Sydney FC 2 Western Sydney Wanderers 3 (Women)
Sydney FC 4 Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Men)
Sydney FC emerged from a tempestous derby encounter with a handsome victory against their local rivals in front of a bouncing bumper home crowd, but the day was tarnished with yet another stinking defeat for the women’s team and a clear demonstration by the club of how little regard is given to the women’s game. The evening may have ended in joy and jubilation as Joe Lolley came on to take the piss out the noisy neighbours, but for those in the Sydney Women’s Cove, new depths had already been plumbed. Continuing to lose with such a talented side is tough to take, but it’s the manner of the defeats that is the most irking, simple tasks not done correctly and this is a team full of powderpuff players with no physical presence. Is this now the end of the road?
Setting off from home in the suburbs of enemy territory, plans changed suddenly when we found out the Northern line was closed and an impromptu car ride to the city saw us rock up at the Dove and Olive next to the light rail in Surry Hills. Chancing a rockstar car park in an adjacent street, that gave us two hours to bring the crew together over German beers and sumptuous pub food. Interest in the game was high, for once we might all be in attendance, at least for the men’s game later in the evening. As it was, a splinter group of four peeled away to make the short tram trip to Moore Park to take in the women’s derby, our girls in blue with last place in the A-League ladder on the line.
Before heading in, it was clear that there was an issue with women’s members tickets, and one-off ticket vouchers were being handed out to women-only members who were being denied at the gate. Not a good look. Did someone forget to program it in? Once inside, the full extent of the oversight of the women’s game was clear when we were denied entry to the Cove. No wristband, no entry. Yes, we know that, but that’s the men’s game afterwards, right? With echoes of CommBank Stadium where our fearless capo was forced to capo alone in an empty wristband section, only those members who were also Cove members were allowed in. Seemingly defeated, we made our way down the shady side of the General Admission section to take up position to enjoy the women’s game in a non-Active zone, the game already underway.
Of course the flimsy taped partition to separate GA from the Cove stopped a few rows from the front, so we just wandered over uninhibited to where we wanted to be, in the Women’s Cove, and joined our pack to boost numbers in a very small active section. Common sense had prevailed and we were in full song and getting into the groove when the eagle-eyed security team appeared at our side to usher us out. They could all understand the situation, they knew we had no intention of staying in the Cove for the men’s game, there was no disagreement, but the no wristband no entry policy applied to the women’s game too. Even a swift call to the club contact by the security guys confirmed the policy. So out we went, back down to the GA section from where we had come. Sydney sliced through the Wanderers defence at the far end and flying winger Riley Tanner swept home for the opening goal. Get in! At least we’d seen a goal.
Now, what then transpired was a little bit of real common sense and wristbands were supplied so we could then return via the entrance at the top of the stairs, and now feeling like a criminal, being denied entry with my bottle of water was a real face-palm moment until I decanted my bottle into a plastic glass. Yes, that same plastic bottle I’d had in my hand in the General Admission section. We were back in place, other non-compliant fans were being ushered out too, and the flimsy tape was hastily being extended to the bottom of the GA section to make it clear to everyone that no one was to enter. Erik was doing a great job on the drum in the absence of our usual big hitters, and capo MMTV was really up for it. Sydney FC were stroking the ball around nicely too, and looked nothing like the meek team that we had seen so far this calendar year. Without Heather Hinz and with Madison Ayson in and Abby Lemon up front, this was a changed team.
There were one or two more people in the Cove by now, youthful faces with no interest in making atmosphere for the women’s game, and that began to irritate. The lack of singing and interaction as the game wore on was obvious, and the feeling of pure worthlessness was acute. There was no ‘passing trade’ that we would normally get to swell the numbers, the everyday fan excluded needlessly from this mostly empty yet sacred section of the stadium.
The bustling Sarah Hunter was flattened in a challenge and was clearly in a lot of pain with her shoulder, but she ran back on to rejoin the game, although quite gingerly. The visitors had controlled the game in the last fifteen minutes of the half, the tall Yuan Cong looking as dangerous as she did in the first derby at Marconi Stadium earlier this season. Incredibly there was only two minutes of stoppages, Holly Caspers having been down for an age before succumbing to her injury and heading off the field. There was some injustice in the air as Wanderers ended up with the ball on the edge of the box with injury time running out in the first half, and when the ball was touched back to the oncoming midfielder, we had no idea what was to come – we stood right behind a cracking shot that sailed over the defence and past the desperate dive of our miniature keeper Tiahna Robertson. What a goal! Half time, and a half that we had led for the most part ended before being pegged back.
