Farewell Lydia, Matildas ignite the flame

Australia 2 China 0

Stadium Australia was buzzing on Monday night as the Matildas bid farewell to their long-serving goalkeeper Lydia Williams and farewelled the Australian public with a tremendous win ahead of the Olympic Games in France in July. Sydney turned out in force to see their Australian superheroes and were rewarded with a much higher tempo than Friday night’s grind in Adelaide. Two goals after half time gave Tony Gustavsson’s team an insurmountable lead that China ultimately could not recoup. A marvellous evening that invoked memories of the Women’s World Cup at this venue less than a year ago gave the watching fans hope for the difficult tournament ahead.

With Michelle back in Sydney only at 4pm from her Adelaide trip, this was always going to be a quick turnaround. With driving duties out of my hands, the major event bus was the transport of choice this evening, and we parked up in the backstreets of Ermington to wait for the Rouse Hill route 8 bus to take us directly to the stadium. The Easter Show bus arrived and immediately headed into disastrous traffic on Silverwater Road, but our fantastic driver made a swift manouevre to scoot along the right lane and nipped in to shave a good ten minutes off the journey. We know Silverwater Road well, and this time of day is never fun, especially when there’s something on at Homebush.

The vibe wasn’t quite World Cup 2023 when we arrived, not as frenzied and packed, but the pre-game music, food and drink was exactly as we’d experienced for the semi-final against England that fateful night. It was very well done. We slid into the Locker Room for a quick beer – I actually left les filles to it after downing my pint and headed out for a tour of the stadium to catch the pre-game vibe. There wasn’t that much time to kick off though, so after taking in the talented music act on the corner, I headed past the ferocious queues for merchandise and around to Gate G to soak up the pre-match atmosphere inside the stadium.

I was happy not to have any more beers; home games tend to be a little bit different to away days in that respect, but the appearance of some kiosks inside the stadium selling just booze made it that much easier to acquire a cold Stone and Wood and temptation got the better of me. Some mental prices for the other drinks mind you. One can of mid-strength Canadian Club & Dry almost the price of a four-pack at the local bottle-o. I headed down to the active area – I don’t think I was in my own seat, but the active bay is like that – you sit where you like, and if you want to be involved in the singing and flag waving, in you go. There’s always an empty seat further away if you’re not ready to get involved.

The Matildas Active were assembling; they had been busy with the flags and banners and there was even a big flag with the face of Lydia Williams waiting to be unfurled. I’m guessing by the fact that it was printed and not hand-painted, that it was provided by Football Australia. This was set to be Lydia’s farewell tonight, her desire to retire after the Olympics brought forward, and there was no surprise when she was named goalkeeper for the night, with Teagan Micah one of three substitute keepers on the bench.

The stadium was filling up. There was Sydney FC representation everywhere. The fireworks lit the sky, the big banner was lifted for Lydia and the players came out and stood together watching highlights of her amazing career. Lovely moment. The seats on the train station side, the Cathy Freeman stand, had cards on their seats which were held aloft as the players lined up, a green and gold wall greeting the teams. We had a welcome to country, the national anthems and the scene was set.

The Active section was preparing itself for a difficult night. After enduring the ire of the Adelaide crowd for daring to be active, for standing up and for waving flags, the expectation was for more of the same. However, it appeared that the active bay was only for active, and those who wanted to join headed to the front to join the party. No blocked views, no stubborn “that’s my seat” situations, no covering of ears from people not happy with the singing and chanting. Nothing, just the right people in the right place wanting to give it all for Australia’s favourite sporting team. Praise the lord!

We had trumpets in the bay, we had drums, loads of flags and the singing was underway with a rendition of Waltzing Matilda. This had been suggested pre-game on one of the online forums and shot down as being a bad idea due to the nature of the song. Who cares – everyone knows it, and we belted out the extended version that got the rest of the crowd involved too. A great start.

There’s no point in going into the ins and outs of the game, you saw it on the telly or from a better viewpoint than me, and it would have been expertly commentated by people seeing it from the best angle. It was clear that Tony had given the players a rocket after Friday, and the players were playing for their spot in the trimmed-down Olympics squad. Tameka Yallop missed a golden chance in front of goal up the far end, skying over when well placed, then Hayley Raso shot straight at the goalkeeper when a metre either side would have given Australia the lead. Michelle Heyman wowed the crowd with a mazy run and shot that curled just past the post. Lydia did leave the field before half time as expected – someone quipped that she should be booked for time wasting as she took the hugs from her teammates, but it was a great moment in Australian football, and thoroughly merited. At half-time the score was 0-0, but not for the want of trying.

Half-time was easy. Easy for a bloke who was only after a toilet stop and another beer. The queues for food were outrageous and the queue for the ladies bathroom was snaking past it. Perhaps it’s time to repurpose some of the gents bathrooms when the Matildas are on, or bring in some portable urinals for the fellas. Having to wait in that queue when the game was going to restart any moment must have been infuriating for the ladies this evening.

Sydney FC women’s star Tori was there with Jaydee, Shane was there after delaying his trip to watch the Socceroos in Bangladesh, and there were a host of faces from Friday night in Adelaide. This game may have been a friendly, but it meant a lot to a lot of people. Expert capo MMTV led away the chants all game and they were fantastic. Whilst the rest of the stadium still persisted with Aussie Aussie, the extended remix of a lot of the chants had the active section bouncing. We love Matildas, la-la-la-la-la-laaaah.

Australia took the lead just after half time when a free kick was powered in by Steph Catley and Clare Wheeler headed home brilliantly. I was right behind the goal and it looked like an own goal, but the replay on the massive screen at the far end confirmed Wheeler’s celebrations and the classy midfielder had her goal. That set the crowd on fire. The active section was bouncing, and more people joined to get in amongst the action.

Not long after that, Cortnee Vine, who seemed to be playing with Olympic squad selection on her mind in a fizzing performance, intercepted a loose ball and played an absolute cracker of a ball through to Raso, like Joe Willock feeding Alexander Isak for Newcastle United at St James Park earlier this season, and Raso rounded the goalkeeper to stroke home the second goal. Of course our view was obscured by the advertising hoardings so we had no idea it had gone in, but we were celebrating anyway. Get in, 2-0, and what a change in performance from the Matildas. We also couldn’t see how close Yallop’s shot was a moment or two later as the ball skimmed the post to oohs from the rest of the crowd. The remainder of the game was even. Vine hoofed over when well-placed, and then she almost gifted a goal to China after hesitating in possession at the back. China looked the most likely to score, but the game played out its conclusion and the final whistle was met with a huge roar.

By now we had been joined in the active section by the sign-wielding youth, looking for signatures, shirts, anything from the players. We did get Lydia at our end to get photos in front of the banner, and there was a quick sprint-past of some of the stars of the Matildas, high-fives for the front row, but the vast majority of fans would leave empty-handed. I did try explaining to a frustrated mother that there was a Sydney FC star a few rows back who was available for signatures. She looked at me blankly and after glancing up and not recognising the superstar A-League player in question, she just shrugged her shoulders and continued to chat about how her son had missed getting any signatures. Honestly, there is no helping some people. The A-League, what’s that?

The mood at the end was happy, the disappearance of the last player from the field meant it was time to go. The Matildas Active crew had packed up all the flags and drums and it was home time. Just like that, the party had ended, and we scuttled over to the bus stop to get on the last bus of the night that was leaving fifteen minutes ahead of schedule – yes, that’s happened to me before, but this time we made it.

Back to Ermington on the Rouse Hill route 8 bus and a short car journey home, I was walking into the house just before 11pm, a thoroughly respectable time for a school night.

