Sydney FC 3 Perth Glory 2
The spirit of Kogarah returned to the Cove on Saturday as a low-key fixture with Perth Glory turned into one of the all-time classic footballing occasions at Allianz Stadium. On the back of a home Sydney derby defeat and an overall poor start to the season, expectations were low coming into this third game of the Ufuk Talay era, but what looked like a routine home victory at half time turned into a magical experience for every fan at the venue.
Running a little late, we set off from Meadowbank Station at 5.30pm, breezing into the Crown Hotel not long after 6.15pm for a couple of drinks to start the evening. Michelle had won a prize from the Cove’s season opening raffle and got her hands on the merch, a signed women’s jersey, so cool. Got to be in it to win it. The crowd had thinned out already, most fans heading to the stadium early. With our mate Billy in tow, we left in good time to walk the route of the usual march, across the bridge and up the steps to Allianz Stadium, after having a guess at how many balls were in the boot of the car.
A young goalkeeper was guarding the inflatable goal outside the gate, saving everything his peers could throw at him, and we entered our gate quickly, the crowd being much smaller than the last fixture here. The Cove was in place, the Paramount+ pundits had their desk in the corner, and the players were still warming up. Our section in Cove Heights was almost deserted, and our fears of a low crowd appared to be justified. Hopefully the action on the field would save the day.
Sydney got off to an horrific start. They were second best to the ball and Perth managed to hit the post with Rhyan Grant and Andrew Redmayne getting lucky. Former striker Luke Ivanovic showed exactly why Sydney FC offloaded him by screwing a shot past the post when he had a free shot on goal, and there were groans around the stadium as Perth continued to boss the opening stages, albeit with no reward. Sporting their new Harbour Splash third kit to boost sales before Christmas, the players were matched by their fans wearing the new Cove designs, “100% Sydney Shit” perhaps too confusing a motif for the less down-with-the-kids demographic in the crowd.
Shooting towards the huge empty bank of away fans, Sydney did manage to turn the game around completely after their treacherous opening, and took the lead when Joe Lolley’s attempted finish was saved, and the ball eventually fell back to the classy winger, who bent the ball around the keeper and into the top corner of the net for a glorious opening goal.
There had already been some action in the home end, some unsuspecting overseas casuals not adhering to the “Sing or Fuck Off” mantra of Bay 23 and being put in their place, the boys in blue intervening to prevent any nonsense, and the intensity of the Cove went up another notch. Now buoyant after seeing their team take the lead, the fans were again thrilled just before the break when Robert Mak picked up the ball outside the area and dribbled through a sea of players, somehow coming out with the ball, and his clever shimmy saw him make the space to shoot into the corner of Cameron Cook’s goal for 2-0. The half-time whistle brought a peculiarly undulating first half to a close and Sydney FC were for once in the driving seat at home.
The first sign of what was to come was the failure of the half-time heroes to appear – they were from our association this week, and we were looking forward to seeing some familiar shirts in action. However, it turned out that lightning was in the area and it was too dangerous to send the kids out. I walked around and said hello and thanks for coming to Big Red, Perth Glory’s legendary away fan, who was doing his best to give his team a presence tonight. Still no half time heroes, all the security and photographers had gone, and as I quickened the pace to make it back to my seat by the end of half time, the message came over the PA that the game had been delayed. Conditions were perfect for football right now, but lightning had been flashing in the sky behind the Western Stand and we would need to wait for a resumption.
So the Sydney FC fans did what they do best, and that was to entertain themselves. The TV crew raced out to bring in their desk and any equipment – there must have been a tip-off of some wild weather to come. When the rain came it was a monsoon. The promise that all seats were protected from the elements by the roof, a hollow promise that has been proven false many times already, was again underlined as the Cove copped a drenching and the fans on all other sides made for the cover of the concourse. Shirts off in the Cove, came the chant as the fans mocked the rainstorm conditions. Cove drummer and Cove capo swapped roles, a medley of songs over the PA was sung along to and the mood was definitely one of party and celebration. Plenty of time for more beers, some fans played keep-up in the concourse to while away the time, and the rumours swirled about how long the window would be to restart the game before evening noise curfews kicked in.
When the second half finally got underway, it was 10.30pm, a good two hours after the first half had ended. This was definitely the latest we’d seen Sydney FC play. We were suitably refreshed, the last of the food had been bought from the remaining outlets that were open, and the game restarted after a comical pitch inspection and a once-over with a roller to squeeze out the moisture in the penalty area. Sydney were all over their opponents, but half-time Glory sub Stefan Colakovski’s blushes were spared when he scuffed a shot wide of the open goal with Redders on the floor injured, World Cup referee Ali Faghani blowing for the foul. When Adam Taggart found himself in acres of space to slot home, all eyes were on the assistant referee, and the players expected an offside outcome from the VAR. Incredibly the goal stood and Sydney FC had put themselves right back into the contest, letting their fellow strugglers find a way back to within a goal of parity. Still not convinced that was onside.
The third Sydney goal, when it came, was a relief. Some enterprise out wide, a lovely ball from Fabio to sub Mitchell Glasson, and a scuffed shot that came off the last defender and wrong-footed Cook in goal, and the ball rolled home, Glasson giving it the full Josh Kennedy in front of the home fans before his delighted teammates caught up to join the celebration. Brilliant! Surely the game was sewn up, but of course not… moments later Oli Bozanic curled in a free-kick from out wide, the set-piece equivalent of an Olimpico, into the top corner of the goal to embarrass Redders, and the two-goal cushion was whipped away again.
Thankfully, that was it. There was a bit of injury time, nothing too stressful, but the final whistle was greeted with excitement and relief. The horribly awkward post-match scenes from the derby last week had been averted, and the players hastily gathered to celebrate with the fans, conscious of the late hour and the desire to wrap up this epic occasion.
Michelle had a chat with new CEO Mark Aubrey, the players were very open to photos and signatures, but with the clock well after 11pm, it was time to head off home, and we did so with a spring in our step.
There were plenty of Light Rail trams to take us back to Central, the nearby Good Things festival in Centennial Park having been shut down early, and from there we got lucky with the changeover and were home some time after midnight, passing the Night buses to remind us just how late it was.
This had been a fabulous evening’s entertainment. A seemingly routine victory in front of a meagre crowd had turned into one big party, shirts off and dancing in the rain, and this one will be remembered for a long time to come by everyone in attendance at Allianz Stadium tonight. Forza Sydney FC!