Rampaging Rockdale take care of St George City
Rockdale Ilinden continued to be one of the most in-form teams in the National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW competition with a comprehensive 4-1 away win over St George City in the local derby played at Penshurst Park.
A brace to one of the greatest strikers the league has ever seen Alec Urosevski plus goals to Brendon Cholakian and Moudi Najjar were the four strikes for Paul Dee’s men, while Cody De Godoy struck for the home side.
It is now eight matches without defeat for Rockdale Ilinden in what is proving to be an ominous warning to all other teams as they strive to make it two premierships in a row, but for St George City FA it is now two consecutive defeats after going through a wonderful five-game unbeaten streak.
The first real chance of the contest belonged to St George City when a training ground rehearsed corner in the 8th minute made its way out to Dominic Cox who fired from distance, but it was deflected by a defender and finished just wide for a corner.
It was Rockdale Ilinden though that opened the scoring with their first real opportunity in the 16th minute and it was Urosevski, as always the opportunist, who found the back of the net. A long cross from the left created more havoc than necessary for the St George City defence with Urosevski lurking in the middle and, as they failed to clear, he skilfully turned the spoils neatly into the back of the net.
Close to the half hour mark Fumoto Kamada for the home side created some nice space on the left before firing on target, but in the end his attempt was easy pickings for goalkeeper Nicholas Sorras.
Almost on the stroke of half time, a cleverly worked move by Rockdale Ilinden from near the by-line saw the ball make its way to Isaac Danzo who met it delightfully with a first-time volley that required a very good save from custodian Jack Kenny.
However, it was at the other end of the field in stoppage time that the real damage occurred as St George City equalised. A free kick along the carpet from Paolo Mitry created just enough confusion from which Caio De Godoy emerged to stick out his foot and find the goal, in off the crossbar, to send the teams into the sheds all square.
The opening note of the second stanza of play took a while to arrive and it was a scary moment for St George City in the 61st minute. Nathan Grimaldi tried to head the ball back to his ‘keeper Kenny, but it was intercepted by Urosevski and only some desperate scrambling from Kenny and defender Tarik Ercan prevented a certain goal.
In the 66th minute Brendan Cholakian did score Rockdale Ilinden’s second goal but, if prizes were awarded for ugly goals, then this one would surely take the cake. An almighty scrap in the box between a number of players after a throw-in ended with Cholakian finally forcing the ball over the line.
In the 83rd minute Brodie Clarkson brought Cholakian down in the box and referee Stephen Lucas had no hesitation in awarding the spot kick. Up stepped Urosevski off a very long run and he duly converted to add to his amazing tally of goals this season.
In the 90th minute Rockdale Ilinden made it four when a sweeping move down left had Jordan Graoroski feed the ball across to Najjar, who had only stepped into the arena a minute earlier, and he slotted home from the centre of the box.
After the game Rockdale Ilinden’s coach the indefatigable Paul Dee was understandably happy with his team.
“This a tough ground to play on and St George are a tough opponent because they are direct,” he stated.
“So it’s up to you to play and try to get some control of the game, which we did and it allowed us to come away with the win.
“Conceding a goal just prior to the break from a set piece put us under unnecessary pressure, so that was frustrating but we showed great character to come back from that and do what we did in the second half.”
When asked about his mercurial striker Urosevski he didn’t hold back.
“He has been the spearhead of our attack for years,” Dee said.
“He won the Golden Boot in the last two years and is on track again this year. Alec is incredibly dangerous and if you give him a yard of space, he normally scores goals and wins games for Rockdale.”
St George City FA coach Manny Spanoudakis on the other hand was satisfied but realistic about where things had gone wrong.
“Unfortunately we conceded a really disappointing second goal,” he said.
“Our players worked really well in the first half and controlled a lot of the game. At 1-1, I thought we were very much in the game but unfortunately we gifted a sloppy goal from a throw-in which gave them a bit of ascendancy and then we conceded a penalty. The second and third goals deflated us a bit, but we continue to compete and contest every game.
“Rockdale are relentless and they never give up and that’s why they were the premiers last year. They have quality on the park and on the bench, and if you drop your guard against them for a moment you get punished and that is what happened to us tonight
“Our strategy is to try to win every game and we will regroup from tonight and be ready for Wollongong next week.”
On a final note it would be inappropriate to miss the retirement of assistant referee Andrej Giev, a long time stalwart of Football NSW. He is an official that will definitely be missed at the grounds and it was appropriate that in his final match he was surrounded by the experienced team of Stephen Lucas, Kurt Ams and Lance Greenshields. Football NSW and the entire football community wish him all the best in his retirement.
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY: 1 (De Godoy 45’+2)
ROCKDALE ILINDEN: 4 (Urosevski 16’, 85’ pen, Cholakian 66’, Najjar 90’)
Saturday 24th May 2025
Penshurst Park
Referee: Steven Lucas
Assistant referees: Lance Greenshields, Andrej Giev
Fourth Official: Kurt Ams
St GEORGE CITY FA: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Matthew Wahby (23. Dakota Askew 77’), 3. Caio De Godoy, 6. Tarik Ercan, 8. Dominic Cox (18. Goncalo Agrelo 77’), 9. Marc McNulty, 10. Paolo Mitry (7. Nathan Roberts 65’), 11. Fumoto Kamada (16. William Kounnas 79’), 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 25. Brodie Clarkson, 33. Louis Khoury.
Substitutes not used: 13. Cameron Kemp, 17. Noah Ovens.
Yellow Cards: Cox 32’, De Godoy 49’, Roberts 82’
Red Cards: Nil
ROCKDALE ILINDEN: 1. Nicholas Sorras, 2. Hunter Elliott, 5. Giorgio Speranza, 6. Isaac Danzo (18. Jordan Graoroski 79’), 7. Alec Urosevski (9. Moudi Najjar 89’), 10. Brendan Cholakian (99.Matthew Keremelevski 88’), 11. Lochlan Constable (4. James Nikolovski 79’) 14. Brayden Sorge, 22. Blake Ricciuto, 24. Ali Auglah (23. Oliver Puflett 88’), 88. Chris McStay.
Substitutes not used: 20. Ronan Mulgrew.
Yellow Cards: Danzo 21’, Auglah 53’, Ricciuto 78’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Blake Ricciuto (RI)
2 – Brendan Cholakian (RI)
1 – Alec Urosevski (RI)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