This was a great occasion tonight. The Matildas stepped up their game and made life uncomfortable for China, although the visitors looked quite menacing towards the end with the score at a comfortable 2-0. The tempo of the game was much more in line with what we can expect at the Olympics in a few weeks, and the Matildas players responded to the challenge with a much more professional and adept performance to send the fans away with hope and belief. The active section was magical too, the drumming virtuosos and super capo MMTV restoring faith in the whole active scene after a deflating experience in Adelaide. Two superb game days either side of a monsoonal weekend; our belief in the Matildas and in Tony’s plan is restored once more. Til it’s done, let’s gooooo.

Where did Texi come from?

I’ve been asked many times over the years where the name Texi comes from. It is the nom de plume that I go by in my writing, both journalistic and fiction, and it is wonderfully ambiguous as to my gender. Until you meet me of course. This is not by design though, the name was bestowed upon me many years ago. Let me go back to that moment.

I take you back to 1996. An incredible year that saw England almost win a football tournament, Melbourne Knights beat Marconi to win the NSL and the Matildas providing the pre-tournament opposition for those teams who qualified for the Olympics. I was working on a campsite in the South-West of France, but before the summer season began, I joined a roving crew of (un)skilled workers who toured various camp grounds in the area erecting and furnishing tents. It was great fun for someone in that golden period between education and career, and we all tried our hands at various skills, one of them being wiring up the electrics for each of the tents.

One afternoon, after wiring in a good twenty or so emplacements, I was walking back towards my colleagues assembled ready to knock off, the setting sun casting a marvellous shadow ahead of me. My work may have been considered a little ‘cowboy’ at the time, but I don’t remember anyone being electrocuted during the season. I am allegedly ever-so-slightly bow legged – to the point that I have been told that I couldn’t stop a pig in a passage – so when I was walking towards my crew, it may have looked as though I had just stepped off a horse and was arriving at sundown for a gun-fight.

Texas Pete, the cowboy. The baddie from the cartoon Superted back in the 80s.

“Here he comes, Texas Pete,” quipped one of my workmates, which had everyone laughing. As nicknames tend to do at inception, it stuck like glue, and from that moment onwards I was no longer Pete, I was Tex. To be honest it could have been worse, and it wasn’t the first nickname I had. At school, I played for the school football team and my dad, who worked night shifts, would come and watch every game. On one occasion I sliced the ball out of play trying to cross, leading to my dad’s instant quip “Get some chaaalk on ya boot.” The substitutes and the sprinkling of spectators cracked up in laughter and from that moment until the end of school I was known as Chalkie, and still get that from old school mates now.

So, blessed with the name Tex, it stayed with me for a couple of years until the transient nature of the job meant that I moved on elsewhere and eventually ended up in Australia. A fractured verterbra meant I couldn’t play football for a year when I arrived, until the pins and plates were removed, but once that was taken care of, I went looking for a team to play with. The team that trained on my doorstep was Gladesville Ravens, a squad with a heavy Greek influence, and a host of Pete’s already in the team. On my first training session I was asked my name as we did a first lap of the field. “Pete,” I said. “Naah, we’ve got too many Pete’s already. What can we call you?” Without hesitation I used the last nickname I’d had, and I became Tex once more.

The original hot sauce

Now, that was 24 years ago. Living in Australia, everyone has a nickname, even if it means just putting a ‘y’ or an ‘i’ at the end, and Tex became Texi to many people in my football circles. When it came to writing my first book, a fiction novel about an Aussie playing football in England, it was clear that I needed a pen name – there are already many Peter or Pete Smiths with a profile in this country – for starters there is the fella from Sale of the Century who voiced the train announcements for City Rail. And there is even someone in football journalistic circles in Sydney called Pete Smith, so I had to choose something a bit more “Jimmy Recard” as opposed to “boring old Paul.” So Texi Smith it was, and Texi Smith has stuck.

There, that’s as much of an autobiography as you’re going to get. Thanks for reading Aesop’s unseen fable of how Texi got his name.

Matildas v China – what went wrong?

Australia 1 China 1

What was meant to be a routine victory for the nation’s favourite sporting team in front of yet another sell-out crowd, turned into a footballing lesson from the visitors. Whilst China were never going to dominate the Matildas, they showed how to treasure possession and demonstrated a level of composure that only a handful of their opponents could achieve. It was Michelle Heyman that rescued a point at the death this time in Adelaide, a similar scenario to the Olympic qualifier four years ago in Parramatta when Emily Van Egmond scored a thrilling equaliser right at the end. Our memories are short. China have top quality players. A draw was the right result.

International football is a complicated game. It’s a full time job for Tony Gustavsson and his coaching team, but for the players, this is a part-time consideration and any time that the coaches have with the players offers a very short window to work them into a system. Gustavsson made changes for this one. Every game is a big game for the Matildas, the host city for this one pulling out all the stops to bring the crowd in, but Gustavsson still has to tinker, to find the right blend, and get the right players in the squad of 18 for the Olympic Games in July.

Australia looked bereft of ideas in the first half and there were key players who may have contributed to this. Clare Hunt was welcomed back after injury, and took one of the two pivotal centre back roles in the heart of the defence. From the off, she looked slow in possession, as if she expected more respect from her busy opponents. The pedestrian manner of the transition from the Matildas defence did nothing to open up the game, and when she did look upfield, the distribution was poor. Along with her defensive partner, Alanna Kennedy, it was difficult to see what pass they were looking for when they went long. Hunt’s ball for Tameka Yallop at the back was in between Yallop and Kennedy and China broke quickly, but Clare Wheeler rescued the situation. When Hunt was turned on half way as China broke quickly, she was lucky to escape a yellow card after pulling her opponent back. An absolute tower in the air, China knew they wouldn’t get much change out of the Paris St Germain defender with the long ball, but when she did intercept an aerial ball, the unchallenged header went straight to an opponent. Along with some telegraphed passes to Cortnee Vine on the right wing, and an aimless ball upfield for Michelle Heyman, the first half was a tough watch, but she got an attacking header on Fowler’s free kick that almost fell for Heyman and she looked composed and relaxed throughout. Her head clash with Wurigumula looked nasty, but she was up quickly.

The second half was a lot more comfortable, but it saw Hunt smashed in the face again by Chengshu Wu, and when play resumed, she played a ball out of play unchallenged and seemed a little unsettled. With Alanna Kennedy by now up front in desperation, Hunt looked a little ragged as China forced a two-on-two and almost snatched a second on the break. A tough night for one of our newest superstars, and she will be keen to give a cleaner display against China on Monday.

Central defensive partner Alanna Kennedy was the pivot at the back, the player who looked long when it was on, and had the final say as to where the ball would be played. Her unnecessarily difficult ball for Cortnee Vine was forgotten as Vine did well to control, but Kennedy’s control from a long ball deserted her and she was left fighting to win the ball back. The old adage of keeping the ball moving was ignored, and Kennedy found herself with the ball at her feet on many occasions with no forward options forthcoming. When she did go long, it was aimless, and Cortnee Vine had little chance of making anything from the delivery from Kennedy, the ball cut out before it reached the speedy winger. A miskicked ball out of play under no pressure left her looking at the turf in disgust; she could not blame a bobble for that one.

Into the second half, Kennedy was involved less at the back, and when she moved upfield she coughed up possession on more than one occasion, possession of the ball cherished much less than the opponents. The free-kick opportunity was smashed well over, and she managed to play a horrible pass between Ellie Carpenter and Hayley Raso towards the end which went straight out of play. Kennedy ended up playing up top as the game reached its conclusion, desperation from Gustavsson showing that the game and the result definitely meant something – this was after all good practice for tournament football when results are paramount.

