On-field bickering opens door for Jets

Sydney FC 1 Newcastle Jets 2

Sydney FC’s faltering attack gave under-fire coach Ufuk Talay more headaches as Newcastle Jets staged a marvellous smash-and-grab to shorten their odds of Premiership success and make former coach and playing legend Steve Corica’s job of retaining the crown that bit more difficult. On a baking afternoon where the Sky Blues looked to have done enough to come away with a point, following Tiago Quintal’s classy strike, they went for the win but ended up gifting their lively opponents one last chance, which was happily accepted to send their bank of fans into delirium. An exciting game, but more questions about the cohesion at Sydney FC as strikers barked at each other and refused to pass in a horrible series of misses.

The day started so well; with sleep and hangover cures pushed aside after Australia’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup final, the Matildas had no idea that they would provide the pre-game entertainment for the big A-Leagues clash up the road at Allianz Stadium. Catching a lift with super-capo MMTV but hitting the ridiculous traffic light sequences en route to Moore Park, we were running a little late, the grass car park almost full and the parking fellas taking their time to get everyone in place. As a result we were going to be late, but only a little, and we weren’t the only ones (hello Noel!) who were walking up Driver Avenue knowing that We Are Sydney was already being sung. Our regulars in Cove Heights were very few, the early-afternoon kick off and a hot day not conducive to a big turnout, but the Jets had brought loads of fans and were swelling the numbers all around the stadium.

Sydney must have won the toin coss; either that or Newcastle didn’t care less which way they were running, and an even start to the game was punctuated when Piero Quispe swept through his opponent from behind to earn a yellow card. The Rhythm of My Heart had just been sung by another small Cove when Newcastle should have taken the lead, young sensation Will Dobson firing in a shot, Harrison Devenish-Meares opted for the one spot not to push the ball out to, and Japanese winger Kota Mizunuma smashed the rebound off the post when he should have scored. What a let-off! Lachie Rose made a great effort to keep a ball in that he should never have been able to rescue and the in-form striker managed to get around HDM but couldn’t find a cross to a teammate for the tap-in.

The Jets looked slick, Sydney looked less so, Marcel Tisserand launching a ball straight out of play and he was booked soon after, hardly covering himself with glory upon his return to the side. The home team had a free-kick up at the other end, Ahmet Arslan and Ben Garuccio over the ball, and it was the former who struck the ball straight into the wall, and with the rebound too. We didn’t have to wait long for the Jets to make the Sky Blues pay, and when Sydney reject Max Burgess played a simple ball over to Mizunuma, he steadied himself and rifled an unstoppable shot past HDM for 1-0. His celebration looked like the starting of a petrol lawn-mower, but he thoroughly enjoyed the moment, as did his teammates.

The Rhyan Grant v Lachie Rose duel was entertaining, but it was up front where things were just not happening. Arslan lifted a ball over the top for Rhyno, but he’d stopped his run, then Garuccio was in a great position on the left but frustratingly chose not to pull the trigger. The sun was beaming over the main western grandstand, no excuse for Quispe’s rubbish control that saw the ball roll out. Tisserand treated us to another one of his collection of balls to no one, and Paul Okon-Engstler tried to play in Garuccio but it was too hard. The half ended with boos ringing around Allianz Stadium. The failings of this malfuctioning team were on display for all to see.

The half-time toddler race was a one-horse race, the Jets fans were loving life at the far end of the stadium, most people chasing the shadows as we had seen in the Asian Cup last week at Accor Stadium. As a result the crowd was concentrated in certain spots leaving swathes of empty seats. The Sydney Harbour Bridge pattern over the field was impressive. There was a massive queue for the merch shop, people deciding it was a more interesting place to be than watching the football.

Sydney were just really bad at the start of the second half, the passing was unimpressive, Alex Grant thumping a cross-field pass in the general direction of Garuccio, the ball bouncing out of play to hand the initiative to the guests. Victor Campuzano was full of running, as if he’d been told he had 15 minutes to shine or he’d be off, and he infuriated his teammates by going for goal from an acute angle when the easy pass was there. The Spaniard then had a chance when a clearance from the Jets’ keeper landed his way, but he’s no Juan Mata and his attempted lob was miles wide, albeit under pressure.