The appearance of Naara the Women’s Asian Cup mascot at half time was a reminder that the tourament is only four weeks away, and we had only one of the Sydney mascots on show. I was feeling even more like a marked man after getting a ticking off for ducking under the tape as a shortcut to rejoin our exiled pack for half time. Honestly, why do we have to put up with this shit for the women’s games? Does the club not value the Women’s Cove? Is it just a nuisance?
The second half was still in its infancy when Cong was given all the time in the world to turn and shoot, Robertson making a full-length save to tip the ball away. The dangerous Tahlia Younis was dictating play now, and it was from her corner that the Wanderers struck gold, a poor bit of defending coughing up an opportunity right in front and Robertson and two defenders couldn’t keep out the scuffed shot. Hunter had gone off to be replaced by the youthful Claire Corbett, the mean age of the Sydney team plummetting again.
We didn’t have to wait long for another goal, and it was Cong again, unmarked to head home from a Younis corner. The warning signs had been there, Younis herself firing a screamer just over, and no one even made a challenge as the ball flew into the net for a simple set-piece goal. Tanner looked dead on her feet, but that must be her default state, like Chris Waddle back in the day, and she was a constant source of danger. When Amber Luchtmeijer swivelled and finished brilliantly with ten minutes to play, all of a sudden the atmosphere changed. There were more people in the Cove, more voices getting behind the team, and there was a genuine belief that Sydney could snatch something. Ruby Sullivan looked weak in the challenge when a more gutsy approach was called for as the Wanderers broke at speed. The chance did come though, and Sydney worked a great opening on the right, crisp passing finding feet like it never has done this season, before Tanner was released for a one-on-one with Sham Khamis who saved well. Corbett picked up the pieces on the edge of the box, steadied herself and time stood still as she fired on goal but couldn’t get the shot past the Wanderers’ keeper. We were right behind it, and when Khamis crumbled to the floor for no reason to waste time, we knew the game was now beyond reach.
As usual in a double-header, the men’s goalkeepers were loitering behind the goal, ready to take over the goalmouth for warm-ups, and when the whistle sounded, they rushed on before the women could take stock of the final disastrous score. The sprinklers coming on as the players shook hands was another kick in the face. This had been a frustrating afternoon; Sydney had coughed up two soft goals and had left their charge too late to try and get back on terms. The Cove had sung their hearts out, our drummer managing to keep the beat even when one of his drumsticks ended up five rows further down the terrace. The general apathy from the Cove young’uns was disconcerting, and we made our way out of the Cove to make our way back up to Cove Heights to our usual home for tonight’s main event. There was much activity in the concourse.
The atmosphere was growing now. The players took an age to come out, kick off time having already passed. There was a touching moment’s applause, not a full minute, for Rado Vidosic, all sides of the stadium respecting the moment, and the RBB had grown to fill the middle section behind the far goal, with some overspill in the adjacent bays. The front two or three rows all had their shirts off. It was warm, but not that warm. The pre-match “bla bla blah” video was very well done in reference to all the shit-talk they had served up during derby week. The Cove was already bouncing to F*ck You Western Sydney scum, before We Are Sydney greeted the start of the game. Sydney must have won the toin coss, shooting away from the Cove, but it was the first move from the Wanderers that paid dividends before the Sky Blues had taken a meaningful touch; we had seen what new EPL recruit Ryan Fraser can do after his match-wining cameo last weekend, and there he was, in too much space, to curl home in the first minute with a lovely finish. What a start, the pre-game chat out of the window; while the Wanderers had their English import firing on all cylinders, Sydney FC’s main man Lolley remained on the bench. His face all over the publicity for today’s game was a good reason for the uptick in attendance; what a disappointment to see him only amongst the subs.
Sydney got their equaliser inside ten minutes, and it was a deft pass from new man Akol Akon, making a surprising home debut, that set Victor Campuzano scuttling away. He had a lot to do, and he seemed to take a hefty shove from Robert Mak’s nemesis Philip Cancar as he shot, but the ball somehow went through goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas’ legs and trickled over the line for a dramatic goal in front of the RBB. Game on! Aidan Simmons was allowed to run almost all the way through the Sydney defence and former Sydney FC star Kosta Barbarouses looked lively. A comedy moment from Harrison Devenish-Meares saw him seemingly scoop the ball back into play, the assistant referee somehow not flagging for the corner. Akon was fantastic in the first half, showing the flair and propensity for simple tiki-taka football that Ufuk Talay is striving for. Fraser did get another chance towards the end of the half but hit the ball straight at HDM in the Sydney goal, and Rhyan Grant was one of three players unmarked at the far post, but couldn’t squeeze the ball in from an acute angle. One goal a-piece at half time was about right, despite HDM giving us another moment in his catalogue of cheap giveaways in front of the Cove. The second half would be a cracker.
