Ilinden and Spirit battle for point
Rockdale Ilinden and NWS Spirit FC have shared the points with a 1-1 draw at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon.
It was an exciting opening to the match, with some exciting end-to-end football early on Sunday afternoon.
The biggest chance in the first 15 minutes well the way of NWS Spirit, when Shoki Yoshida broke in behind Rockdale’s defence.
Bearing down on goal, with Rockdale defenders backtracking and teammates in support, Yoshida opted for a low, near-post effort, and couldn’t find the target.
But it was the home side who opened the scoring after 22 minutes, with Lochlan Constable netting an exceptional goal to give his side the lead.
Rockdale’s new striker James Temelkovski picked up the ball on transition and drove forwards, before pausing to survey his options.
He spotted the run of Constable and found the midfielder with a pinpoint pass.
Constable spun past his man with a deft, elegant touch, and from an acute angle, blasted a shot perfectly into the back of the net, leaving Jay Coates with no chance whatsoever.
Seven minutes later, Spirit went close to finding an equaliser, after a deep freekick caused chaos in Rockdale’s box.
The ball in from Andre Takami was punched clear by Levi Kaye, but fell into the path of Callum Kealy, who headed the ball towards goal.
With Kaye out of the picture, and Kealy’s effort on target, it looked as though scores would be levelled, but Lachlan Griffiths – with the help of the crossbar – cleared the ball off the line.
Spirit continued to look threatening with the ball and in transition but couldn’t generate any meaningful shots before halftime.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half continued to excite, with Rockdale looking dominant with their quality off set pieces and defensive discipline.
But in the 68th minute, Spirit found their equaliser, with Sam Armson netting a big goal for the away side.
The play started with a throw-in for Rockdale in their own half, which saw Spirit win the ball back rapidly.
Armson attempted a pass into the feet of Kealy, and after a Rockdale interception and instant reaction from Yoshida, the ball ended up at the striker’s feet.
Kealy spotted Armson, who had continued a run forwards, and slid the ball into his path.
With his first touch, Armson made no mistake, finding the back of the net with a composed finish.
The last 20 minutes featured plenty of excitement, with both sides pushing for what would be a massive three points.
However, neither could find the winner, and points were split at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre.
Match Stats
Rockdale Ilinden FC 1 (Constable 22’)
NWS Spirit FC 1 (Armson 68’)
Sunday 5 July, 2026
Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre
Referee: Rowan Fisher
Assistant Referees: Sam Stewart and Calum Gamper
Fourth Official: Tom Love
Rockdale Ilinden FC: 1. Levi Kaye, 2. Hunter Elliott, 3. Lachlan Griffiths, 4. Reo Kunimoto (14. Dean Pelekanos 75’), 5. Giorgio Speranza, 8. Jerry Skotadis (22. Harry McCarthy 82’), 9. Moudi Najjar, 10. Brendan Cholakian (C), 11. Lochlan Constable (7. Ollie Wiggin 75’), 17. James Temelkovski (27. Lukas Ribarevski 75’), 26. Harry Van der Saag
Substitutes Not Used: 15. Stefan Simonoski, 16. Michael Marcevski, 21. Ronan Mulgrew
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
NWS Spirit FC: 12. Jay Coates, 2. Aiden Mostofi, 3. Kyah Williams, 4. Bradie Smith, 7. Shoki Yoshida (22. Stavros Tseres 86’), 9. Callum Kealy (21. Noah Peacock 68’), 10. Kosta Petratos, 13. Simon Nicholas (C), 15. Sam Armson, 17. Riku Kobayashi, 18. Andre Takami (6. Corey Kavanagh 68’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Christopher Marques, 5. Owen Henderson, 8. Grant Cornwell, 32. Thomas Mason
Yellow Cards: Petratos 47’
Red Cards: None
Player ratings:
3 – James Temelkovski (RI)
2 – Sam Armson (NWS)
1 – Lochlan Constable (RI)
-By Jack George
