There’s just no helping some people. It absolutely amazes me that many football fans in Australia, so caught up in the English Premier League and how their Fantasy team is doing, have no idea what’s going on in their own back yard. Whilst the blame could lay in the low-key advertising of the local scene, the A-Leagues kicking off to very little promotion, the fact that big fans of the global game have literally no idea that a new second division competition is already two rounds in is astounding.
After taking in the dour opening match of the A-League season at Commbank Stadium as Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City cancelled each other out on Saturday evening, I was genuinely excited to see what the new second tier of Australian football could deliver in my first taste of the action, a two-game Sunday feast at opposite ends of our beautiful city of Sydney. First up, Sydney Olympic, 1pm at Jubilee Oval in Kogarah. Now, knowing this stadium very well after Sydney FC’s hiatus from Allianz Stadium, parking was incredibly easy in the surrounding streets, even though I was running late due to a surprising amount of traffic en route.
Parked up and in the stadium by 12.45pm, I had picked up my photographer accreditation and was installed in the far corner of the field for a first-class view of the action from up-close. The crowd was spread out in the main stand, in the shade, while the rest of the stadium was bare. The home team had their noisy fans at the front, chanting O-lym-pic which sounded like R-B-B to be honest, while there were plenty of Broadmeadow fans in the house too. The first half was all Broadmeadow to begin with, the own goal to take the lead no suprise, but Olympic did have plenty of the ball at the other end but couldn’t find a goal.
At half time I was informed that I was not in the right spot – contrary to A-League rules, no photographers were allowed on the side opposite the camera position. Fair enough, I thought, so after chatting with fellow photographers Graham and Richie and applying an extra level of sun protection, I headed down to the opposite end with the expectation that most of the action would be in the home team’s goalmouth. I was right, to an extent, as Broadmeadow extended their lead in the second half with a lovely finish, but Olympic were back in it when a deflected shot bamboozled the Broadmeadow keeper and the deficit was halved. Cue Arran Cocks with a super poacher’s goal, nicking the ball from the last defender and stepping around the Olympic goalkeeper to roll the ball into the empty net for his second goal. Oddly enough, it wasn’t game over, as Olympic again reduced the arrears, this time from a well-struck free kick, but eventually time ran out and the visiting fans were the loudest as the final whistle sounded.
This had been a great introduction to the Australian Championship. It was interesting to see former Sydney FC man Connor O’Toole in the line-up for the home side, and the referee for the day, fellow NWSFRA referee and local lad Eric Saba had a solid game in the centre of the park – once he had realised his mistake in brandishing a red card to a home player in the second half, the error was rectified immediately and he went on to have a good afternoon in the hot blustery conditions. The crowd filed out quickly, the Olympic faithful not too disappointed with the result, and I was back in the car to rush over to North West Sydney and a familiar venue, Christie Park.
Again, with confusion over where the photographer positions should be, I was eventually installed against the fence at the northern end. Christie Park is not a stadium, it is a football facility for the local representative clubs, home team Spirit FC being one of three, and as such there is no big stand like Jubilee Oval and the other three sides of the stadium have no seats and no terracing, so you are simply leaning against the fence. This was more like it, the small covered benching on the far side of the field packed out with eager locals looking for another big occasion. They had seen Melbourne Victory here last season in the Australia Cup, featuring none other than Uruguayan Socceroo legend Bruno Fornaroli, and he was back this time representing the visitors Avondale, famous giant-killers in this year’s Australia Cup.
This game was even. Both sides had plenty of opportunities without having clear-cut shots on goal, and with time running out in the first half, a cross looked to have evaded Fornaroli in front of goal. Somehow the referee pointed to the spot, and the same player dispatched the penalty with essentially the last kick of the first half, a disappointing way for the home team to concede so close to the break. The game looked dead and buried a minute into the second half as Avondale sliced through the centre of the Spirit defence and at 2-0 down, it would not be a surprise if the home fans lost interest.
Happily, the home side clawed their way back to level at 2-2, first with a worldie from outside the area, then a poacher’s finish on the hour to change the complexion of the game altogether. With ten minutes remaining, and Spirit mastering the familiar synthetic surface, a third goal was burgled from a rebound and a famous win looked on the cards. The final moments of the game were agony though, and with a few seconds remaining of the hefty stoppage time, a break on the right, a shot parried and a finish on the rebound saw the score reverted to parity. The Avondale fans in the corner, surprisingly numerous, were overjoyed. That joy continued at the final whistle and a classic match had ended with the spoils shared, probably the right result.
The Avondale players all congregated with their fans for a Central Coast Mariners-style photo, while the rest of the fans headed off into the night with the intention of returning next week for the visit of Canberra Croatia.
A couple of big plusses from today’s games. There is no VAR. What a joy that is. And secondly, the clock continues to the end of the half. There’s no guesswork. The clock would end at 45 and 90 minutes in the A-League or in international games and the fan in the stadium would have no notion of how long is left. The scoreboard at Jubilee Oval was simply showing the TV feed, so we could see the clock and the amount of added time. The less-advanced scoreboard at Chrisie Park continued to tick until the halves finished. Common sense at last! Why on earth does the A-League stop the clock? Just because the EPL does?
So, Sunday was my debut at Australian Championship games, and it was thoroughly enjoyable; I also got a bit burnt. The playing surface at Jubile Oval could not have been any better, while at Christie Park, the atmosphere was superb with the fans right up close, and even able to share banter with the players. At one point, an Avondale player gave the assistant referee a mouthful and the fans were keen for the official to take action. It was all smiles though and everyone saw the funny side.
So, which games are you all heading to next week? There’s quite a selection, and you could in theory have a Super Saturday, Marconi, Sydney United and then Sydney FC. The format of this competition, with four groups of four playing home and away in the group stages before heading into a finals series, is perfect. We have teams from all around Australia. We’ll start to see teams really needing points soon, and hopefully we’ll not end up with too many dead-rubbers as the group stage nears its conclusion. Australian football is maturing. We’ve got our second division. Let’s get behind it and enjoy it for what it is – a way of finding the best NPL team in the country. That’s something to be celebrated. See you all at the weekend.