Sydney FC 2 Wrexham FC 1
For those of us desperate for A-League action and those who like a good TV series, Tuesday night was the perfect winter warmer. A busy Allianz Stadium, bizarrely available now but not when the season starts, was rocking as the real-life Richmond FC rolled into town and every non-footballing Sydneysider was Welsh for one night only. The spectacle was superb, the Cove made themselves known around the world, and Sydney FC turned the game around to come out on top in the most meaningless but most exciting game of football since the Socceroos qualified for the World Cup.
An early 7:30pm kick off meant an early finish to work and we were on the train before 5pm, heading towards Central and then a quick walk up Devonshire Street to the Dove and Olive. A busy pub, we hit the rush at the bar just before quiz night, but there were a few football shirts in there, some Welsh and a lot of sky blue as we had dinner and enjoyed some midweek pints. Seeing tram after tram rattling past bulging with people meant that we would give ourselves a bit of extra time to get to the stadium, just in case, but we shoe-horned ourselves into the back of the tram at Surry Hills when a couple of unsuspecting commuters got off.
We heard that there was a pub somewhere in the precinct, done out as the Turf pub from Welcome to Wrexham fame, but we didn’t see it. We did see the masses crowded around the Wrexham merch tents, and marvelled at the number of people at the stadium; this was on the scale of an international qualifier. We stopped by at the Sydney FC membership tent; we hoped they’d be out after the game too in the event of a Sydney win to capture the fan witthe open heart and open wallet.
The queue at Gate 3 was big, so we decided against walking the rest of the way around the stadium perimeter and joined the throng. The tip to scan the barcode at the bottom of the ticket instead of the QR code made entry easy, and we were up in our seats for the night in Cove Heights well before the party started. There were familiar faces everywhere, all sitting in different seats, and looking down at the Cove below, the call-out had worked and Sydney FC had a backing of active fans.
Fireworks and a brass band heralded the entrance of the players, the stadium looked classy as the stadium lights dipped, and we definitely had a big occasion on our hands. The blaring music made it hard for the Cove to be heard, despite a sterling effort. Any doubts about the draw of Wrexham FC were dispelled, and the sky blue shirts of Sydney FC and the canary yellow and green of the Norwich City-lookalike away team lined up at the far end. Sydney were to attack the Cove in the second half as per normal, but for the first half we’d have to see our boys do a lot of defending.
Sydney had the same team as they had started with against Hakoah at Sydney Olympic Park seven days earlier, apart from Gus Hoefsloot in goal, and they looked very much inferior in size and stature compared to their more physical opponents. By the time I get around to finishing this, you will have seen all the highlights you care to see of the game, so no need to dwell. Poppy-hater James McClean slipped over as he curled in a delicious free kick from the left, and there was no way of avoiding contact for Corey Hollman as he was left unsighted by Jordan Courtney-Perkins’ dummy to score an own goal right in front of us. It had been coming. Ollie Palmer, one of the only players I recognised from the TV series, led the line well and won every header, and Hoefsloot had to be alert and confident to pick one out of a crowd of players right in front of goal.
McClean had a great chance again soon after, unmarked at the far post, but his header was wide, and when Alex Popovic stretched and missed an easy ball in the middle of the park that had his teammates scrambling, we started to look a little ragged.
Paddy Wood and Rhys Youlley had been quiet all half, but when Hollman lashed a shot at goal with half time approaching, an outstretched arm stopped the ball and the crowd and players alike roared for a stonewall penalty. This was no friendly game, the players surrounding the A-League referee, the crowd adding to the volume after seeing the replay on the big screen. A corner was all they got though, quite unbelievable considering how far away from his body the arm was, but when it was swung in from the right, JCP was free and headed the ball goalwards, only for goalkeeper Danny Ward to save brilliantly; central defensive partner Popovic was on the spot to drill the rebound home for 1-1. Get in! The anti-Wrexham sentiment rose in the stands, the sky blue fans letting the fans clad in red know that they should be supporting their home team and getting along to more games in the A-League. Fuck you Wrexham Welshie c*nts, ole, ole!
