Auglah anguish in Rockdale stalemate
The points were shared on a rainy Cromer Park as Manly United and Rockdale Ilinden battled it out in what was a tense 1-1 draw on Friday evening.
Rockdale began in roaring fashion young gun Jordan Graoroski opened the scoring just two-minutes in. Isaac Danzo initially found him with a brilliant ball into the box before Graoroski beat both Aaron O’Driscoll then Levi Kaye to find the bottom corner in what was a classy opener and his first senior goal this season.
This kick-started several close chances for both teams.
Next up was the hosts five-minutes later who witnessed Harry McCarthy land his shot inches wide from goals after some creative build-up play from Harry Van Der Saag.
Then in the 22nd minute it was Rockdale who nearly struck gold twice after Brayden Sorge’s pass went across the face of goals with no one there, before it took several deflections – Jordan Graoroski eventually gained possession and was unable to convert from close range.
With the game rising in intensity it was Rocco Pelle who conjured up a potentially goal-saving and sliding tackle on Ali Auglah in the 34th minute as he was running towards Manly’s box.
It went from bad to worse for Ali Auglah extremely quickly as seconds later he was given his marching orders for an off the ball incident involving Pelle which changed the complexion of the match entirely.
With the man advantage it was the hosts who struck first via Farah Koko in the 54th minute.
Harry McCarthy saw his effort palmed away by Nicholas Sorras before Darcy Burgess’ neat pass found Koko who smashed the ball into the back of the net and it was game on for Manly.
With chances continuing to fly thick and fast it was Blake Ricciuto who nearly forged something out of nothing in the 66th minute. With a Rockdale free kick seemingly going out of play, Ricciuto came close to connecting his body with the ball but fell at the last hurdle.
Rockdale were again denied in the 74th minute by an impressive one-handed save from Levi Kaye. A save made even more tough after Ricciuto crashed into him during it.
With the game reaching its pinnacle both Alec Urosevski and Lucas Meek came close to scoring frantic winners for their sides but it wasn’t to be as the final whistle blew with the points shared. It was a quiet night for the league’s top scorer Urosevski who was unable to add to his 17-goal haul so far this season.
With the Marconi Stallions surging in top spot on the competition ladder, it was two points lost for Ilinden as Paul Dee lamented on the red card and the match.
“Considering the circumstances with the man down I thought the boys fought hard and we deserved a point.
“We came here with a game plan to go all-out attack.
“Unfortunately being a player down forced us to change our structure and defend more.
“We showed a lot of resilience when the chips were down and ultimately on another day we could have gotten the win.”
Match Stats
Manly United 1 (Farah Koko 54’)
Rockdale Illinden 1 (Jordan Graoroski 2’)
Friday 09 May 2025
Cromer Park
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees: Blake Eastwood and Matt Staples
Fourth Official: Thomas Dale
Manly United: 1.Levi Kaye, 3.Matthew O’Donoghue, 4.Jese Piriz, 6.Bilal Belkadi, (8.Stefano Rossello 71’), 10.Harry McCarthy, 11.Lucas Meek, 12.Rocco Pelle, (13.Taiga Kawano 71’), (14.Maxwell Pengelly 85’), (16.Max Martinello 71’), 23.Darcy Burgess, 26.Harry Van Der Saag, (28.Jasper Chipman 58’), 33.Aaron O’Driscoll, 38.Farah Koko
Unused subs: 1.Anthony Carreras
Yellow cards: Darcy Burgess 64’
Red cards: None
Rockdale Illinden: 1.Nicholas Sorras, 2.Hunter Elliot, 5.Giorgio Speranza, 6.Isaac Danzo, 7.Alec Urosevski, (9.Moudi Najjar 65’), 10.Brendan Cholakian, 14.Brayden Sorge, (17.Brae Ovens 85’), 18.Jordan Graoroski, 22.Blake Ricciuto, 24.Ali Auglah, 88.Christoper McStay
Unused subs: 4.James Nikolovski, 11.Lochlan Constable, 20.Rowan Mulgrew, 23.Oliver Puflett
Yellow cards: Paul Dee 40’, Alec Urosevski 52’
Red cards: Ali Auglah 34’
Player Ratings:
3: Jordan Graoroski (ROC)
2: Rocco Pelle (MU)
1: Blake Ricciuto (ROC)
-By Tobias Canning
