UPDATE |
Rockdale City’s FFA Cup round of 32 clash with Sydney FC has been confirmed for Wednesday, August 1 – but a venue has not yet been decided on.
The match been selected for live broadcast on pay television, with kick-off scheduled for 7.30pm.
The FFA announced the match details on Monday, though the venue remained listed as “TBC”.
ORIGINAL STORY |
Rockdale City will resist temptation to move their highly-anticipated FFA Cup round of 32 clash with Sydney FC to Jubilee Oval with the Suns planning to welcome the Sky Blues to the Ilinden Sports Centre.
Rockdale were drawn against the A-League heavyweights and FFA Cup holders for the first national round – likely to be played on August 1 – on Tuesday night with the Suns and Sky Blues the last two balls to be plucked from the pot.
Suns officials expect a crowd between 5 and 6,000 to pack into the Bicentennial Park Stadium, with Rockdale’s newly-installed artificial pitch likely to give them added advantage.
It promises to be a momentous night for the St George Football Association club, who had only reached the national round once previously.
That was in 2015 when Rockdale made it to the round of 16 where they drew then reigning A-League champions Melbourne Victory. The Suns showed they could compete on the big stage, going down 3-2 in strongly-fought contest.
Rockdale were forced to host Victory at Jubilee Oval, Kogarah that night after the match was selected for live television broadcast due to Ilinden’s lack of sufficient lighting.
But Rockdale president Dennis Loether said the club were committed to hosting the match at their home and were in the process of acquiring the appropriate temporary lighting.
There will be added feeling in the Sydney derby with five Rockdale players having previously worn the Sky Blue including Daniel Petkovski, Trent McClenahan, Alec Urosevski, Bai Antoniou and player-coach Paul Reid. While the Suns also have former Western Sydney Wanderers goalkeeper Ante Covic between their sticks.
It was a particularly special draw for Reid, who has worked as Sydney FC’s community football manager since he finished playing at A-League level with the Sky Blues in 2013.
Reid told the Leader it would be the “biggest upset in FFA Cup history” should the Suns triumph over Sydney FC.
“I’m pretty excited, really,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a story. I would never have dreamed of it. I don’t know what the chances of us drawing each other were but I’m sure it was very minimal.
“It’s a great draw for Rockdale obviously. It gives our young players an opportunity to show their worth on that stage. I know our team and our club are excited.
“It’s what the cup is all about. A member federation club against a giant A-League team. It will be a great spectacle for the community. I hope all our junior players and St George Football Association juniors come along. I’m sure we’ll have a big fan base there and Sydney FC will bring The Cove. It should be an amazing atmosphere.
“I’ve said all along throughout my career that any team can beat anyone on their day. We’ve got a good enough squad to give Sydney a really tough game.
“Being at Rockdale will be an even better advantage for us. I can’t bring the pitch in at Rockdale like I did at Jubilee for Victory obviously with the lines painted on. But we’ll see what we can do so we can have it more to our advantage. Our players will be at peak fitness heading into the end of our season, Sydney FC only return for pre-season on July 2 so they’ll have only been training for four weeks.
“Anything is possible and I’ll be saying that to our players. Everyone knows in any sport anyone can beat anyone on their day.”