Half time was met by a huge roar and that gave us time to say hello to others in our group who were dotted around Cove Heights, and then a quick dash of the permiter of the concourse let me take in the scale of the crowd. This was what a game should be like every week; there’s literally no reason why we can’t strive for that, and this was even a game that meant nothing! Imagine if points were on the line, local pride, ex-teammates facing each other, Sydney-Melbourne rivalry, a former coach in town; this would have been awesome. Harrison Devenish-Meares was on for the second period, but no further changes, and Sydney went about trying to unlock a very unyielding Welsh defence.
As was the case seven days earlier, the substitutions, when they came, were swift and sweeping. None of this slowing the game down, breaking up play and making a mockery of the contest. No, the entire outfield of both teams was changed over, and we had a fresh contest on our hands. The kids were on for Sydney, Jay Rodriguez was on for Wrexham, and Devenish-Meares had to block brilliantly at the near post as Wrexham took the upper hand.
Sydney were on the rack, but they conjured up a single chance and took it with incredible poise. A neat move up the middle saw Akol Akon, who was anonymous until then, touch a ball into the path of the lively Joe Lacey, and with a swivel to open up his body, he unleashed a shot from just outside the box which the goalkeeper got a hand to, but couldn’t keep out. The stadium erupted. The players all rushed to congratulate the goalscorer, who was already in tears. The Cove regaled the players with their goalscoring song. Scarves were twirling. What a fantastic scene.
The rest of the game was exciting. Both teams were going for it. Wrexham had the lion’s share of possession and ended the game with a corner – it wouldn’t have been out of place for the keeper to come up and join the pack of yellow shirts for that one, such was the fervour as the game came to its conclusion, but the ball was cleared and the arms went up to greet the final whistle. It was obvious that the game meant a lot to the youngsters, even more to the goalscorer as we were later to understand.
There was no Bohemian Rhapsody, but the players linked hands to salute the Cove. Any doubts about the season to come had been quashed. We had just seen a Championship team from the English Football League beaten at the home of Australia’s most successful club. There were plenty of jibes filling the air from the sky blue supporters, but the friendly nature of the occasion was evident as the crowds flocked to the front of the stands to get signatures from the young Sydney eleven that won the game.
The players all looked delighted. The fans were eager for any signature. It happens after every game in the A-League you know, why don’t you come along and find out? The ground staff were keen to get the football markings off the field, soaking the lines in some solution before hosing them off. Don’t use too much water though, the field might get flooded! A couple of Wrexham players emerged at the corner of the stadium, giving the fans one more buzz, before we decided to call it a night and headed out of the main gate with the rest of the stragglers, and on to a waiting shuttle bus to avoid the light rail carnage.
A five-minute wait at Central and we were on our train to the northern suburbs and walking through the front door close to 11pm. What a great evening. Even though it was one of those games that can make a grown man cringe, the way that Sydney FC went about their business was enough to placate the keyboard warriors who think that we have no players. Daniel McBreen’s feedback that Alex Baumjohann was talking about more signings coming in, and with Leo Sena and Douglas Costa also returning later in pre-season, what is there to worry about?
I’ll tell you what will be a worry though – a midweek mid-winter trip to Ironbark Fields to face Western United in the Australia Cup. Getting knocked out of the cup at the first hurdle will remove any optimism whatsoever and condemn our Sky Blues to a preseason of hastily-arranged friendlies instead of full-blooded cup ties. We have been assured that the club holds the Australia Cup in high esteem and will be pulling out all stops to win that one in two weeks’ time. Makes sense; that’s how we qualified for last season’s ACL2 in the first place.
See you at the next game, hopefully a midweek Australia Cup tie in Sydney somewhere that brings the magic back and gets us all excited for the new season ahead. Forza Sydney FC!