Sydney FC 1 Brisbane Roar 1
A superb performance from Sydney FC after going down to ten men due to the contentious sending off of Jake Girdwood-Reich gave the fans plenty of cheer to round off the weekend at Allianz Stadium. When Robbie Mak netted for the home team in front of the Cove, an unlikely three points looked possible against Brisbane Roar, but a swift response by the impressive Henry Hore silenced the stadium and changed the complexion as Sydney were forced to defend for the rest of the game. On a weekend where Pride Round took top billing it was strange to see the stadium devoid of rainbow flags, but the football on the field did the talking and made the epic journey to the game well worth it.
You know when you try and fit too much into a day that it’s going to be frantic, however relaxed you seem to take it. That was the case on Sunday as we left Pluim Park on the Central Coast following a steaming hot NPL game at 3.45pm with the audacious plan of making it to Allianz Stadium in time for kick off. Typical heavy Sydney-bound traffic as the M1 goes to 90kmh was expected, and the plan of parking in Paddington morphed into finding a spot in the main Moore Park grass car park. An impressive tally of North Connex, Epping Road, Lane Cove Tunnel, Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Distributor tolls had me using the tag as a beeper to my exasperated cursing, and the look I gave the car park attendant in his tardis as he announced the $30 flat fee made him seem almost apologetic at capping off this most expensive Sydney road experience in style.
It’s surprising how many people don’t make kick off. We weren’t the last in the car park, taking our spot where the Holland fans hung out at the Women’s World Cup, there were plenty of people on Driver Avenue as we walked up to the stadium. The roar of the crowd could be heard between wind gusts and we went in via our proper gate, anticipating Gate 1 would turn us away. The Sydney FC marquee was being dismantled and we were about fifteen minutes late. Rails, in her official club attire from her game earlier in the day, was asked directions by someone at the gate, which gave us a laugh, and we made our way up to Cove Heights just as Sydney were defending a corner.
Michelle had just arrived too after her own train-replacement blighted journey from the North West – these early kick offs are really tricky sometimes – and of our ten member’s seats, only four were taken. A stadium employee came to check our tickets, something that has never happened, and it was then that Michelle noticed that there was an increased security presence in the stadium, more bodies clad in black around the field, as if something had changed since last week’s nonsense at Commbank Stadium.
By all accounts Sydney had been under the pump early in the game, and it wasn’t long before things turned for the worse, Jake Girdwood-Reich flying into a tackle as he often does, and catching tricky winger Nikola Mileusnic. A yellow card seemed harsh from our view, but the Roar player was down for a while, and we hadn’t noticed that the referee had gone to have a look at the monitor. The lengthy stoppage ended with the yellow card being rescinded and replaced by a red, much to the disgust of everyone in the home end.
The sight of crowd favourite Maxi Burgess dejectedly trudging off when Ufuk Talay was forced into a defensive change was heart-breaking – he’d battled so hard to get into the starting line-up and now he was off through no fault of his own, with Gabriel Lacerda a poor man’s replacement for the verve and excitement of the exciting midfield star. However, Sydney grabbed the initiative, and Lacerda looked composed, often left as the only defender at the far post to deal with the three Roar attackers buzzing around him. Anthony Caceres crossed brilliantly from the left up the far end, and I was out of my seat ready to punch the air when Fabio Gomes met the cross with a thumping header, but the ball crashed off the corner of post and bar and a great chance was missed.
Half-time was an opportunity to get settled. As another thrilling toddler race lined up and the half-time heroes did battle, I was filling up water bottles, grabbing a sushi snack – it’s the cheapest and tastiest thing in the stadium – and satisfying the energy craving with a guilt-free box of Krispy Kremes. What a gourmet feast! It was close to kick off when I get back to my seat, and the Brisbane players were out earliest, dodging the sprinklers that were still on full power. They were made to wait by Sydney FC, who must have been deep-diving into their tactics to work out how to break down the Roar defence.
The second half was a thriller. Gomes was traded for captain Luke Brattan, so Sydney would be without a recognised striker, but they took the lead in dramatic circumstances. An attack broke down in the area, but Jordan Courtney-Perkins slid in to win the ball back; Rhyan Grant played a casual ball to Robbie Mak dead central in the area, who tucked a clever shot home right in front of us, wrong-footing the Roar keeper for a thrilling opening goal. The more sceptical amongst us were expecting Courtney-Perkins to be penalised for the slide tackle from behind, but VAR was unfazed, and the goal stood, the boistrous celebrations on the field and in the stands continuing for some time as the Roar players waited patiently for kick off. It really is satisfying to take the lead when you’ve had a player sent off.
The joy was short-lived. Sub Jez Lofthouse, whose impact had seen his team go one down almost immediately, leapt at the far post to head against the post with Andrew Redmayne at full stretch. Moments later Sydney were slow to regroup and a low cross from the left fell perfectly for Hore, who smashed home unmarked from right in front for 1-1. The Cove were mid-chant, the rest of the stadium fell silent, it felt like there had been no goal at all, but it was definitely an equaliser.
The game was now out of Sydney’s control. There looked like being only one winner, and Roar were exploiting the space. A cross from the left looked nailed on for a winner with ten minutes to go, but Redders stood his ground and the shot was straight at him. The sight of our Socceroos hero thrashing around on the ground, trying to milk some non-existent contact with his head by the striker was eye-rollingly tame, and the big screens confirmed that he was indeed making the most of the time on the floor to eat up more minutes.
Corey Hollman was outstanding, and gave an all-action display. Luke Brattan finally managed to get the yellow card shown to a Roar player for persistent fouling, and Sydney were doing all they could to wrestle control back. Brattan stayed down after a perceived head-knock but it was the ball that hit him, and Joe Lolley’s spectacular flap in the air when half-challenging for a header was another cringeworthy attempt to win more down time. Lolley to be fair had won loads of headers out wide, and put in another fine performance before being replaced as we entered added time. Courtney-Perkins made a great block to preserve parity, and the Sydney players looked spent as the final whistle confirmed a precious point from a difficult game.
The Lo Lo chant accompanied the post-match celebrations, the Cove more than content with the result in such testing circumstances, and the players responded with applause for the fans, and went in for an extended autograph session to show their gratitude.
It was at this point that having an exhausted teenage daughter was running the risk of the world itself imploding in explosive fire, so we made our way round the stadium concourse and out into Driver Avenue with the crowds. No chance of savouring the post-match atmosphere tonight, and arriving back at the car suggested that there were hundreds of people who had seen even less of the game as ourselves, our car no longer at the back of the pack, but somewhere in the middle surrounded by fellow latecomers.
Today had been a challenge. The race against time was worth it to see our Boys in Blue battle hard with a man short, and if this means that Maxi misses out next week with Brattan coming back in, there’ll be some unhappy Sydney fans. $50 in tolls and parking was justified, and offset by not being on the beers today, despite having the thirst for a cold one. The sending-off helped shape the game for the spectator, and a potentially run-of-the-mill routine home game was thrown open the moment the red card was brandished. That’s why you simply cannot miss a game. Anything can happen. This is the A-League. And it’s f*cking brilliant.