Rockdale City have fired a warning shot to the rest of the NPL 1 competition with an impressive 1-0 win over title-chasing Sydney Olympic on Sunday.
Alec Urosevski popped up to give the Suns the lead with 11 minutes to play at the Ilinden Sports Centre as Rockdale held off a late Olympic surge to secure the three points.
The loss saw Olympic fall from the top the table to second while Rockdale have climbed into the NPL 1 top five.
Rockdale’s clean sheet was further evidence of their improving defence. While they have still conceded the most goals in the competition, they have now not conceded a goal four times in their last nine games.
Rockdale player-coach Paul Reid was delighted with the result which, after a slow start to the season, will have the rest of the league on notice.
“I thought we thoroughly deserved the win,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be tough but the boys were brilliant today.
“It’s two wins in a row now. We’ve got a week off and we’ve got a few sore boys but they’ll have plenty of time to rest now and be ready to back up against Marconi in a couple of weeks.”
The Suns have warmed into the season, highlighted by their run to the national round of 32 of the FFA Cup. Should they reach the NPL 1 finals they will be confident of inflicting damage.
Meanwhile, with the NPL 1 competition enjoying a week off for the Waratah Cup final, Rockdale will hold their junior gala day on Sunday.
The annual event will take place on the club’s synthetic playing surface for the first time and is open to all children in the under-6 to under-8 age groups.
Limited places are still available across all grades for the non-competitive matches. More than 50 teams took part last year, coming from all over Sydney, with the event sanctioned by St George Football Association and Football NSW.
Details, registration: rcsfc.com.au
