NWS Spirit FC close in on first ever NPL Men’s Premiership
NWS Spirit have moved one step closer to capturing the 2025 NPL Men’s NSW Premiership for the first time in its club’s history and secured their place in the 2025 Australian Championship with a 3-0 win over St George FC in a rescheduled round 27 fixture on Tuesday night at Barton Park.
Spirit overcame a soggy pitch with an exhilarating first-half performance headlined by Takumi Ofuka’s goal, followed by a Yu Okubo brace.
Despite the sporadic threat of St George, Spirit kept their opponents at bay in the second half and secured another confident victory.
St George could have taken the lead within the first three minutes as Chan Yelchan raced in behind, but he lobbed the ball wide of the left post.
However, the visitors took the lead six minutes later through Takumi Ofuka, who made room for a shot in the left of the box and picked out the top right corner.
The hosts remained a threat, and in the 16th minute, knitted together a neat move on the left with Bai Antoniou heading narrowly over.
Two minutes later, Spirit scored their second as Okubo deftly clipped the ball over on-rushing Mackenzie Syron, putting the league leaders in a commanding position early on.
It only got better for Spirit midway through the half. Okubo held off Rocco Smith’s challenge in the left of the area, keeping his composure and slotting the ball into the right of the goal.
St George responded to this early Spirit surge half an hour in when Gianni Di Pizio fired a long-range effort that Marques parried behind.
Spirit took their three-goal lead into the break, looking likely to earn their place in the 2025 Australian Championship.
Soon after halftime, Di Pizio sought to get St George off to the best possible start but blazed a shot from close range over.
Despite a positive start to the second half for the hosts, the game soon settled down with chances becoming more limited.
In the 74th minute, Okubo came close to a hat-trick, pouncing on Syron’s spilt cross, but lashing the ball over the crossbar from the right of the box.
Spirit’s early flurry proved sufficient for the visitors to secure a comfortable victory on a rainy Tuesday night.
Spirit have now qualified as New South Wales’ representatives for the 2025 Australian Championship, being the highest-ranked side in the NPL Men’s NSW outside of the Foundation Clubs.
Match Stats
St George FC 0
NWS Spirit FC 3 (Takumi Ofuka 9’, Yu Okubo 18’ 22’)
Tuesday 19 August 2025
Barton Park, Banksia
St George FC: 99. Mackenzie Syron, 2. Rocco Smith, 3. Troy Danaskos, 5. Nicholas Kalogerou, 9. Chan Yelchan (28. Jesper Webber 59’), 10. Jaden Casella, 15. Bai Antoniou, 16. Kaidyn Wright, 18. Gianni Di Pizio (13. Sunday Yona 68’), 23. Javier Rodriguez (19. Nikola Skataric 68’), 27. Jayden Seeto
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Daniel Axford, 34. Kota Toyooka, 40. Hassan Kamberovic
Yellow Cards: Gianni Di Pizio 10’, Javier Rodriguez 56’, Kaidyn Wright 71’
Red Cards: Nil
NWS Spirit FC: 1. Christopher Marques, 4. Bradie Smith (20. Austin Oates 86’), 6. Corey Kavanagh, 7. Frankie Ljucovic, 9. Yu Okubo (32. Samuel Mills 86’), 10. Michael Konestabo (17. Jacob Chidiac 69’), 11. Ollie Wiggin, 13. Simon Nicholas, 16. Charlie Broomhead, 18. Andre Takami (47. Jonathan Flood 86’), 22. Takumi Ofuka (19. Zayne Ahluwalia 76’)
Substitutes Not Used: 12. Jay Coates
Yellow Cards: Bradie Smith 52’, Charlie Broomhead 72’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Yu Okubo (NWS)
2 – Takumi Ofuka (NWS)
1 – Ollie Wiggin (NWS)
Report by Tim Gibson
