Ilinden cruise past St George FC to continue its Premiership run
Current National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW League leaders Rockdale Ilinden brushed aside St George FC in its pursuit of the Premiership in a cold and chilly Round 19 Wednesday evening fixture at the Ilinden Sports Centre.
The opening chance of the game arrived in the 15th minute when a long cross from the left reached Connor Qulligan in the area but he couldn’t control his header and sent the ball wide for the Saints. It was a half chance at best but one of the few for the newly-promoted side in the first half.
A few minutes later Rockdale Ilinden replied when Lochlan Constable fed the ball beautifully through to Brendan Cholakian who fired on target from a dangerous position, but Andrew Di Blasio made an excellent reflex save to maintain the status quo.
Rockdale Ilinden then broke the deadlock just after the half hour mark when a free kick from the right along the carpet by Urosevski was spilt by ‘keeper Di Blasio, leaving Cholakian with the simplest of tap-ins from close range to score the first goal of the evening.
In the 34th minute a Cholakian cross from the right reached Bai Antoniou in the middle of the box but his header into the turf ended up wide of the mark.
A minute later experienced referee Kurt Ams brilliantly played advantage when a Rockdale player was held. The ball then fell to a perfectly-positioned Antoniou who rattled the crossbar in what was a delightful flowing move.
In the 38th minute Rockdale Ilinden did double their lead. The league-leaders sliced open the St George FC defence when a wonderful through ball reached a galloping Urosevski and the lethal marksman, with a brilliant diagonal finish from the left, put the ball out of reach of the diving Di Blasio and straight into the far bottom corner of the net.
A minute short of the break Cholakian pinched the ball, headed towards goal and had his shot blocked by the defence but it then fell nicely for Antoniou who sent a thunderbolt sailing just over the top and, at that point, the halftime whistle for St George FC couldn’t come quick enough.
The opening salvo of the second stanza of play arrived in the 48th minute when Patrick O’Shea found his brother Aedan who fired on target and, while goalkeeper Riccardo Rizzo blocked the attempt, his astute defence was left to clear the danger from his spill.
Rockdale Ilinden then returned to normal service with Urosevski’s second goal in the 52nd minute and it was too simple really. A through ball by Blake Ricciuto found its target and Urosevski rarely makes a mistake with golden chances like that and this time was no different, as Rockdale scored their third. It was his 18th of the season as the league’s hottest striker continues to push for his second successive Golden Boot award.
Two minutes later Rockdale made it four when Constable simply slalomed his way through some feeble defence before sending the ball with some intent into the bottom corner of the net.
In the 57th minute a Cholakian shot from outside the box finished against the side netting in what was another close call, and from a distance it appeared at first glance to have actually hit the target.
There was more Rockdale pressure in the 75th minute. A long ball found Urosevski charging down the left channel before once again he unleashed towards goal, but this time he was thwarted by ‘keeper Di Blasio.
St George FC however did manage to get a consolation goal in the 77th minute when substitute Jesse Spang was on the end of a nice through ball before finding the back of the net.
After the game Rockdale Ilinden’s coach Paul Dee was obviously satisfied with the win.
“Midweek games are always difficult,” he said. “It was a good win and a good performance tonight. We wanted to come out and play with a high level of intensity just to get off to a good start and I think we did that. We controlled the game pretty well and I was happy with the performance.”
Over in the St George FC dressing room coach Jane Talcevksi was disappointed with the re but not his team’s performance and effort.
“In the first half we were very good and definitely disrupted their build-up,” he said.
“We took the initiative but it was unfortunate that we conceded the first goal, and thereafter we conceded a second. In the second half we had a decisive moment with Aedan O’Shea and, if it had gone in, it would have been 2-1 and game on. However, credit to them [Rockdale] and they are up the top there for a reason.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE FC: 1 (Spang 77’)
ROCKDALE ILINDEN FC: 4 (Cholakian 31’, Urosevski 38’, 52’, Constable 54’)
Wednesday 12th June 2024
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Matthew McOrist, Marco Saalmans
Fourth Official: Chris Hughes
St GEORGE FC: 1. Andrew Di Blasio, 2. Caio De Godoy (11. Anthony Morabito 70’), 3. Troy Danaskos, 6. Patrick O’Shea, 8. Connor Quilligan (14. Alexander Malfara 84’), 17. Thomas Brown, 18. Mark Rodic, 19. Peter Grozos, 22. Aedan O’Shea (7. Jesse Spang 63’), 23. Evangelo Souris (10. Harry Jones 63’), 27. Jayden Seeto.
Substitutes not used: 5. Nicholas Kalogerou, 20. Daniel Axford.
Yellow Cards: Danaskos 30’, Brown 33’
Red Cards: Nil
ROCKDALE ILINDEN FC: 20. Riccardo Rizzo, 2. Daniel Collins, 6. Isaac Danzo (3. Lachlan Griffiths 67’), 7. Alec Urosevski (5. Giorgio Speranza 80’), 8. Dean Pelekanos, 9. Bai Antoniou, 10. Brendan Cholakian, 11. Lochlan Constable (23. Hunter Elliott 67’), 14. Brayden Sorge (77. So Kataoka 67’), 22. Blake Ricciuto, 66. Mathieu Cordier (15. Olayinka Sunmola 80’).
Substitutes not used: 28. Ronan Mulgrew.
Yellow Cards: Constable 61’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Brendon Cholakian (RI)
2 – Alec Urosevski (RI)
1 – Dean Pelekanos (RI)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
