Rockdale City are close to another national FFA Cup run, with a win against Hakoah Sydney City East tomorrow night enough to propel them back onto the national stage.
The Suns starred in the FFA Cup in 2015, reaching the final 16 before being eliminated by then A-League champions Melbourne Victory.
It was a massive night for St George football as almost 5,000 spectators made the trip to Jubilee Oval, Kogarah to watch as Victory edged a tight contest 3-2.
Rockdale welcome fellow NPL 1 side Hakoah to the Ilinden Sports Centre on the back of some indifferent form. While the Suns went unbeaten in the first eight rounds of the league season, they then went on a run of three consecutive defeats where they failed to score a goal.
They got back to winning ways with a comprehensive 2-0 win against a young Sydney FC side on Sunday.
Despite signing former Socceroos goalkeeper Ante Covic Rockdale have conceded more goals than they would have liked. Before the game against the young Sky Blues, Rockdale had conceded 18 goals in 11 games, only the seventh best defensive record in the competition.
Player-coach Paul Reid, who will miss the clash with a fractured elbow, told the Leader tightening up at the back was his side’s number one priority ahead of their quest to reach the national round of 32.
“We’ve got to be a bit more consistent. We’re conceding too many goals and we do speak about it,” he said.
“We need to be more tight defensively and stop conceding goals because we know we’ll score goals.
“Ante has been very good for us. Obviously his experience is second to none. His leadership on the field as well. In terms of conceding goals it starts from the front for me. There are times when we’ve been a bit slow to react all over the park. Throughout the season we’ve only kept one clean sheet in the first 11 games.
“It’s an area we need to do better.”
The Suns downed Hakoah 3-2 in their round four NPL 1 clash earlier this season.
Before their mini drought in front of goal, Rockdale’s front three of Jordan Figon, Alec Urosevski and Harris Gaitatzis had proved deadly, scoring 20 times between them in the opening eight rounds.
The problem for the Suns is that the rest of the team had only managed three goals between them ahead of the win over Sydney FC.
“We couldn’t miss in the first eight rounds,” Reid said.
“It’s pleasing those boys have been scoring but the rest of us have got to contribute more.
“We’re still creating chances. We’re just not hitting the back of the net. Teams have been sitting back against us. For the first eight rounds games were quite open and suited the way we play.
“The last few weeks teams have been sitting back, hitting us on the break and taking their chances. We need to be a bit more tight when we do lose the ball and a bit more patient with the ball. Stop rushing things and understand we’ve got to break teams down.”
Kick-off is at 7.30pm.