Alex Grant’s long ball found Apostolos Stamatelopoulos clean through, and he looked odds-on to score but put the shot wide, the offside flag raised to spare his blushes. The Alex Grant long-ball was the go-to move, this time Stama hauled down, Campuzano claiming he was clean through and would have scored had the ref played the advantage. Of course he wouldn’t have, there would have probably been an offside somewhere in there too. Captain Rhyno had a good chance coming in from the left, and his shot across goal was just wide with players homing in at the far post. There was a lot of applause when Campuzano was finally taken off, Al Hassan Toure on, but he was immediately offside and getting stick from his teammates as the team harmony looked to have crumbled.

A fan was seen being ejected, perhaps it was all getting too much for some, especially when Stama lined up a free kick and to a buzz of anticipation, blasted the ball way over the bar to groans from all around. It all looked lost when Toure played a ball out of play after Quintal had given up waiting for the pass, but it all changed soon after when Quispe waltzed through the midfield, drew players towards him and offloaded to Quintal on the right. The much-loved Lo Lo chant was reaching its rubbish-launching chorus line in the Cove when Quintal unleashed a shot that surprised everyone, nestling in the far corner, an undeflected goal from the talented youngster. Could Sydney go on to win it?

Toure was in the mood, but his radar was off, firing one wide when the Jets coughed up possession, and when Arslan played him in again, he only had eyes for goal, Stama booting the post in disgust when he didn’t get the pass for the tap-in. Sydney had decided to go for it, and when they lost the ball they looked exposed. That didn’t stop them. Forgotten man Jordan Courtney-Perkins was rusty, ballooning a cross over everyone, and the replacement of both star January signings, Arslan and Stama, with the game there to be won, was perhaps a nod to their unnecessary and destabilising recruitment. Crowd favourite Paddy Wood was on now, and he just failed to connect with a cross from the left from JCP, before Okon Jr slashed a long-range effort way wide, going for the spectacular.

The drama that was to follow was superb, if you were a neutral. Paddy Wood got there first in a one-on-one with goalkeeper James Delianov, and dived over the challenge, the penalty awarded to cheers from the Cove. It didn’t look like a penalty, and VAR took an age, but the decision of penalty or not was spared by an offside and play restarted with a drop ball. Moments later the ball was in the net up the far end, Ben Gibson slotting home but he looked offside even from our lofty position 100 metres away. The game was heading for a draw, but Sydney were doing the pressing, the Jets happy to wait for their moment. And it came. Okon was dispossessed, and the Jets broke up the right, Alex Grant labouring, there were two players in the box and Rhyno picked neither to mark, the ball falling for Gibson to prod home at the far post from a simple cross.

There was one last chance from a free kick with time already up, the Newcastle defence rushing up to play Sydney offside. Grant played on and finished well, but the Sydney fans never believed, the offside confirmed immediately. The final whistle sounded as a Newcastle player was down injured and boos rang out again.

HDM came to applaud the fans, but nobody was reciprocating, and he just shrugged his shoulders. This was a hard blank from the disinterested fans, but this was softened as more players came to give thanks to their supporters for making the effort. The goal areas were hastily cordoned off as the dwindling crowd awaited the families on the field initiative for Members’ appreciation day; there was no hesitation and we went on the field when the gates were flung open, the Jets players having finally finished their love-in with their jubliant fans.

The state of the Allianz Stadium field was there for all to see, all chopped up and not coping with the multi-sport demands, and there was a fantastic moment when the Newcastle Jets gadget man walked to the centre spot to plant his flag, Allianz Stadium wel and truly conquered by Premiers-in-waiting Newcastle Jets.

We left the stadium as one of the last, taking the light rail to the city where we would ultimately go our separate ways, Michelle in need of some down time after a manic three-week Matildas journey, while a boisterous Cheers Bar was to provide another painful home defeat for my beloved Toon Army in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Hard to feel aggrieved after such entertainment, and credit to Sydney for going for the win. The daggers being sent across the field at times told the story as Sydney wasted their golden opportunities, but ultimately Sydney once again proved blunt in attack and lacking in options in the penalty area. All the pretty football can only get you so far; it could have easily been Anthony Caceres instead of Piero Quispe, Jaiden Kucharski instead of Al Hassan Toure, the result would have been the same. A lack of penetration, a lack of application in the six-yard box and giveaways in the centre exposed Sydney to the ultimate sucker-punch which was delivered in style for the delighted Newcastle Jets fans. We get a week off now as the Socceroos go into battle with two unfamiliar foes, but we’ll be back before you know it for the run-in to the finals series, where Sky Blue may not feature at all. Forza Sydney FC!