North West Sydney Spirit competed in a tough Australia Cup match on Wednesday night against 2024 A-League Men Grand Finalists Melbourne Victory at Christie Park. It was a comfortable 4–0 win for Victory, who deployed a strong starting line-up to progress to the quarter-finals. Spirit was the last New South Wales side competing in the Cup and went on a brave run, which added to the club's successes over the past two years since they earned promotion into the NPL NSW.
The NWS Spirit team that started on a historic night for the club against A-League Men giants Melbourne Victory. (Image: Harley Appezzato)
In the opening minutes of their Australia Cup Round of 16 clash, NWS Spirit and Melbourne Victory traded possession before Patrick Kisnorbo's side took control and dominated the remainder of the game. It would not take long before the professional side took a comfortable 2–0 lead into half-time and eventually doubled this advantage by the end of the 90 minutes.
Despite a heavy defeat, the match provided valuable insights for NWS Spirit while highlighting the club's progress in its second appearance in the Australia Cup Final Rounds. Reflecting on the clash, head coach David Perkovic noted it as a loss against better opposition but a stepping stone for the squad.
"I think at this stage of the A-League season, they [have] arguably got the best squad in the country. It was always going to be a tough challenge," Perkovic told Front Page Football.
"I'm pleased that my players got the experience, especially the younger ones. They will learn from it and know what that level is."
New Melbourne Victory striker Nikos Vergos taps home his first goal for the club, their third on the night. (Image: Harley Appezzato)
Unfortunately, Perkovic was missing the presence of a few crucial players, namely Gianni Bouzoukis (a highly coveted signing from New Zealand who has not featured since April), among others who had been ruled out after a long NPL NSW season. Perkovic led his side to a 10th-place finish in the league, an improvement from last season, where they finished 11th.
It reflected a campaign in which Spirit dealt with the loss of players throughout. However, Perkovic can see his side's gradual improvement since earning promotion in 2022 and will look ahead to more success, indicating the club's growing ambition in the NPL.
"That has kind of been a little bit about our season. We've had some unlucky injuries," Perkovic said.
"But over the last couple of years, we've gotten promoted and reached the Round of 32 (in the Australia Cup) a couple of seasons ago, and this season, Round of 16, which is a great success, so we will keep building on what we are doing.
"We are obviously doing something right in the cup competitions, and in our second season in the NPL, we have improved our position from last year. We'll do a review later this week of the whole season, look for where we need to improve, plan our pre-season, and go again. That's the only way forward for us."
With the 2025 season now the club's primary focus, recruitment will also be pivotal in helping the team iron out the issues from this season.
In addition, NWS Spirit has the opportunity to utilise its youth system and develop young players for the first team. For the match against Melbourne Victory, the bench featured players from the Under 20s side to fill in the absence of a few senior players, including NPL NSW Under 20s top goalscorer Noah Peacock.
"Tonight was a great example; we started an Under 20s player and brought on another two. For their development and for what our club is, that's success for us," Perkovic said.
Perkovic believes it is pivotal for the club to start trusting in its youth players and give them opportunities.
"At this level of football, we have to. We've got one of our boys going to an A-League club in the off-season, so really excited for him. If we can develop players and move them on to bigger and better things, that's fantastic, and in that span of time, if we can win some things, that would be great as well," he added.
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NWS Spirit FC youngster Kyah Williams is embraced by people in the crowd post-match. (Image: Harley Appezzato)
In a way, the 2024 Australia Cup run culminated an incredible two-year journey for NWS Spirit, who came from the second division of state league football to compete against one of Australia's elite clubs.
Since that 2022 season, when the club achieved promotion and won the Waratah Cup, Spirit has improved each season and will continue to be one of the most intriguing clubs to watch during the 2025 NPL NSW season.
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