The concourse was so busy that I only got halfway down one side before turning back. Wanderers shirts mixed with Sydney shirts in harmony, the mood was good and the atmosphere was pumping, even moreso when one of the half-time cross bar challenge participants completed the task successfully.
The second half was only three minutes old when a corner from the right wasn’t dealt with, and the unlikely figure of Marcel Tisserand was on hand to poke the ball into the net for 2-1. Get in! Wanderers were still in the game though, and a clever through ball up the far end seemed to see a clear shot on goal that HDM saved at his near post, with perhaps a touch off the woodwork. The game was in the balance, but Sydney had their foot on the Wanderers’ throat when Tiago Quintal wriggled his way around the edge of the penalty area and managed to eventually get his shot away, an almighty deflection from the boot of serial wind-up merchant Anthony Pantazopoulos saw Thomas wrong-footed and the Sky Blues had a two-goal cushion. There was a little bit of spice brewing too, Cancar and Campuzano clashing, with the Sydney man seemingly carded despite Cancar being the instigator.
From here on in, Sydney were in control, and they found a fourth goal when Akon somehow kept possession after slipping over, prodding the ball back for Quintal, and another deflection, this time off Cancar, saw the ball fly past Thomas for 4-1, with still 20 minutes to play. The Poznan was on display at both ends, the Wanderers fans still making the best of a bad situation, the Sydney fans rubbing their faces in it. Two of the most reviled players with deflections to send their team sprialling – there’s no better feeling of justice.
The departure of Akon was well received by the crowd as the cheers for the fourth goal continued, and the roar to signal the entrance of Joe Lolley was huge. This was a luxury substitution, Uffie almost toying with the Wanderers in a show of grandiosity. And what we saw in the final twenty minutes was pure entertainment, Lolley at one point skimming an outside-of-the-left-boot through-ball across the pitch with incredible accuracy, Campuzano just unable to win the race with his defender. As Sydney pressed again, Piero Quispe fashioned a chance right in front, playing a sumptuous one-two but firing over the bar, every Sydney fan with their head in their hands at that one. He just had to score. The remainder of the game was spent hoping that he did get his goal, before we got some marvellous derby biff involving chief instigator Paddy Wood, making a scene at the home end that brought every player in on the action and at least a couple of yellow cards.
Lightning filled the sky behind the RBB, prompting memories of games that have been stopped for that reason, and we feared the worst, but there was no accompanying thunder and it may have been a long way away.
There was time for more biff too, as Waitaru Kamijo was manhandled and his defence came to the rescue, this time a Wanderers player in the book at the far end as the visitors looked for solace in front of their bank of fans. The whole stadium was on their feet to sing during stoppage time, and the final whistle allowed the players to make a bee-line for the Cove, such was the obvious delight in every single player at the fuill-time score and the manner of the victory. As always, the stadium tried to spoil the celebrations, with music playing and the pointless full-time interviews doing their best to drown out the celebrations. This should have been a special moment of connection to be enjoyed by the whole stadium, as Paddy Wood led the Cove in “Come on you boys in blue“, but nobody was listening to the irritating blah blah of the interviewers. Honestly, whoever is in charge of all that stuff at the end, you really need to read the room. I don’t recall Bohemian Rhapsody playing after the celebrations had finished either – that would have been superb, with most of the Cove end still in place.
The RBB had long scurried away into the night while the Sydney players made their way around the perimeter, and the home fans started to leave, the Cove still noisy as it made its way down the main steps to the light rail with rain sprinkling. Tonight had been the perfect tonic to blow away the sinking feeling from Melbourne, and the angst and dismay at the women’s result and performance was replaced with a spring in the step. We caught the one stop to Surry Hills to collect the car, avoiding the Shakespeare Hotel where we would have doubled the average age, and grabbed a final drink and debrief at the Dove and Olive before they closed the outside area. We were back in enemy territory around midnight, thoroughly entertained and happy after a day of top-flight football at Allianz Stadium.
So, what next for Sydney FC women’s? Bottom of the table, but a couple of wins in the next two home fixtures could repair the damage. Is the club ready to make a bold move and replace their long-standing head coach in a search for the magic bullet? Is it simply not worth it and we have to accept our fate as a cellar-dweller again this season and miss out on the finals for only the second time in our history?
And what about our men’s team? Coming from a goal down to smash our near neighbours, this was a sweet victory and it could have been more. For all the passion missing last weekend, we had it tonight in spades, and the collective joy of the squad as they saluted the home end was clear to see. Is our rocky patch over? Two games against Steve Corica’s Auckland FC in ten days will certainly be a stern test of our Premiership credentials.
See you all on Wednesday night when Brisbane Roar provide stern opposition at Leichhardt Oval and our Girls In Blue go looking to right the recent wrongs and ressurrect our failing season. Forza Sydney FC!