Western Sydney Wanderers 1 Sydney FC 0
I’ll level with you, Saturday’s game at CommBank Stadium came on a weekend that included the Matildas in Gosford, the Gladesville Ravens Over 45/2 end of season get together and the work Christmas party. Four epic events in one short weekend. It was big, but the Sydney derby was the biggest of them all. A single goal from Alou Kuol, our chief tormentor from a Central Coast away day gone by, was enough for the red and black side of Sydney to claim bragging rights. A fervent away following urged on the Sky Blues but they just couldn’t get that goal. Was this a Sydney derby for the ages? Perhaps not, but it was bloody good entertainment, at least the bits I remember.
I was travelling solo into enemy territory for this one, on the space-age Parramatta Light Rail, alighting at the unusually-named Robin Thomas for a short walk into the hidden gem of the West, Little India in Harris Park. A table of twenty filled up in one of the many Indian restaurants in this culinary hub, and the food just kept coming; nothing like a curry on a hot day. After celebrating Ronnie’s birthday in style, there was time to take in the Albion Hotel just next to the river where voices were lubricated even further in a friendly atmosphere. All the bar staff were in Wanderers shirts, there was no doubt that this was one of the home pubs, but it was a welcoming home pub unlike others closer to the stadium.
A mix of red and black and sky blue shirts marched towards the stadium, twenty merry middle-aged blokes high on life with no notion of how much hatred surrounded this fixture. It was busy on arrival, the queue for the away end snaking, but passage was quick enough, and somehow the fancy can opening machine had my attention as perhaps one of the most pointless machines ever. Stocked with goods from the bar, I found Michelle and the Prof, our seats one bay from the Cove and nicely tucked at the back of the section allowing us the ability to stand if we wanted.
Apparently there was a game on. It sort of passed me by; I was there in body, and it was great to see the passion on and off the field. Sydney were shooting away from us in the first half and had plenty of good positions, but aside from a couple of long-range sighters there was very little goalmouth action up at the RBB end. Meanwhile, Sydney FC were defending for their lives, a shot from journeyman Steven Ugarkovic whistling over the bar, Harrison Devenish-Meares tipping a fierce shot from former Sky Blue Kosta Barbarouses onto the bar. Half time at 0-0 didn’t really reflect the ebb and flow of the game; this should have been a goal-fest.
With Sydney now shooting towards our end, the excitement levels grew, but it wasn’t long before Alou Kuol benefitted from some generous defending from big name centre-back Marcel Tisserand and slipped a low shot into the net. It was another long throw from the Wanderers central defender Anthony Pantazoloulos that caused the mayhem, and it was simply too easy.
The theme at this fixture, as it has been for many years, is road safety; both keepers wore number 0, the number of deaths on the roads that we’re hoping for over the holiday period. It’s a good cause. Lolley had one of his solo runs through to the edge of the area, but his shot had no venom. The noise was incredible as Sydney went close when a deflection hit Paddy Wood – was it going in? We’ll never know. The arms were up though from all the Sydney players, the ball having hit an arm on the way through. Somehow it was turned down by VAR, and Wanderers broke up the other end, the visitors stretched, and they hit the post in front of their bouncing red and black bay.
The final whistle was met with disappointment from the away end, most fans turning and making for the exit. There was plenty of goings-on happening on the field though; there was tension, but not enough to boil over. We headed for the exit, taking the long route to the home end to exit closest to the main road. The crowd was animated but peaceful and we made it across to the Royal Oak for one last unneeded consolation beer before hopping on the Light Rail back to the Valley and on to home.
The numbing effect of an afternoon of beer and wine made the defeat that much easier to take, there was no chance of catching any overnight football and an unconventional football day in Sydney’s second city had us out like a light in seconds. Waking up to the superb press conference by Alen Stajcic was heart-warming – there’s a fella who knows what he’s talking about. It was hard to argue with his assessment of the occasion – a great evening of derby football in a perfect venue in front of a passionate crowd. Fair play that man.
We head to our favourite away day of the year next up, Central Coast away. And the girls are back on too, the big Sydney derby at Marconi Stadium. Another big weekend coming up. Forza Sydney FC!