Into midfield we now shift our focus to Cortnee Vine. The superstar right-winger started the game well, doing well to close down defenders and she worked well with Heyman to create good moments of possession that were few and far between in the China half. As the first half wore on, we could see that she was shackled; there was no room on the right and the China defence was onto Vine by the time the long balls arrived at her feet. She started to play the ball too quickly, knowing the challenge was coming. The option of drilling the ball off the defender’s legs for a throw-in to buy some time was never contemplated, and when she attempted to beat a player with pace, there was always a defender behind to clear up the danger. Her first touch was often heavy, not surprising with the passes that she had to field, and she was well marshalled by the swift defence. She started to lose belief and nudging the ball past her defender was easily read. A moment of skill from the Chinese right winger, starting the run and then checking back to receive the ball in space was like a lesson for Vine – that’s how you make space, right there. With space at a premium, Yallop and Vine swapped before half time, but there was little joy on the left either.

Vine was lively in the second half as the play began to stretch. She did well to force a corner, stretching to reach a through ball, and it was her cross that was headed well wide by Heyman. The extra space was not exploited, the tendency to cut inside making her attacks too predictable, and when she headed a ball straight to an opponent and gave a cheap ball away, it felt inevitable that she would be one of the five substitutes to make way for the cavalry. Not a disastrous performance by all means, and Gustavsson may have been forcing his defenders to try and find her too often, but one that will have left the Sydney FC winger frustrated, with a place in the squad up for grabs.

Charlotte Grant was another player to leave the game when the five substitutions were made. She introduced herself into the game on two minutes, playing an aimless ball inside to gift possession to China, and when she went on to give the ball away cheaply a little later, Kennedy was thankfully on the scene to rescue the situation. When the horror moment between Hunt and Yallop let in China for a break, Grant had committed forward, playing alongside Heyman in anticipation of a long ball, almost a suicidal move leaving her defence exposed. That was a feature of her game, and perhaps one that had been put forward by her coach as an opportunity to help win headers in attack, but she looked a little unsettled too, playing a ball straight out of play under no challenge. A throw-in routine that looked straight from the training ground then saw Grant give the ball away again, and China were quick to jump on anything loose. Too many times we saw the Adelaide-born defender committed to attack, leaving the defence a player short; we will never know if this was by design or simply the player using their intuition.

As the second half got underway we could see that Torpey and Grant had swapped wings – both players able to play on either side, and Gustavsson admitted that he had done that intentionally in the first half. She was involved a little less in the game as Australia attacked, although she did try and thread a ball through for Fowler, and scrambled well to win the ball back when it was intercepted. Again, her substitution was no surprise, but she had been busy and willing, so should not be disappointed with her performance.

This was a difficult game for many. Mary Fowler had some poor early touches but wowed the crowd with a lovely spin to get out of trouble later in the half and it was her tricky feet that won the free kick that almost resulted in a goal. Her neat control and ball to Yallop had the crowd roaring towards the end of the half, and she should have scored in the second, choosing not to pull the trigger right in front before being hustled out of it.

Clare Wheeler could find no time when trying to receive the short ball from defence, Michelle Heyman battled well to pressurise the China players but played a woeful ball inside when trying to get the Matildas going on a rare attack. She did spin past her defender later in the half which gave the crowd a thrill, and then in the second half came deep to lay the ball off, showing us what we had been missing all game. Her chance at the end, trying to play in Hayley Raso when the shot was on, showed maybe a lack of conviction. Tameka Yallop seemed to be hiding behind a player whenever Australia played out from the back, obviously trying to be available for the second ball, but never the first.

China were comfortable in possession up front while the Matildas did not have that option. The China pressing was more intense and it was in first half injury time that we saw the only stray ball from the visitors.

Kaitlyn Torpey was beaten for pace when China scored, although a look from a different angle may have given VAR something to think about as she was pushed off the ball. She took her eye off the ball at one stage, letting the ball run out of play under no pressure at all – we’ve all done that – and later in the second half misdirected a header out of play. A hopeful long ball to Yallop on the left in the second half was easily cut out, but Torpey showed positivity going forward and this was a decent performance.

Special mention to Mackenzie Arnold, who played a lot of the ball with her feet today, especially in the first half when the defence ran out of ideas. She was involved in an unsavoury moment, feigning injury to allow Gustavsson to make tactical changes in the first half, and was then guilty of a terrible ball forward in the second half when trying to show her defenders how to distribute in a moment of impatience. Ante Milicic didn’t seem too worried by the game management tactics, and himself could be accused of time-wasting when kicking a ball away just before half time.

The Matildas best passage of play was when they were waiting for the subs to be made, and when the five players arrived, it took them a while to get in tune. Hayley Raso had a heavy touch to give the ball away and made fellow sub Kyra Cooney-Cross stretch to keep a ball with an unnecessarily wayward pass. She then played the Chinese attack onside as they hit the bar with a great chance, but the flag was up, rightly or wrongly. Cooney-Cross herself was lucky not to give a ball away with a mis-hit crossfield pass, but the four remaining subs, once Caitlin Foord had been diagnosed with a hamstring issue, brought life into the game, Ellie Carpenter and Raso especially dangerous down the right. Whether or not Raso was fouled as she skipped into the box is immaterial now without the aid of VAR, but the Matildas sent Arnold forward alongside Kennedy for the final attack of the match. It was a harsh handball call against the Chinese goalkeeper, and when Fowler’s whipped cross was parried, Heyman did brilliantly to react and fire home.

Did Australia deserve the draw? That’s up for debate. China showed more intensity, more verve in pressing up front, and were very comfortable in possession. It wasn’t until the latter stages of the game with Australia bringing on the big guns, that they looked threatening and menacing.

We get another chance to see our Matildas in action on Monday night in Sydney. This will be a big test. They will need to increase the tempo and cherish that possession more than they did in Adelaide in order to show that they are ready for the next big tournament in this fantastic journey under Gustavsson. The Olympic squad will be announced on Tuesday morning in Sydney. There is so much to play for, and a footballing public keen to see something to suggest that Australia will go deep into the tournament in Paris in six weeks’ time.

A journalist ducking for cover for being critical of the Matildas

One night in Adelaide…

The Matildas playing in Adelaide, what an excuse for another visit to this lovely city, and 20 hours later, heading back to rainy Sydney, more footballing memories of following our national team had been made. The football didn’t live up to what we were hoping for, more of a chess match than a full-blooded international shoot-out, but the good times certainly made up for it.

As has become the norm for football away days, the breakfast of champions of a Maccas bacon and egg roll and a pint at the Fat Yak bar gets us ready for the flight, and today we had just enough time before boarding the two-hour flight to Adelaide. While Sydney and Melbourne tend not to get too excited about big sporting games, Adelaide had pulled out all the stops and the airport was plastered with Matildas livery, showing what sport means to the people of this city. This could have been the World Cup all over again.

Our accommodation was in the East End of town, and as we discovered, it is the area of the city that tends to stay open late and has a lot of restaurants, bars and nightclubs whilst retaining its quiet aura. The rain that had been threatening started as soon as we arrived, and we were happy to be enjoying a first couple of ultra-strength beers at the famous Belgian Beer Cafe while the rain cleared. I left the crew as we headed to the pre-game venue at the other side of town and ventured to the stadium on foot to pick up accreditation from the media office. The leafy feel of the last day of autumn made the streets look lovely, and the 20-minute walk to the stadium, with the route through the grounds of the University, was eye-catching.

The area around the stadium is parkland, with statues and monuments, churches and greenery, a lovely setting for the city’s major sporting venue. The merchandise stands were being set up, the barriers and gates were set up and ready to go, and I found the pick-up spot for media and the system worked. One lanyard and media pass later, I was off back into town via the edgier side of town, which had a Melbourne feel to it with old and new buildings side-by-side and grafitti-filled walls proudly on display. Destination the Black Bull on Rundle Street, and the area was super-lively, with venues filling up on this final day of the work week.

