Rockdale keeps it in sight

Goals came thick and fast in the early stages as the 2023 Player of the Year and Golden Boot award winner, club captain Alec Urosevski opened the scoring for the hosts in the 9th minute thanks to a great ball from Giorgio Speranza.

Four minutes later Jake Chidiac equalised for the visitors and it was game on.

The hosts hit the lead in the 52nd minute as Ante Bakmaz, handballed in the box which awarded Rockdale a spot-kick.

Urosevski stepped up and the "Baker" made no mistake as Ilinden hit the lead again.

Things then got a whole lot harder for Spirit as Chidiac received another caution for a foul on Mathieu Cordier after 62 minutes leaving NWS Spirit with 10-men for the rest of the match.

Kyah Williams was then unfortunate to turn the ball into his own net moments later to extend Rockdale's lead to 3-1, with Urosevski joining Nathanael Blair (WSW) on top of the goal scoring ladder with eight.

Rockdale coach Paul Dee was happy with his side securing three valuable points following a tough run during the week with ill players.

"It was a good win and I was happy with the way we kept going, especially after the week we've had internally but that's not an excuse.

"We stuck to our principles and stuck to our game against a tough opponent.

"Happy we scored three goals and got the win as that was always the aim of course plus I'm happy with our defending and attacking threat so there are plenty of positives to take from the game, particularly in the latter stages we created enough chances to win the game more emphatically but we didn't take them."

Wanderers Nathanael Blair helped them to continue their dream start to the season with another win, beating St George FC 4-2, after trailing twice early on with two low driven goals from Troy Danaskos and Conor Quilligan.

But the home side showed their character both times by almost immediately responding, with equalisers from Alexander Badolato and Zac Sapsford.

They took the lead just before half time with a second from Sapsford, before a goal from their talisman Nathanael Blair sealed St George's fate in the second half to keep them atop of the NPL Men's NSW ladder.

St George City didn't play on the weekend but APIA Leichhardt FC secured their three points with a smashing 7-0 victory over a hapless Sutherland Sharks outfit at Seymour Shaw on Saturday to keep them last.