Sydney FC 1 Melbourne City 1
Sydney FC women’s team, the current A-League champions, took on the current A-League leaders at the jewel in the crown of Sydney’s boutique stadiums, and produced a carbon copy of the Unite round fixture to throw away the lead in familiar circumstances. A post-Newcastle-away mood was brought to life by birthday capo MMTV, and the Cove roared through ninety minutes to help Sydney notch a precious point in Leichhardt. Plenty going on in the Sydney camp, is this a turning point for our season of discontent?
There were already familiar faces at the gate at 2.45pm as the players arrived, but I was there simply to jag a car spot before heading to the pub. The only pub within walking distance of Leichhardt Oval, the Orange Grove Hotel, is a friendly enough place, but it is so out of tune with the football, it’s not funny. With a 5pm Sunday kick off, the kitchen closed at 3pm just as people were arriving and we ended up with a liquid lunch before heading earlier than usual to the stadium. First world problems I know, but if there was interest from venue or club, we could really make this a proper pre-game venue. We arrived to a decent crowd at the gate, being met by the personal touch of membership Shane, and, avoiding the stray shooting from the Melbourne City team warming up at the south end, headed to the Cove. The days of the Cove under cover in the stand are over, and we were back in the old faithful shady spot in the corner, away from the families and kids.
With Newcastle away still ringing in our heads, capo MMTV was determined to make this a noisy home game, and we were in full voice from the moment the teams walked out onto the hallowed field, We Are Sydney echoing off the main stand. It was hot. It was muggy. The players would feel it, and they would need that extra support to give the classy league leaders a run for their money.
Margot Chauvet was in the middle of midfield, and was lively, Shea Connors was up front to cause mayhem and the timid Lucy Johnson retained her spot ahead of forgotten woman Mackenzie Hawkesby. Indeed, as the subtitutes went through their paces in front of us, the Hawk had a face of either steely determination or thunder. Either way, she was going to kick arse when she came on. Melbourne City boasted a team of stars, Taylor Otto the height at the back and some quality going forward. This would be a huge test.
After Matildas star Brylee Henry had prodded a shot just past the post early on, it was Sydney on the offensive, and we hit the bar at the far end, some quick thinking and direct play giving Indiana Dos Santos a chance to thump the ball goalwards, and the keeper may hav even touched it onto the bar. Our tails were up. The positivity continued when Connors squared a ball for Johnson. She was way outside the area but sorted out her feet and strode on to hit the ball first time. We watched from behind as the ball rose and rose until it nestled into the top corner of the net, an unbelievable strike that no one could have foreseen. What a hit!
Dos Santos was through again on the strike of half time, cutting inside to rattle the bar again and Sydney were unfortunate to be only a goal ahead at the break. We had club CEO Mark Aubrey down at the Cove to wish our fearless capo a happy birthday, the waters were flowing, and the drum underwent a tape makeover to improve the acoustics in the second half.
The second half was a nail-biter. The dangerous Mariana Speckmaier tickled the post at the far end with Tahlia Franco beaten within a minute, and that set the scene for an onslaught. Sydney didn’t seem to get a sniff of the ball, and when they did on the wings, the delivery had no conviction. An hour played, this would be a case of hanging on, and that’s when we went and shot ourselves in the foot once again. A routine ball back to Franco was wildly sliced into the path of superstar Holly McNamara, who showed poise to roll the ball inside for her teammate to finish. Honestly, we’ve got to do better – the defence was nowhere to be seen, and we’ve got to be more vigilant if we’re relying on our accident-prone goalkeepers.
Sydney had a good chance soon after, substitute Hawkesby hanging one up, where Tori Tumeth man-handled her player to the ground in a WWE move to make space for a header, captain Nat Tobin challenged and the ball fell for Princess Ibini, with a chance that Anthony Caceres dispatched so elegantly the day before, but she flashed her shot well over the bar. There were half-chances for both teams, Hawkesby making the City keeper get down low to push one away, but the belief in Sydney’s wide players was low and they couldn’t make the best of some good situations.
A final score of 1-1, Sydney having gone ahead only to be pegged back by a goalkeeping howler, was exactly the same outcome as the last time these two teams met. Surely if we can match it with the league pace-setters, we can start turning the screw on the teams closer to us at the bottom of the table.
The sight of Abby Lemon and Amber Luchtmeijer warming up until the very end was heart-wrenching, and the players seemed reluctant to come over and acknowledge the Sydney Women’s Cove. A blast on the drum finally got the girls over, and a rendition of Happy Birthday for our capo extraordinaire was sung by players and fans together, Tori the only player to say hello and enjoy a well-earned Pokemon cup cake from The German’s bakery collection.
As is now tradition, the players stayed out to interact with the fans. Results don’t matter, it’s all about PR, and if a young fan leaves with a good memory of meeting a Sydney FC player, the more likely it will be that they come back next time. There were a lot of Melbourne City shirts in the seats in the main stand, a number of players having their family and friends in Sydney make it to this fixture and the mood was a happy family one to leave the stadium.
Taking a wrong turn in the car park, I ended up exactly where I wanted to be, going in the wrong direction, but we were soon en route back home, a short 20-minute drive over the Gladesville bridge to catch the Wanderers epic game against Melbourne Victory on TV. This had been a good day. A celebration of a major milestone birthday for one of our own and a good recovery from a major away fixture the day before, the Sydney FC team played well without really asserting their authority, and the signs are there that we can ressurect this failing season and get back to winning ways. Look out A-League, the Sky Blues are on the up.
See you in a few weeks. We take an ill-timed break to catch some UK football now and to escape this infernal summer. Forza Sydney FC, hasta la vista!