This was a pre-game venue in three parts. A pub on one side, a pizzeria on the other and a big barn out the back that had been set aside for the Matildas Active fans to congregate and get ready for the night ahead. The atmosphere built up as the beers flowed, and the many faces from national games around the country and across the world were here to enjoy pre-match vibe. Well done to the organisers for finding such a great venue.

I was out of there early, keen to get to the stadium in good time and get set up in media. I’d get down to ground level later if the opportunity arose, but this one I wanted to see from a footballing perspective, the Matildas so close to heading to the Olympics and at the stage of choosing the squad of 18 to take with them on the journey.

The walk to the stadium with thousands of other fans was colourful. Street sellers with scarves, cool-looking bars with green and gold shirts everywhere, even some sort of igloo-style bar at the exhibition centre where the World Cup live site had been. The foot bridge across to the stadium was busy. This was like the walk to Townsville stadium a couple of years ago, a lovely sight as like-minded fans descended upon the venue en masse. A bit like Wembley Way, but much more pleasant. This was an absolutely beautiful part of the evening, and had I been going to my first ever Matildas game, this would have had me hooked already. The heavy branding for the game made us feel that we were heading into the biggest match ever, posters, signs and stickers everywhere in yellow.

Great to see Emily Condon on the Adelaide United stand. What a great initiative, enticing some of these thousands of national team fans to join the A-League Women for next season. Given the relatively early time, well before kick off, it was encouraging to see so many people flooding into the stadium. The merchandise stands were now awash with people.

Adelaide Oval is glorious. It is like Leichhardt Oval if they made it a 50,000 seater stadium. Steeped in tradition, big trees dominating, a hill in front of the stunning scoreboard where families had set out their picnic blankets, a mixture of inside and outside areas with seating and room for everyone, and vines and ivy growing where other big stadiums would simply have concrete.

The media suite was accessed via a lift only, which is always a pain in the backside if you need to be somewhere quick, and that would decide when I would head down to crowd level, if at all. The atmosphere was building in the stands, and the entrance of the players from the tunnel from the far side was quite a surprise; the normal scenario of the tunnel being down below meant that the players were already halfway over the field before I noticed. The fireworks were going off on the far side, the scene was beautiful. The national anthems were terrific, everyone in the media room standing and singing along.

I’ll not delve into the game action here, I’ve got another piece coming, but at 1-0 down at half-time, the Matildas looked out of ideas. As food arrived for the media and TV crews, I headed down to the active area to see what was happening. The core were there, enjoying the half-time atmosphere, but there was an undercurrent of disappointment with the crowd around them. Which was probably mutual. Getting from the top level of the stand down to ground level took some time, and I was still making my way back when the game kicked off.

An odd scene behind the stadium, with no one in a particular hurry to get back to their seats, massive long queues for food and coffees. I hate missing any of the game; that’s why I’m here, and that’s why I go to the football in the first place, so when I was waiting patiently for a lift that didn’t seem to want to arrive and there was loud cheering from the stadium bowl, I had that feeling of panic that I was missing something important. In the end, once I’d reached my seat, it turned out that the cheers were simply for the substitute players appearing on the big screen and I’d missed absolutely nothing. But those people in the queues for food and drink would have missed a great big chunk of the action just to satisfy their family’s craving for stadium fodder. I wish stadium food outlets could do things quicker.

The Matildas applied the pressure for the rest of the game and finally got their reward in the final minute of added time to rescue the situation. Just like in the golden age of journalism, that made for a frantic rewrite of the copy I’d put together for the Roar, and I sent that off before we headed down for the press conferences.

That damned lift held up all the journalists of both countries. Servicing the catering crew, we saw lifts come up and down filled with trolleys and the lady in charge of the media area was getting cranky that she couldn’t get an empty lift up. Luckily the press conferences wouldn’t start without journalists there, and we were in the auditorium in time for Ante Milicic and goalscorer Zhang Linyang to walk us through the Chinese viewpoint of tonight’s performance. It was well done, Milicic talking extra-clearly for translation purposes, and the team translator was swift to translate everything that was asked of the China striker and everything she replied. The main take-out was that Milicic had very little time to choose a squad after his appointment and did so over a computer. He hoped to build something like Australia is building with women’s football and he wished the Matildas all the best for the Olympics.

We then had Tameka Yallop and Tony Gustavsson, Yallop leaving half way through after fielding questions from the floor. She didn’t give much away, but the tight turnaround between games gave them a taste of the Olympic tournament schedule. They had been asked to mix things up to try and break China down and she felt that Clare Wheeler did well tonight. Gustavsson took over when Yallop left, and started by getting the usual excuses out of the way – end of the A-League season, players not having played for a while, other players fatigued. He was spot on when he said his team looked tired at half time and that they were playing too slow. On the five-player salvo after half-time, he said it was pre-planned – they would mix it up first and then bring on the regular starters. He was close to giving away too much and stopped himself when talking of Kaitlyn Torpey and Charlotte Grant swapping flanks after the break. He then commented that one or two players had locked in their spots in the squad tonight, and there were only four positions up for grabs going into this one. The players would know face-to-face if they had been selected before the end of this camp and he knew that some players would be hurt by that.

A swift mixed-zone, Ellie Carpenter revealing that the players would be first going on holiday before joining up with the squad for the Olympics, and it was time to leave. This had been quite insightful. The Olympic Games may not yet have reached the consciousness of the nation, but in the Matildas camp that’s all they’re thinking about.

The walk back along the foot bridge was quiet. The back of the Black Bull was not. The party was back on. Debrief from the Active fans was of discontent and disappointment at the goings on in the so-called active bay, but smiles were still on faces and the night had been excellent. With the bar closing, decisions were made, some of our group headed back home to end the night gracefully, whereas a few of us headed with Oscar to a superb rooftop bar where DJ Sanchez took the reins briefly to give us a taste of what the after-hours scene can give you in this party city.

After a stop in to MMTV’s pad in the fancy team hotel in town, it was time for me to exit and I headed to bed for a quick 50-minute sleep, crossing paths briefly with Michelle who was coming back in as I headed to the airport for the first flight out back to Sydney. Our gang was staying to enjoy the food and wine of South Australia, I was heading back to play football and catch up on work, although the football side of things was to quickly disappear from the agenda as the rain thrashed down on Saturday morning.

What a whirlwind trip. Great to be back in Adelaide, first time since the Brazil vs Panama game in the World Cup, and loved seeing a full stadium for my first visit to this historic venue. The Matildas have work to do ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris. Monday at Accor Stadium will see players literally playing for their spot in the squad, and I foresee a much better performance to show the nation that we are ready to face the best in July in just a few short weeks. Let’s go Matildas!

Believe in the Niamh : City sneak win

Blacktown City 1 Camden Tigers 0

Blacktown City’s search for a goalscoring solution continues following a narrow 1-0 win against Camden Tigers at Landen Stadium. Sunday’s Football NSW League One Women’s Under 20s clash of two mid-table teams was locked at 0-0 for 88 minutes when Niamh Nolan burst clear to finish at the Prospect Highway End, a wave of relief flooding through her team as they finally snatched the three points. The visitors can consider themselves unfortunate, and they had their own chances to win the game throughout the preceding tussle, but ultimately and perhaps predictably, that single goal was enough to send the home team back to winning ways and keep them in touching distance of the top four.

Coach Jake Gomez brought in Sophie Roberts for a first start to try and turn his team’s enterprising approach play into goals, and there was a debut for new signing Emma Kociper in goal and a first appearance since round 1 for Zoe Thompson on the bench to add some firepower to the misfiring Blacktown attack. The opening exchanges were brutal, robust challenges flying in, Montanna Taff and Isabella La Malfa having to keep cool heads at the heart of the Camden defence to repel the waves of City attack down both flanks.

