Sydney FC 3 Kaya FC 1
Thursday night football returned to Kogarah and Sydney FC sent out the young guns for a dead rubber in the Asian Champions League 2, with second place in group E already secured. A meaningless kickabout to some, this was a fabulous evening where Sydney FC youth made their impression on and off the field, the youth stepping up in the Cove while the three points were taken care of on the pristine Jubilee Oval pitch by a talented team of young players.
Always a challenge getting across Sydney for a 7pm kick off, and tonight was exacerbated by some incident or other at Redfern Station that had the trains rolling on slo-mo, and then some ill-timed lane-changes trying to find the right tunnel entrance as we headed out of the city. As a result, we were parked up in the tightest car spot at 6.55pm and wandered to our former home into the glaring sun with the sound of the Cove urging us on. We got into the stadium right on kick off, having missed the line-ups, but not too late to join in with We Are Sydney, which echoed around the undercover section we had been allocated this evening.
A game with no incentive this may have been, but for the Cove, this was an opportunity to give some old and new faces a go as capo, and the mood was buoyant, as if the game did actually have a lot riding on it. This was a good turn out too. The fresh faces on the field, a mixture of established youth and proper youth, made recognising some players in sky blue quite tricky, but the unmistakable figure of Paddy Wood led the line, and the back four was remarkably close to a first team line-up.
The referee looked like a character you would see refereeing an NPL youth grade game on a Sunday morning; he started by giving a free-kick every time a Kaya player hit the deck, but got wise to the visitors’ antics and waved away a number of non-challenges as the Philippines team struggled to make their play-acting convincing. The chants were banging from the Sydney fans, so much so that most of the chants were EPs, continuing on after the drum had stopped, much to the amusement of everyone. Fuck off Kaya was one of them, as well as the Lo lo lo ole ole song that no-one really knows the words to.
Sydney FC toiled and looked good in possession, relaxed as though they had all the patience in the world, although a series of corners did test the defence and there were some hairy moments. Jaiden Kuchaski struck the bar from long range, before Adrian Segecic smashed home from a scramble in the box. The goal was met with the Lo Lo verion of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from Symphony number 9 in D minor (that took some finding!) and a realisation that the syllables in Segecic don’t really fit into the Goal Scored By chant. There was impressive play on both flanks, but the final ball in was lacking conviction, so it was a lovely surprise when Paddy Wood was played in one-on-one with the Kaya keeper and took his chance with the level head of a 20-a-season striker, stroking the ball home first time.
The first half had been a lot of fun, and the fun would continue after the break. A swap of capo and drummer saw us start with Where We Go We Always Follow You, which continued through many false finishes as the new duo’s patience was tested. The songs were a touch quicker than the first half, the youth making sure that the tempo was right for them, and we had some replays of the same chants from the first half – there’s nothing wrong with that! On the field, captain for the night Hayden Matthews and central defensive partner Alex Popovic were replaced, with the welcome sight of Aaron Gurd back to the centre of defence. Livewire Tiago Quintal missed an absolute sitter right in front, before Jaiden Kucharski showed him how its done as the game was wrapped up with fifteen minutes to play.
Ufuk Talay was almost doing a jig as the game restarted, seeming to dance along to the Cove as he demonstrated what he wanted from his players. Forza Sydney FC started organically in the stands, which was a nice twist, and Sydney continued their dominance on the game. Kaya had more of the ball down both wings, Joel King falling to the ground at one point trying to convince the unmoved referee that he had been pushed, leaving a huge gap that almost led to a goal. Kaya wouldn’t be denied though, and Robert Lopez Mendy, who had been trying to con the officials all night with some comical crumbling to the floor, bundled the ball home from close range. Harrison Devenish-Meares was livid.
Gurd managed to sell his keeper short soon after the restart as Sydney began to creak, Devenish-Meares doing brilliantly to save the day. There was a worrying sight as Quintal set off to hunt down a ball in the corner and pulled up lame, all the subs having been used. The final whistle was greeted with cheers, the players coming across quickly for a linked arm celebration and a Super Sydney FC, before the Cove broke off into a Central Coast Away pogo dance, in recognition of the Hawaiian beach day on Sunday up at Gosford as the A-League resumes and we get our star players back.
This had been a fabulous evening. The Cove were magnificent, the chants were delivered with extra gusto and everyone was having fun with it. There was enough space in the stand for fans to relocate to the far end to cach the second half’s attacking action. The quality of the football on the park was high, despite this being a patchwork team, and we got to see some names of the future in Sky Blue. The players were happy to meet and greet the fans who hung around afterwards, even the non-playing members of the squad joining in, and they were still going when the seccies started asking us to leave. Maxi Burgess and Margaux Chauvet gave us confirmation of their status as the football power couple, while Kamijo Wataru was searching the crowd for someone he expected to be there. All smiles as we left Kogarah. The journey home was full of roadworks which added some time to waht should have been a straightforwad journey, but we were back soon after 10pm in the North Western suburbs of our fine city, thanks to the early kick off.
Thanks for reading. You weren’t there were you? When the draw for the last 16 comes up and we score a plum tie against one of Asia’s greats, do yourself a favour and get along to support your famous Sydney FC as they look to conquer the continent. Stay alert for the draw next Wednesday, we could be off to Jordan, Singapore or Iran. Bring it on.