Spirit thump Ilinden at Christie in devastating victory
NWS Spirit FC hit the headlines in a huge way embarrassing Rockdale Ilinden 6-3 in a massive statement victory at Christie Park in a win that saw David Perkovic’s side move to top of the NPL Men’s NSW ladder.
The early exchanges between NWS Spirit FC and Rockdale IIinden were as explosive and entertaining as any we have seen in the NPL Men’s NSW competition this season such was at stake.
Not only was the fight for the Premiership on the cards, the two have been eyeing each other off for that coveted Australian Championship spot kicking off in October.
The action hit fever pitch in just the 4th minute as tensions erupted and Hunter Elliot lashed out at the hosts with a shove.
What looked as though it would be the turning point of the match came soon after as in the 9th minute Ilinden’s big shotstopper Nick Sorras hobbled off the field and was replaced by 20-year-old Ronan Mulgrew who made his senior debut for the 2024 Premiers.
Mulgrew got his first taste of top tier NPL Men’s NSW football three minutes on the pitch and it was watching the ball hit the back of the net after Spirit’s Japanese star Yu Okubo thundered home his header from close range and made it 1-0.
As quick as the hosts had scored their opener, NWS Spirit FC locked down it’s second in the 15th minute. A Jordan Perez free kick flew past everybody and snuck in past Mulgrew to double the deficit.
In the 29th minute Spirit produced another banger courtesy of Takumi Ofuka. The prolific attacker by-passed Brayden Sorge with the ball at his feet before firing home past Mulgrew.
A pair of missed opportunities by the NPL Men’s NSW’s top goalscorer Alec Urosevski proved costly as the hosts made it a rampaging 4-0 in the 43rd minute after Okubo took one touch before slotting the ball home past a stranded Mulgrew, after a classy through ball from Ofuka. It was a brilliant team goal as Perkovic’s men stunned Ilinden with their clinical play and finishing.
Rockdale came out fired up in the second half as Jerry Skotadis scored off a Chris Marques fumble in the 50th minute, after the initial shot came from Moudi Najjar which gave a glimmer of home to the visitors following their terrible first half.
That energy was reflected on both ends of the field six-minutes later when Skotadis crashed into Ollie Wiggin as he had possession of the ball. Soon after that incident Najjar thundered Wiggins into the ground in the 61st minute as frustration started to settle in once more in the match.
The half-time chat seemed to have spurred Rockdale as they hit a second following a collision inside the box that left Marques reeling which Najjar took full advantage from the edge to make it 4-2 in the 63rd minute.
Football however is a fickle game at the best of times and in the 69th minute Mulgrew ran out of his box to make a tackle and failed to recover in time which saw Michael Konestabo make no mistake as he headed home into an empty net and made it 5-2. That goal really knocked the stuffing out of their opponents.
Things continued to go from bad to worse for Ilinden as Ofuka notched up his second with a decent long range finish in the 79th minute to make it 6-2 as the Japanese maestro stamped his authority on the match as best on the pitch.
Brendan Cholakian sourced a consolation strike for his side when he curled home a beautiful long-range strike close to full-time.
It was a monumental win for NWS Spirit FC who ended the round in top spot, albeit on equal points with Marconi but sporting a better goal difference.
“Today was a crazy game with nine goals being scored,” said a jubilant NWS Spirit FC coach David Perkovic.
“Thankfully we were ruthless in the final third and that’s ultimately why we won.
“Rockdale are a very potent team and are very good at scoring goals, so we are proud to take three points from today. With that being said, every three points is as significant as this one.
“We have six games left and we will fight all the way to try and win some silverware.
“There’s no doubt that that there’s four teams still competing as Rockdale aren’t out of it.”
Match Stats
NWS Spirit 6 (Yu Okubo 12’, 43’, Jordan Perez 15’, Takumi Ofuka 29’, 79’, Michael Konestabo 69’)
Rockdale Ilinden 3 (Jerry Skotadis 50’, Moudi Najjar 63’, Brendan Cholakian 86’)
Saturday 19 July 2025
Christie Park
Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistant Referees: Rory McFarlane and Jasper White
Fourth Official: Rowan Fisher
NWS Spirit: 1.Christoper Marques, 3.Kyah Williams, 5.Jordan Perez, 7.Frankie Ljucovic, (8.Grant Cornwell 64’), 9.Yu Okubo, 10.Michael Konestabo, 11.Ollie Wiggin, 13.Simon Nicholas, 15.Jamie Percevski, (17.Jacob Chidiac 82’), 18.Andre Takami, (19.Zayne Ahluwalia 87’), (20.Austin Oates 87’), (21.Harry Keys 64’), 22.Takumi Ofuka
Unused subs: 51.Christophe Chen
Yellow cards: Jamie Percevski 55’, Frankie Ljucovic 84’, Harry Keys 85’
Red cards: None
Rockdale Ilinden: 1.Nicholas Sorras, 2.Hunter Elliot, 4.James Nikolovski, 6.Isaac Danzo, 7.Alec Urosevski, 9.Moudi Najjar, 10.Brendan Cholakian, 11.Lochlan Constable, 14.Brayden Sorge, 15.Daniel-Ray Djurovic, (18.Jerry Skotadis 45’), (20.Rowan Mulgrew 9’), (22.Blake Ricciuto 72’), (23.Oliver Puflett 83’), 88.Christopher McStay, (99.Matthew Keremelevski 72’)
Unused subs: 46.Paul Kalamvokis
Yellow cards: Brendan Cholakian 37’, Moudi Najjar 68’
Red cards: None
Player Ratings:
3: Takumi Ofuka (NWS)
2: Yu Okubo (NWS)
1: Jordan Perez (NWS)