The first chance came within minutes, and it was a sweet turn by Issy Saunders and strength through the tackle that saw the ball played through to Hayley Reynolds on the right side of the penalty area in space. By the time the ball was under control the defence was in tackling range, but Reynolds got the shot away, goalkeeper Zarli Lakeman making a fine stop.

Blacktown continued with their positive play up the left and when Roberts dug out a cross, La Malfa sent a looping header towards her own goal that Lakeman did well to reach and hold on to the rebound.

Camden were in control at the back, taking the sting out of the game, while City sat back inviting them to attack. When Eve Wilson slotted through a ball for the dangerous Emilia Michalak, Nicola Ciocca was quickly on the scene to clear up the danger. Michalak then beat two City players on the right to deliver a deflected spinning ball into the penalty area, and when Kociper couldn’t hold it, Aurelia Smith was there to force the ball behind with Camden players lurking in front of the unguarded goal.

More good work up the right saw Wilson fire in a shot that bounced wide and the danger signs were there for the home team. City countered and raided down the right, Reynolds teasing in a cross, Emily Jackson challenged with Lakeman and the ball popped out to Roberts who fired a stinging shot just past the post. The wide play from City was bringing dangerous moments; first Roberts fed Reynolds but her touch was too strong, then Smith, Jackson and Reynolds combined with slick one-touch passing, Saunders challenging with the goalkeeper, Lakeman doing well to snatch the ball ahead of the Blacktown striker.

The home side were given a massive let-off midway through the half. Ciocca dwelled on the ball and was dispossessed, Shae Paananen racing clear with only Kociper to beat, but the shot was scuffed horribly wide and the chance was gone. The game was ebbing and flowing, Camden’s Jenna Schifino lashing a shot out for a throw-in after a free kick from the left, while Lucia Franulovic raced on to another tidy move by Smith and Reynolds, but the cross was again well dealt with by Lakeman.

Michalak raced through with Lily Thompson in close attendance, Kociper out quickly to deny the tricky Camden forward, before City fashioned their best chance yet when Reynolds raced through to challenge with the advancing Lakeman. The ball fell perfectly for the pacy Blacktown winger, who took a touch past Lakeman and fired on goal from an acute angle. Unbelievably the ball bounced off the bar of the open goal and a glorious chance was missed.

Saunders then fired in a cross that Lakeman did well to inercept; Roberts played in Saunders but Lakeman made a good save, before Camden produced their best football of the half. First Schifino raced up the left, the cross showing us Ciocca’s phenomenal pace in dealing with the loose ball, then Rebekah Fenech found space on the left, but Annabelle Gerard was there with a big clearance. Michalak smashed a high ball into the area that had the City defence on full alert, but the half ended with City on the attack. Great work by Jackson and Nolan saw Jackson cut in from the left and fire in a shot. Lakeman saved with her feet as the ball bounced in front of her, and coach Gomez could be heard cursing when no City player followed up the shot. The half-time whistle went with the scores locked at 0-0, the hopes of a change in fortune in front of goal as yet unrealised.

A careless start to the second half had City on the defensive. Paananen released on the left but pushing the ball too far. The spectre of offside that has plagued the home team in such games this season was again in evidence, when newly introduced substitute Zoe Thompson played a one-two with Saunders but had gone too early. Smith then played in Saunders on the right, but she ran out of space looking for a cross, before Jackson showed her trickery to win a corner on the left.

Jackson’s corner was controlled by Gerard, but the rushed shot was hoisted well over the bar. Blacktown then had a horror moment that could and should have changed the context of the game. Ciocca played a ball straight to Paananen who raced through, poking a shot goalwards. Kociper got a touch and the ball was hacked away for a corner, the City defence breathing a sigh of relief.

Ellie-Leigh Lontis was brought down centrally for a free-kick to the Tigers, and when Michalak raced on to Maddison Jones’ ball, Ciocca was there to clean up, using her pace and strength to again avert the danger.

More enterprise from Zoe Thompson and Nolan saw Jackson cross from the left but Lakeman was there to pick the ball out of the air. It was end-to-end now, a simple clearance saw Michalak race through but Ciocca was there once more, Kociper pouncing on the loose ball.

Sienna Bell then sprinted onto a through ball from Zoe Thompson to fire on goal, Lakeman getting an important touch to send the ball wide. The resulting corner was met by Roberts with a glancing header, but she didn’t get enough on it and the ball went well past the far post. A Blacktown City game would not be complete without a fearless crunching tackle by Bell, this time leaving Jones with no doubt of her opponent’s presence.

Paananen continued to make headway up the left, unlucky not to keep the ball in with Gerard in close attendance. The delicate skills of Ashlee Taff were starting to give the City defence issues, and it was the busy midfielder who curled a shot on goal that Kociper saved comfortably. Taff then played through Lara Underwood but Abby Duggan was quickly on the scene, Taff’s shot from the loose ball blocked.

City kept pushing. Zoe Thompson played in Jackson who raced through, but the defence swamped her and the chance was gone before she could get the shot in. Zoe Thompson then almost intercepted a backpass before Franulovic was upended for a free-kick in a dangerous position. The free-kick was lifted towards Brianna Tinney, who looked for a moment to be peeling off the back of her defender to meet the ball on the volley, but instead the ball bounced through harmlessly for a goal kick.

City were frustrated, but persistent. Tinney played a superb ball to Bell on the right. She reached the byline and crossed, the ball cleared to Duggan, racing in on the right of the penalty area, but her composure deserted her, and the shot was blazed into the canteen behind.

Roberts then played in Tinney in a similar situation on the right, but the shot on the stretch was well wide of Lakeman’s goal. Tinney flattened Charlotte Taylor in frustration, before Tinney and Duggan combined beautifully, but the cross was too close to the grateful Lakeman.

Time was running out. City were rampant. Zoe Thompson suddenly touched a pass in for Nolan on the run and she found herself one-on-one with Lakeman. Despite a heavy second touch, the Camden goalkeeper hesitating as the City winger bore the weight of her team’s hopes on her shoulders, Nolan got to the ball first, poking the ball inside the near post with a terrific finish. The relief was palpable. The celebrating players were joined by the rest of their teammates, celebrating more that the weight had been lifted, rather than in joy at the winning goal.

The game had a minute left, but when Zoe Thompson was upended and knocked her head on the hard surface, the referee was obliged to offer treatment, taking the clock to the 90-minute mark and handing the three points to the home team.

This had been a difficult game for Blacktown City. They had certainly made it difficult for themselves. The domination in the first half was replaced by nerves in the second, and momentary lapses in concentration almost cost them all the points in what should never have been such an even game.

The wait for the complete Blacktown City performance continues, but the welcome three points and a debut clean sheet for Emma Kociper keeps the home team in touch with the leaders. The visitors were understandably gutted by the manner of the defeat after giving a good account of themselves for the whole ninety minutes. Camden Tigers entertain SD Raiders next week in a tricky encounter to kick off the second round of fixtures, while Blacktown City travel to Nepean in the hope of turning their dominance into goals and righting the wrongs of their round one clash at Landen Stadium.

Congratulations on the win, but improvement is still sought. Was it one? Yes. Was it easy? No. See you next week for more top drawer action from the Football NSW League One Women’s Under 20s. Enjoy your week!

Thanks for reading. As always, if you clicked here from social media and you liked what you read, give it a like and a share to spread the word. Imagine if the players weren’t aware of the match report! If there are any errors, names misspellt or inaccuracies, just let me know. See you next week.

