Sydney FC Women 1 Canberra United Women 1
The A-League’s bottom team came to Leichhardt Oval and gave Sydney FC something to think about as the Sky Blues’ striker stocks ran out and they had to improvise in a game that they could easily have lost. Aideen Keane’s half-time departure following her first-half goal meant that regular defender Kirsty Fenton was thrust up front to try and unsettle the comfortable Canberra defence, but it was teammate Charlotte Mclean who came closest with a late shot that brought back memories of Ally Green, the goalkeeper’s fingertips just enough to prevent an injury-time wonder goal.
The evening started at the Orange Grove Hotel, the O.G., deep in Wests Tigers territory, the only pub really within walking distance of Leichhardt Stadium, with a hearty meal, a pint and a chat with fellow Sydney FC women die-hards. Leaving with plenty of time to spare, we passed the Canberra United team bus, parked a good way from the stadium, obviously no room in the car park for the visitors, maybe mindgames by the Sydney FC hierarchy, who knows?
The classic stadium entrance, evoking memories of suburban football grounds in the UK, Queens Park Rangers and Fulham spring to mind, was busy and a decent crowd was forming ahead of an attractive game – Sydney FC on the up after their difficult start and Canberra United boasting true superstars in Cote Rojas and Michelle Heyman, all happening during the school holidays to attract a young fanbase. The Leichhardt Oval field was looking so good, all credit to the groundskeepers, and the cloud coverage made this a perfect evening for football.
A quick walk around the stadium saw Sydney FC firing shots at their two goalkeepers. This was the first sign of a striker crisis, and many shots ended up in the stand behind the goal, Mackenzie Hawkesby though finishing with laser precision. Perhaps she would be deployed up front? More fans were spilling in, kick off not too far away now, and there was preparation for a birthday celebration happening on halfway on the Wayne Pearce Hill side.
Sydney FC’s hawk was in full costume, Mum even joining in the fun with her inflatable number; our Macca must be impressed with the support from her most ardent of fans, and relieved that they didn’t bin the costumes in despair when she joined the WSL. We joined the throng in the upper level of the main stand, way at the far end, the Cove assembling to bring the noise and passion to a lovely midweek atmosphere.
The players all lined up, we were shocked to see Charlotte Mclean not playing, before realising that the young lady looking after the mascots had the same hairstyle as our central defensive lynchpin and that she was indeed playing. Why Charlotte Mclean would be looking after the mascots is the question. “We Are Sydney” was belted out, and continued through the line-ups all the way through the kick-off and well into the game. The drum had been tamed since our last visit here and was behaving, the drum maestro having curtailed his Christmas holiday to come back to the rescue. Bravo!
Sydney FC looked lively. Abby Lemon was doing her best to fill Cortnee Vine’s space on the right and Princess Ibini seemed to be full of running. The connection between midfield and attack was the problem, mirroring the Steve Corica era in the men’s where all the good approach play would lead to nothing, and the moves tended to break down. In fact there was a great deal of loose play from both sides, Shay Hollman rolling a ball straight out of play and the Canberra team guilty of similar wasteful moments. What an absolute blast it was then to see a tenacious tackle in midfield from Hollman, Hawkesby play in Keane, who finished like a seasoned pro for her first Sydney FC goal. The Cove erupted and there was no respite from the singing.
Moments later Ibini darted in front of her player to win a header and set off on goal. Her reluctance to take on the final player saw her cut inside and roll the ball to Keane, but her shot was weak and straight at Chloe Lincoln. Charlotte Mclean smashed a shot way over and Ibini had another glorious chance to run and finish, but cut inside and was blocked. The equalising goal, when it came, was fabulous. There had been a few moments when the left side of the Sydney defence was left unattended, and it was exposed by a long searching ball to set the right winger away. Heyman was unmarked in the middle and realised how much space she had, but it would take an immediate no-look ball to find her. That’s what transpired, a glorious first-time ball into the run of Heyman and she made no mistake with the finish. It was a wonderful goal from back to front and there were no complaints from the crowd, witnessing a superb passage of football.
Half time was upon us soon after, and the half-time heroes took the field. Talk of Teigan Collister was rewarded when the lively winger was brought on in place of Keane, who must have picked up an injury, and kicking off for the second half was defender Fenton – surely she wasn’t playing up front? Oh yes she was, and it made complete sense, sending someone with presence up top to disrupt and annoy.
The second half was entertaining. Sydney FC did everything they could to get the winner. Fenton had a shot pushed over, just as the fans were realising that she was actually playing up front. Mackenzie Hawkesby pounced on a deflected shot from Taylor Ray only for Lincoln to save down low, Fenton unable to react quickly enough to the rebound. After a head clash had halted play in the Canberra penalty area, the play started to open up. There was space on the right for Collister, and Sydney FC were committing more to attack. That left massive holes for Canberra to exploit whenever they had the ball, but Heyman couldn’t shake off her markers. The impressive Vesna Milivojevic was a constant thorn in the Sydney defence, twisting and turning up the right and delivering a series of dangerous crosses, but Sydney survived. She picked the pocket of Taylor Ray and fed Heyman who looked odds-on to score, but the shot was dragged wide. Jada Whyman then leapt to win an aerial duel with Heyman as Canberra threatened to grab all the three points.
The Cove continued to sing their way through the second half, capo MMTV given an ‘excuse me’ by one of the younger members of the fray who picked up on a bit of colourful language, a moment which raised a lot of laughs. It was good to see extra fans joining in, however young.
Sydney FC had chances to win the game. Hawkesby ignored Collister in acres of space to shoot herself, the shot not troubling the Canberra goal, Ibini fired just over from a free kick, an exquisite corner from Hawkesby was mis-handled by Lincoln and the ball forced home by sub Janaya Dos Santos, but the referee had seen the rough-and-tumble Fenton’s expert bump to create the space for the shot and the whistle blew. The crowd were incensed – goalkeeping error surely – but Fenton had already looked at the referee in hope that the foul had been missed and the whistle was correct. Collister found room on the right again but ran out of pitch, fouling Lincoln in the process and we were resigned to dropping another two points at home, despite the fourth official indicating seven minutes of injury time.
When the ball was rolled to Mclean instead of making its way forward there seemed to be no danger, but the Sky Blue defender let rip from fully 30 yards. The ball flew towards goal and looked to be dipping into the far corner of the net, but Lincoln got across and pushed it over. The roof would have come off if that had gone in. Instead, the last few minutes played out, and the whistle finally blew on an exciting game, the crowd full of applause for both teams.
Former Sydney FC player Mary Stanic-Floody made her way to the far side and was serenaded with Happy Birthday to You, Charlotte Mclean eager to see what she got in her goodie bag, and it was a lovely reunion for Canberra’s Sydney girl. The awkward post-match period in a game when the team hasn’t won and doesn’t need to celebrate was over now and the players drifted to the fence to start the autograph signing session, the injured Cortnee Vine getting all the attention, but some of the younger players loving their moment in the sun, and it was a lovely scene.
The last of the fans were being ushered out of the stadium now, and we made our way back to the Orange Grove Hotel to jump in the car and make the short journey out to the north western suburbs, back at a thoroughly respectable 10pm. What a great evening. The mood was definitely holiday, Sydney FC had been found out with no strikers, and they were very close to succumbing to a defeat at home to the bottom club. We’ve seen it before and we’ll see it again, but in reality, this smelled like two points dropped.
Hey, join us for the next game. It’s an away game up the coast in Gosford against Central Coast Mariners this Sunday. It’ll be a cracker. It’s not that far, there are pubs close to the stadium. It’s our capo’s birthday! See you up there and bring your singing voices again!