NEIGHBOURS Rockdale City Suns and St George put on a good display of football, with five goals in total in their local derby on Sunday.
But playing at the neutral venue of Miranda's synthetic Seymour Shaw Park turf because of wet conditions, it was the more experienced Rockdale outfit which got the better of St George, eventually running away with a 4-1 victory.
A solid performance by Rockdale's midfield of Paul Kohler and Idris El Hafiane provided the forwards with plenty of ammunition, and in-form Suns striker Nikola Taneski took full advantage in the first 10 minutes, putting away the first of his two goals, followed by Sean Symons in the 22nd.
It looked like it would be a tough road back for St George, who had looked comfortably held for the majority of the first half by Rockdale, emerging one of the Premier League early favourites.
An improved second half performance showed some signs of a comeback and George Codrea went spectacularly close to pulling a goal back for the Saints when his long range effort smashed against the cross bar.
But only a minute after that, Rockdale extended their lead to 3-0 when Taneski scored his second of the game in the 76th minute.
St George replied deep into the second half through David Dascal, scrambling home from close range after a Saints free kick from David Talevski sailed into the box.
However, the Suns found the back of the net in injury time through substitute Daniel Barac to bring home maximum points for the second week.
Suns coach Culina, who was happy with the win, said the team needed to be at their best for 90 minutes to keep a clean sheet.
Rockdale entertain Marconi at Illinden Sports Centre on Easter Monday, April 21.
Sutherland held to draw
IF anyone had seen the first 12 minutes of the game against Apia-Leichhardt at a wet and windy Lambert Park, they would have been betting on a Sutherland Sharks victory.
During that time, Panny Nikas and Jamie McMaster put the visitors two goals in front — and they were humming.
But to their credit, the home side hit back in the 37th through Matthew Mayora; he also equalised minutes from the finish.
Sutherland squandered a number of opportunities too. "We dominated long periods of the game and had three one-on-ones. We dropped two points today," said Sharks coach Robbie Stanton.
■SYDNEY FC face Melbourne Victory in the first A-League elimination final to be played at 7.30pm on Good Friday, April 18, at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne.
Richard Garcia's last second goal against strugglers Perth Glory secured the three points and fifth place for the Sky Blues and booked their trip to Victoria to face a Victory side who have not defeated Sydney FC all season.
The Sky Blues have recorded two wins (3-2 and 5-0) and a draw (1-1) against Melbourne this season and the overall head to head record stands at seven wins for Sydney FC, 14 draws and nine wins for the Victory.
However, coach Frank Farina knows Sydney need to improve on the weekend's effort, facing Victory in front of a big home crowd.