This is the best trip… Global Football Week, Melbourne 2024

With the Sydney FC season over and done with, only the Grand Final remaining in the A-League men’s season, Global Football Week came around quickly to keep the football diary pumping at a furious pace. As a lifelong Newcastle fan, born in the same town as Bobby and Jackie Charlton and hailing from a small market town on the A1 on the Great North Road, this was a three-day festival that was never going to be an option. As it turned out, the football was secondary to the pre-game party atmosphere and the stadium sing-a-long, but we were treated to something special in Melbourne. I’m writing this as a memory for myself, more than anything, of an incredible few days to wrap up the 2023/24 season. But feel free to come along on the journey with me…

My partner in life and football, die-hard Liverpool fan Michelle, may not have had a team to support in the first game of this three-game fiesta, but the Friday night offered an exceptional opportunity to catch the men’s and women’s A-League All-Stars, so I didn’t feel guilty after booking the flights down the moment it was announced. With events already starting on the Tuesday, the decision to make the journey on the Wednesday was looking a little foolish, but we touched down early afternoon, made it to our crash pad near the Victoria Markets and headed straight out to the MCG.

A portable booth was set up for all accreditation, and after securing my media pass for the week, we headed down to Richmond, a 15-minute walk, to the check out the three pubs that made up the trio of venues for the pre-match as organised by the superheroes of Aussie Mags. The first pub, the Corner, sounded promising, named after the area of the Gallowgate End at St James Park where the rowdiest of fans would stand back in the days of ugly terraces and unsafe standing. Alas, the place was quiet – re-runs of the season’s goals playing as tables sat empty. Michelle could sense my itchiness to move on to the next pub. This wasn’t what following Newcastle was about. It was like the Labour Club in Newcastle back in the day.

Moving on to the next bar, the Richmond Club Hotel, home of the AFL, the downstairs bar was filling up and we had a little bit of chanting and singing. The rest of the three-level pub was empty, but at least the bar on the ground floor had a feeling like the Newcastle Arms early on game day. We sat on a table with two sixty-something afficionados, one a Spurs fan, and the evening started to take on an away day vibe, maybe that of a cautious drink near the centre of London before heading to Selhurst Park.

The vow to get to all three pubs was our saviour. Walking under the railway bridge in the fading light, we came to the Precinct Bar. Just walking in, you could feel the atmosphere. The place was busy, the bar looked like the Wonder Bar at 1pm on a Saturday, heaving with thirsty punters, and the two huge spaces were packing up nicely.

Loads of familiar faces, said hello to the NUFC Sydney crew who were out in force. Said hello to a lot of new faces too, the vibe was super friendly, as it tends to be when Geordies find each other in far away places. The Morpeth Mags t-shirt helped too – met plenty of locals from around Northumberland, and there was also a familiar face from the New Zealand trip ten years ago (Luke I think) who was leading the chants away outside the Terrace Bar in Dunedin on the way to see Sydney FC v the Toon in 2014. Michelle was enjoying the night already, and I left her chatting to some guys from Perth as I made my move to head early back to the MCG to get set up.

The fella selling Newcastle scarves was classic – he could easily have been selling ‘three lighters for a pound’, or bleating ‘get your white sports socks, three pairs for a pound’. Definitely not out of place en route to a Toon game. The MCG was busy outside, people crowding around the merchandise outlets, the queue for food was formidable, and in I went to find the print media room to get my laptop ready for the second-half typing frenzy. But first I was going to spend the first half with my people. It was a surprisingly warm night. There were plenty of people in t-shirts and I was one of them. Finding the way around the corporate levels of the MCG is not immediately obvious, and I had a look in some of the boxes – fancy! Getting down to the ‘away end’, as we expected to be on this Ange-fest occasion, the seats were filling up and it wasn’t long before the chants started.

The pre-game was entertaining. We had a drumming troup in front of us on the field who thumped the beat to the Blaydon Races, which was well-received by the fans, and the Wor Flags plastic flags were fluttered ahead of the proposed time on kick off. Spurs had Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspurs, surely a Man United song; they missed a trick and should have had a Chas and Dave number. Both were well done. There was footage of Ange Postecoglu in action for South Melbourne up on the big screen. The team line-ups were booed and cheered in equal measure. We had quite a strong line-up and all the while the stadium filled up and we had quite an atmosphere on kick off.

Michelle’s seat was up on level 2, a much better view, but she was soon down with us in the active section when it was evident that this was by no means full. There was singing. There was chanting. Have you ever seen a mackem in Melbourne? We hate Sunderland, and we hate Sunderland. We are the Geordies. The atmosphere from the Precinct Hotel was being recreated. It was so good. We were all connected to Newcastle United in some way and we were just happy to be able to talk amongst each other as if we were comrades, and sing tunes together that we only ever got to sing at 2am in front of the telly in one of the dedicated bars in our capital cities.

Postecoglu led his team out. The Spurs-heavy crowd lapped it up. Our heroes made their way onto the field and the game was underway in no time; after all we were running pretty late according to the scheduled kick off time.

The game was clearly an exhibition game, played at a much slower pace than your typical Premier League game, but we had plenty of action. Bruno Guimaraes was everywhere, taking calculated risks in his own penalty area and then dictating the play up front moments later. Joelinton went down stretching, we feared the worst, but he was soon back up and rejoining the action. Spurs took the lead when Nick Pope dropped a clanger and fed the ball straight to an opponent. James Maddison took a touch and smashed the ball into the net for 1-0 and our hands were on our heads. Kieran Trippier, called up recently for international duty with England in the Euros, was taken off just after the half-hour to concerned looks, and his able replacement Jacob Murphy was set up by Bruno to fire in a cross that was palmed right into Alexander Isak’s path for a tap-in on the stroke of half time. Cue celebrations in the Newcastle end, slightly muted with the action being so far away at the other end.

It was time to head up to the media room and make a start. Retracing my steps, it did take me some time to get past up to the right level and then walk halfway around the stadium to find my spot. I was sitting behind the guy from Newcastle United who does the live feed. His job was to become quite tricky when the subs started. The whole team was replaced, and some of those subs were themselves replaced. This was an unrecognisable team from the one that started the game, and when Son was hooked quite early, the Spurs team started to have a similar feel. Garang Kuol appeared for twenty-minute debut and did absolutely nothing to enhance his shattered reputation. The game was heading for a draw when the muffled announcement came through on the PA system that the game was going to penalties in the event of a draw. That seemed to spur both teams on, but they couldn’t be separated and a penalty shoot-out it was.

The seagulls had started to swoop. Mark Gillespie made a fabulous save from the first penalty. Newcastle scored. The rest of the penalties were scored, the Newcastle penalties taken with considerable class, until Harrison Ashby, a potential superstar who has been out on loan all season, scored the winning penalty. The players didn’t really know what to do. This had been a penalty shootout for no reason. There was no trophy. Did we really have to have a winner? Dan Burn took it upon himself to race across the pitch and celebrate with Gillespie. Why not eh?

I’d clicked send on the words I was sending to nufc.com (see it here) just as the media lady was leaving to chaperone the media pack down to the press conferences in the bowels of the stadium. I had to run to catch up. We were down there promptly and taken to a room where the desk was set up, the background in place, but there was no mixed zone or player interviews. Lee Ryder, the Chronicle reporter who has been a mainstay of North East football journalism since I can remember, was there. Australian football media experts Joey Lynch and Anna Harrington were there, along with a host of others, and we waited for the arrival of the Spurs manager. Lee was absent for Ange’s arrival, clearly having negotiated to be with the Newcastle players as they filed onto the bus. Ange was great, and he fielded plenty of questions. Eddie Howe was next, and I managed to squeeze in one question at the very end (it’s here if you care to watch). The Newcastle players had already gone, but the staff remained, going back on a separate minibus.

