Urosevski special caps off Ilinden victory over Wanderers

Three different goal scorers contributed to an impressive first half display from Rockdale Ilinden, giving Paul Dee’s men a 3-2 win over Western Sydney Wanderers in round 3 of the National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW competition at Wanderers Football Park on Sunday.

Rockdale Ilinden started the game full of energy, finding the back of the net eight minutes in when Olayinka Sunmola was released by Dean Pelekanos. The winger finished his chance brilliantly, but his celebrations were cut short as the linesman had his flag up for offside.

However, they did take the lead 10 minutes later when Brendan Cholakian drove forward with intent in the final third before teeing up Sunmola who had a second roll of the dice, and he finished it with ease to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

It was two not long after, when Cholakian was once again causing problems for the Wanderers back line, weaving in and out of Doni Grdic before putting it in the heart of the penalty area.

Nathan Barrie struggled to clear his lines, and cleared it only as far as Dean Pelekanos on the edge of the box.

The former Wanderers academy graduate and club captain hit it sweetly on the volley, and despite getting his hands on it, Taiga Harper was unable to keep it out, and Ilinden were now two up.

Ilinden continued to pile on the pressure, but Wanderers responded with three minutes of the half left when Zachary Sapsford did fantastically well, cutting in from the right and gliding past Mathieu Cordier and Lachie Griffiths, before thundering it into the bottom corner to give Western Sydney Wanderers some hope.

However, three minutes into stoppage time, Ilinden restored their two-goal advantage from an Alec Urosevski screamer.

The skipper found some space on the edge of the box and struck it beautifully into the very top left corner, meaning Ilinden found themselves 3-1 up at the halfway stage.

After a hectic first half, there were far fewer chances in the second, with one of the best falling to Pelekanos with just over 10 minutes left, where he found himself in a glorious opportunity in the penalty area, but his cushioned effort was cleared heroically off the line by a red and black shirt.

In stoppage time however, Wanderers made it a nervy ending to the game for the visitors, when Marcus Younis used his pace to counter for the home side, and he picked out Nathanael Blair with a low cross, and the striker instinctively chipped it over the keeper to make it 2-3.

Despite this, Ilinden held on to their lead to earn themselves a well-deserved three points away from home against a team that had first team A-League Wanderers players such as Sapsford, Alex Badolato, Oscar Priestman and Dylan Sciculuna all of which played overnight in their team’s 4-1 loss to Sydney FC.

Rockdale Ilinden head coach Paul Dee reflected on his side’s pleasing performance:

“This is a tough away game so we’re really pleased to get three points.

“They’re a high-quality team. They’ve got big names across the park and they’re really well coached.

“This is a game if you can come away with three points in the course of the season, you can look back and say you’ve done a good job.”

Match Stats

Western Sydney Wanderers FC 2 (Sapsford ‘42, Blair ‘90+3)

Rockdale Ilinden FC 3 (Sunmola ‘17, Pelekanos ’26, Urosevski ‘45+3)

Sunday 3 March 2024

Wanderers Football Park

Referee: Ivica Covic

Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki & Jackson Mackie

Fourth Official: Nicholas Kour

Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1. Taiga Harper 2. Nathan Barrie (99. Ryan Devine ’80), 3. Anthony Pantazopoulos, 4. Doni Grdic, 6. Dylan Scicluna (22. Jesse Cameron ’46), 8. Oscar Priestman (25. Ryley Hollingdale ’46), 9. Nathanael Blair , 10. Alexander Badolato (77. Phillip Gigliotti ’62), 11. Adam Bugarija, 12. Zachary Sapsford (7. Marcus Younis ’46), 13. Aydan Hammond.

Unused subs: 20. Lucas Sinnott

Yellow cards: Pantazopoulos ’10, Bugarija ‘80

Red cards: nil

Rockdale Ilinden FC: 1. Harrison Devenish-Meares, 2. Daniel Collins, 3. Lachie Griffiths, 6. Isaac Danzo, 7. Alec Urosevski (18. Benjamin Wass ’82), 8. Dean Pelekanos, 9. Bai Antoniou (5. Giorgio Speranza ’53), 10. Brendan Cholakian (16. So Kataoka ’78), 14. Brayden Sorge (23. Hunter Elliott ’82), 15. Olayinka Sunmola (19. Jason Cakovski ’53), 66. Mathieu Cordier.

Unused subs: 20. Ricardo Rizzo

Yellow cards: Sorge ’55, Speranza ‘61

Red cards: nil

Player Ratings:

3: Alec Urosevski (ROC)

2: Brendan Cholakian (ROC)

1: Dean Pelekanos (ROC)

By Liam O’Sullivan (@liamdlosullivan)