though, the title race can be blown right open again so they will certainly be on their guard. Sydney University are in a rich vein of form and their 1-0 victory on Wednesday night has really added to the bottleneck. And a win for Uni here will see them just four points from the Berries. Interesting times.
Fraser Park meet the visiting Macarthur Rams. The Rams came close against the Berries last weekend but just fell short while Fraser Park grabbed a point at Hills. This match won’t be a repeat of the first round fixture when Macarthur slammed six past Fraser who have shown strength for a battle recently. A change of coach and some squad strengthening have changed their fortunes around but they are not out of the woods by any stretch.
The three Sunday matches are all likely to be tense. Northern Tigers finally get the chance to meet Blacktown Spartans and Granville Rage likewise against St George. Both first round games are still to be played so this will be the first time these sides have met this year.
The Tigers have slowly but surely worked themselves into finals contention and have finally been able to field an unchanged side in recent weeks, a benefit lacking in the first half of the season. The defence remains solid and the goals have started to come but even so, the clash against the Spartans will be difficult. Mario Ghobrial returns after suspension while Tom Spencer gets the chance to meet his former teammates. This is one match both clubs are looking forward to. This match will kick off at the later than usual time of 4pm.
The Rage v the Saints at Garside is very important for both clubs. Results have not been the best recently for either club and the consistency has been a concern. They can ill afford to drop further points as the race for the semis tightens but of course, there will be some disappointment come Sunday afternoon. Just where that will lie remains to be seen. St George had a change of pace on Wednesday night, playing the Premier League’s Sutherland Sharks in the annual Leader Cup, and came away with a 2-0 result so their confidence will be boosted by that win.
Following their match on Tuesday night, Hills Brumbies and Dulwich Hill meet for the second time in a week, this time at Lily Homes Stadium. Dulwich Hill took the victory on Tuesday by just the single goal in a very tight game but that gain can be reversed should the Brumbies take this one out. The Brumbies can consider themselves unfortunate on Tuesday, losing Russell Farrell to a controversial decision, and so will need to replace the frontman on Sunday. This fixture has a late kick off with 5pm and 7pm starts.
Midweek Feature
Dulwich Hill v Hills Brumbies
Dulwich Hill claimed a vital three points in their rescheduled round seven clash against Hills Brumbies on Tuesday night, the win lifting Dully nine points clear of Hills who remain tied to the bottom of the table.
It was a close run thing though in a game played at a cracking pace. Dulwich Hill welcomed the return of Robbie Shields from injury while Japanese striker Sunamoto partnered Steve Donevski up front. It was a more attack minded Dully than that seen in previous weeks with Sunamoto’s pace causing concern throughout the night.
It was clear that both sides were going for the win and it was an entertaining game for those in attendance. The Brumbies had more of the chances though with the first of the night falling to Eros Bergamin who couldn’t quite get over a high bouncing ball in the area. It was a sign of things to come though with Hills having more of the clearcut chances, Anthony Abi-Arrage testing Matthew Kasbarian while Russell Farrell hit the side netting. Keunike Maralit also caused some problems before Kasbarian dived low to save.
Steve Donevski looked dangerous when he had the ball and ran at the Hills defence but rarely had the opportunity to threaten Chris Rizzo.
The Brumbies probed, searching for a way through, their crisp passing looking the goods. Dully tended to look for Sunamoto and the chances were there, Cameron Jones setting up the striker before Rizzo saved.
But disaster struck for the Brumbies on sixty six minutes. As Hills attacked, Farrell was clear and bore down on Kasbarian. A goal seemed likely too but the shot was parried by the keeper, the rebound then being contested between the two. Farrell looked for the second chance, entitled as he was, and clashed with Kasbarian in a challenge for the ball. There seemed little in it but Farrell was shown a red card for his troubles, the goal chance gone and Brumbies down to ten.
Despite being one short, the Brumbies still looked for the win, as they needed to do, to make up ground on Dully. Lord Darkoh came on and had a good chance before shooting over while a bullet from Greg Giovenali just skimmed the crossbar. It seemed it wouldn’t be Hills’ night and that was proven to be the case when Dully broke free in numbers and the linesman’s flag stayed down. Sunamoto should have scored but hit the post but fortunately for Dulwich Hill, Jones was also in the box and hit the rebound into the net.
With only eight minutes to go, it was a game winner although Sunamoto should have made it two right at the end, chipping Rizzo but putting it wide.
Not a good night for Hills Brumbies but a chance for Dulwich Hill to perhaps breathe a little easier now. But with the return fixture this Sunday, they still can’t take too much for granted.
Mark Abi-Arrage was furious after the game.
“The officials shaped the game tonight”, he said. “There was no way that was a send off. All we ask for is some consistency. Some weeks you can barely touch a player and you get carded, then other times dangerous tackles are let go”.
“And that goal…there were three players offside, yet I’m told there was half a metre in it.”
Paul Carter thought similarly.
“The send off was a bit tough. I felt he [Farrell] was entitled to go for the ball, and if he was my player, I would have expected him to”, he agreed.
Dulwich Hill 1 (Cameron Jones 82’) v Hills Brumbies 0
12 July 2011
at Lambert Park
Referee: Chris Young
Assts: Nathan Notton and Steven Nguyen
Dulwich Hill: 1. Matt Kasbarian 3. Thomas Sowden (11. Mark Pinto 57’) 7. Matt Toogood 16. Mirza Sehic 18. Joseph Savor 14. Matt Ferreira 15. Darren Stapleton 6. Cameron Jones 8. Robbie Shields (19. Matt Bianco 72’) 9. T Sunamoto 17. Steve Donevski (5. Daniel Zentner 46’)
Coach: Paul Carter
Hills Brumbies: 20. Chris Rizzo 14. Josh Karpes (2. Daniel Ramirez 86’) 3. Marc Gane 13. Greg Giovenali 17. Nemanja Tomic 6. Mark Abi-Arrage 4. Jovan Miladinovic (11. Lord Darkoh 72’) 19. Eros Bergamin 10. Dragan Savic 8. Keunike Maralit 5. Russell Farrell.
Coach: Mark Abi-Arrage
Central Coast v Sydney University
13 July 2011
Sydney University travelled to Pluim Park for the second time in a fortnight and this time they managed to get on the field. And it was worth the effort too, Uni coming away with the three points and moving into fifth spot, for the first time since round eight.
Nils Justine put Uni ahead after just three minutes, getting on the end of a near post delivery to get the Students off to a flying start. Despite some pressure from the Coast, particularly in the second half, Uni were able to hang on to the lead, putting a serious dent into the Coast’s own finals hopes.
Central Coast 0 Sydney University 1 (Nils Justine 3’)
-By Peter Rowney
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