I was hoping to bump into Serena, Newcastle United’s club photographer, who I first met at St James Park for that Leicester game when Gabriel Obertan scored and we won our first game of the season under Alan Pardew – you know, the game when the new TV screen on the Leazes End came dislodged in the wind and the game was delayed by an hour. The Spurs players were set to do a mixed zone-style walk past from their changing room to the bus, and the journalists were all barricaded in like pigs in a pen. All of a sudden up popped Serena and I had to manoeuvre my way out of the enclosure to sneak a quick word. Lovely lady – her kids are at the same school as my nieces, bloody small world, and she knows my best mate Jules too. The mixed zone was so far from my thoughts now and I was keen to get out.

Outside, the scene at the service exit was incredible, a mass of Korean fans crowded at the gate. I was heading back to meet up with Michelle and Sydney FC’s number one fan Christine, upstairs at the Richmond Club Hotel. What a fun night, Michelle ending the night with a broken margherita glass after an afternoon, evening and night of fun and laughter. Being surrounded with AFL people on a night when football was the focus was quite different, and the relatively early closing had us back at our place near Flagstaff Gardens at a most reasonable time. Day one done! Time for a quick piece for The Roar (that one’s here) that I eventually finished the next morning. What a blast. Two more days of this, get in!

Thursday. No game today, but plenty to see and do. I’ve not spent that much quality time in Melbourne. It’s usually fly in around lunchtime, pre-match meet up at a bar, game, night out, then out early the next day; its a winning recipe that keeps us coming back for more. But this time it felt more like a holiday and we had time to enjoy the city. And that’s what we did.

We were getting used to the train system, with our Myki Cards borrowed from the reception where we were staying. Pretty good system, and our first stop was Collingwood, a familiar sounding name – it was the name of one of the houses at my school growing up – so definite connections to my home town in rural Northumberland. Our destination was Ultra Football, the mecca of all football apparel. They had A-League All Stars shirts for sale, and Michelle picked Ibini for the back of hers in recognition of the Sydney FC star. I was conflicted and chose not to buy one. There was not a single Newcastle United shirt in there – the assistants said they had sold out, but I was scepitical. I’d been once to the Sydney store and they had none there either. Oddly enough there were shirts of Charlton Athletic and Swansea City, but nothing for the team taking over Melbourne right now.

We headed back into Melbourne after lunch and after finding one of the famous grafitti alleyways, we decided we needed to see more, and we embarked on a huge tour of the CBD, following an online map of the best laneways. What a good idea. Giving us a sense of what Melbourne was all about, some of the laneways had waifs and strays shooting drugs mixed with professionals going about their day in their fancy inner city offices.

We were lucky that Melbourne had put on a cracker of a day, and we continued through until 3.30pm, some of the sites now building sites, but most of them genuine works of art.

When we landed back at our place, I knew I had to be quick to make the Arsenal Women’s press conference, and was straight back on the train at Flagstaff to get to AAMI Park in time. Michelle would come later for the training sessions. With a little prior knowledge of this venue to help me navigate, I found the media room and was ushered in with a minute to spare. The room was full of photographers and journalists and I took a spot on the raised area looking down to the desk as Arsenal’s Jonas Eidevall entered the room flanked by Kim Little and Steph Catley.

The Swedish coach was delighted for the opportunity to show off Arsenal to a new audience in Melbourne, as well as being able to give some of his younger players a chance. There were jokes about Kim travelling with the kids, like a mother duck with her ducklings, but Catley was quick to point out that she wasn’t seen as the mum of the team. The chatter wasn’t specifically about the game, more about memories of previous stints the players had in Melbourne, and how the game was starting to realise its potential in this country. Both players raised their eyebrows when Eidervall was asked whether all the Aussie contingent would start tomorrow’s game. There was a comedy moment when one of the camera guys was caught scrolling on social media, the loud music interrupting the conference for a few seconds, before talk turned to the Matildas and their games against China.

I said hello to fellow Qatar World Cup attendee and photographer Liam at the break between the two press conferences, always good to reconnect with like-minded football people.

The second press conference was light-hearted, Joe Montemurro bringing his high spirits with Tameka Yallop, and proceeding to woo the watching journalists. He was there to showcase the A-League. He was inevitably asked about the Matildas job that will be available after the Olympics and, whilst understandably coy about it, he said that the common denominator between managing at club and national level was the management of players. Watch this space. The request for a score prediction was laughed at, but the promise was made that there would be goals. Yallop said that her Brisbane experience was going well and that they were going in the right direction with building professionalism. She was like a sponge in this camp, learning from her experienced coach. The conferences wrapped up, the journalists were free to join the fans in the stands for the Arsenal open training session.

This was a great opportunity to see training drills first hand. The quality was high from the Arsenal squad and the crowd were singing their songs to accompany the players as they moved through the various stages of training. She’s red, she’s white, she loves the Vegemite, along with plenty of Aussie Aussie chants to really grate on the Matildas fans present. Michelle turned up and we spent half an hour running the rule over each of the players so we could know who they were for tomorrow’s game. It was time, however, for me to up sticks and head to the next event while Michelle took in the A-League All Stars training featuring the best of the best that this country has to offer.

After a ridiculous wait for a tram at the Olympic Park stop, I was finally on the move and walked through the doors of the casino to find the entrance to the Pub, for the Shola Ameobi talk-in. I was a little late, but the last of the attendees were being shepherded in, a brand new Newcastle United scarf the reward to everyone for attending. You get a prize! You get a prize! Not since Alan Shearer’s testimonial have I received something free at a Newcastle United event. Lee Ryder was there. NUFC Sydney were there. Aussie Mags were there. The young fella who sits a few rows back at Sydney FC was there, and most importantly Adam Peacock was set to interview Shola Ameobi, a former Tyneside hero, on stage in a matter of minutes.

Shola was brilliant. He had the crowd singing at the right moments, he used the word ‘gosh’ a lot, which perhaps stopped him from using more industrial words as he talked us through the dark years of Mike Ashley, the furore over bonuses at that time and the end for him when the club played youngsters at the business end of cup competitions. He regaled us with many stories of party boy Patrick Kluivert, Bobby Robson’s insistence on calling him Carl Cort, and the fact that Jonathan Woodgate was the ultimate prankster. The funniest moment actually came from an increasingly inebriated audience member, who suggested that Shola ‘do the helicopter’ with impeccable comedy timing.

This was one of those times when no one would leave without a signature or a selfie. I was happy to get mine with the big lad, Michelle turning up at the right time when the crowd around the former Toon star had thinned. The beer had been flowing and spirits were high, but unfortunately this had to end. It had been a fantastic event, the crowd eating out of Shola’s hand and responding to his cues with whole-hearted singing. Geordie fan Adam Peacock, close to stumbling when talking about his late father’s love for Newcastle United, had done a great job and everyone there that night would have left with the same feeling as myself – this club is like family. You can’t live with it, you can’t live without it.

We were back home before midnight despite the hopeless late evening transport, closing the page on a busy second day. One more to go and another chance to show our love and devotion for our marvellous club with a second game day against the A-League All Stars at Marvel Stadium.

After checking my emails around midnight the previous night, I had seen a media opportunity with Channel 9 for a quick chat with Cortnee Vine and Marcelo, two of the stars of the A-League All-Stars, and I RSVP’d for the 9am start. Absolutely exhausted from the busy day, that didn’t stop me getting up bright and early for the 15-minute walk down to the Intercontinental Hotel. It wasn’t obvious what was happening, and in the end it took some investigation to find out where the interview would take place, out the back of the hotel on the street amongst the passing suits heading to work and the roar of the passing traffic.

I had the opportunity off-air to ask Marcelo about his playing time with Bruno Guimaraes – they had both played at Lyon – and he said he had spoken with him on Monday. The likelihood of him and Joelinton playing was slim as Joelinton was in Brazil getting married and Bruno was in the Brazil squad. Marcelo was good value when I explained that I was a Sydney FC fan, but he didn’t give much away. I was there with Isha, a young and energetic women’s football reporter from Canberra, who took the photos of me with Marcelo and Cortnee. She seems like a real breath of fresh air and I was hoping to hear more of her punchy style of questioning. I did get a question in – how did the camp atmosphere differ in the A-League All Stars to the national team? And what was her thoughts on Joe Montemurro as All Stars coach. Cortnee was full of praise. Future Matildas coach, nailed on!

I took the time to have a reccy of the Langham to see if any players or staff were out and about nearby. There were already plenty of black and white shirts in the cafes having breakfast which reminded me of my own hunger. I jumped on the train like a local up to Flagstaff and wandered up to Victoria Markets for a quick look, returning to home base with massive croissants, fruit and coffees to restart the day. We were meeting up with my old mate Mark, once of West Ryde, now of Wangaratta, and we took a bus down to the casino and walked along the South Bank to the bar area set aside by Aussie Mags for the Friday pre-match meet. The beers were flowing quickly, and the flags were being pinned up in the courtyard. We’d chosen the right place, the Boat Builders, and I had a wander up to the other three venues as the party started to crank up, none of them having any atmosphere whatsoever. The Boat Builders was the place to be for the afternoon.

Several pints in, and the place was filling up with Newcastle shirts of every vintage. The songs started, and this truly felt like an away day following the Toon. It’s impossible to get tickets to away games these days, one of my last ones before New Zealand was Bruges in the Europa League, and before that I’ve got no idea. It could have been 25 years ago or more. This certainly had Bruges vibes, albeit in less historic surrounds. The fact that this atmosphere made me hark back to great times in the past was a testament to the efforts of the organisers. Genuine, authentic and passionate, absolutely nailed the pre-game again.

I saw Frank, assistant kit man at Newcastle Jets, who I met in the pub before the England game at Wembley, and who I’d seen after a Jets game at Macarthur recently. He pointed me to Ryan Scott, Jets goalkeeper and I just had to do some match-making, my friend Mark and his family all Newcastle Jets fans, and Ryan posed for photos and lapped up the atmosphere, leading away the chants and enjoying the day as much as any Newcastle fan. Top bloke, even defending Phillip Cancar as I challenged him about that comedy sending-off a few weeks ago at McDonald Jones Stadium. The beers had hit the spot, but it was time to leave and get to Marvel Stadium, and the daytime walk up to the stadium had me at the stadium well ahead of kick-off and just in time to see the rest of the Toon fans singing and chanting their way up to the stadium.

Heading into the stadium, directed by the friendly folk on the gate to where I was meant to be in the media suite, there was an interesting mix of Newcastle United, Arsenal and A-League shirts. Using the peculiar sauce stadium as a navigation point, I found the ramp that took me up to the correct level, and was directed to the right door. I set up my laptop ready for the furious write-up later on, and met Newcastle journalist Lee Ryder again, who didn’t seem comfortable with the line-up that Eddie Howe had announced. He was kind enough to accept a copy of my most revered fiction novel to date, a story set in the North East of England with plenty of St James’ Park action, and posed for a photo that will no doubt come in handy on social media in the future. Something to read for the flight home anyway.

I left my spot and made my way down to ground level to join the Newcastle fans in what was possibly a more concentrated active area than the MCG the other night. The songs were going, the atmosphere was one of excitement, but the players were all unknown, the tyranny of distance between fans and players making it impossible to recognise many of the junior players at this vast oval stadium.

The crowd was well and truly revved up. The Blaydon Races was being belted out, we had Local Hero playing and we were full of joy and emotion as the game got underway.

It was great to see Jack, a proper Geordie supporter who I bumped into one day at the dog park in Meadowbank (!), and we were in full voice as the game continued. Goalkeeper Mark Gillespie’s cousin was alongside us, and the girls from Alnwick behind. The game looked like men against boys, and it was metaphorically as well as physically, even Mathew Leckie able to bully his meek opponents off the ball. When Ben Old, an absolute standout in the Wellington Phoenix line-up this year, struck with barely five minutes on the clock, the writing was on the wall. Gillespie made a flying save soon after and it was one-way traffic, Newcastle bereft of ideas and coughing up cheap possession that would obviously be punished by much more experienced and energetic opponents. Old speghetti legs Nicolas Milanovic then took advantage of a rubbish clearance, passing up the chance to pass to one of two players free to fire on goal. Somehow it stayed out, hitting both posts, but Milanovic got his goal soon after with a tap in that looked to be the goalkeeper’s, but the ball squeezed in. When Adam Taggart smashed home unmarked, Newcastle leaving a single defender back to deal with three All Stars players, the game was clearly over as a contest and the celebrations from the players were muted. This was dire.

Not long into the second half, with the game petering out and the Newcastle fans concentrating on singing instead of watching the game, I headed up to the media suite and settled in to write up the day’s experience, while keeping an eye on the rest of the game unfolding below. The scoreline was semi-respectable until Nestory Irankunda got on, and from then on it was a case of how many more the non-existent Newcastle defence would leak. At 0-8, the Newcastle fans were at their loudest, and they gave support that the team didn’t deserve. The final whistle saw the players head over to effectively apologise for the horror show.

The chaperone appeared to take us down to the press conferences, giving us a two minute warning. That was enough to finish off and hit send (you can read this one here, it’s the last part of the ‘waffle’ section, where the fan photos start – it reads well despite being so rushed) and race after the group who were heading down in the lift. I nipped into the next lift and made it down to the bottom, but wasn’t sure if I was in the right place, so hopped back in. As I worked out which floor I should be on, all the non-playing Newcastle players turned up to get in the lift and I walked in with them. As you can imagine I was as excited as I could be, and when I announced that I was going to take photos whether they liked it or not, they jokingly hid their faces, obviously embarrassed by what had gone on tonight on the field. Luckily I coaxed them in for a couple of photos and that was a surreal moment for this lifelong Newcastle United fan, what a blast!

The press conferences were great. Eddie Howe is such a professional with his responses. There was no suggestion of the online uproar that would no doubt be brewing after this non-contest, and the questions were mainly positive. Even Lee Ryder cut a resigned figure, as if he had expected this result and was now thinking ahead to the summer transfer wranglings. I did get two questions in. Firstly, I asked Eddie his thoughts about the fans, singing away at 8-0 down. He was full of praise and really surprised by the turn out around Melbourne and across the two games. Then I asked his comments about how the Australian-based fans might be disappointed by what they saw tonight, and his simple answer was that he had to protect the players. No point in throwing players in for what was clearly a meaningless game, and he had to protect the out-of-contract players too, no chance of Paul Dummett and Matt Ritchie playing despite them being here tonight. So who was to blame for tonight? Having booked this trip as a day trip when the first game was announced and then extending the trip to include the All-Stars game when it was announced a short time later, that could be the answer. This was hastily arranged and someone, somewhere had agreed that Newcastle wouldn’t play their first team.

Next up was Patrick Kisnorbo, or as he was referred to by the full-time football journalists in the room ‘PK’, and his gravelly voice suggested a lot of shouting during the game. He did put his foot in it at one point, implying that Irankunda wasn’t selected as he wasn’t ready to compete, and you could feel the tension in the room as he backpedalled and warned the journalists that they should be careful what they write. It was clearly a slip; he was meaning that he wasn’t going to a select a team based upon name alone, and fair play to him, but it came out slightly wrong.

The trio of conferences was completed by a double-act of Adam Taggart and Nestory Irankunda. They were vibing off each other and seemed like great mates already, and urged everyone to go and watch an NPL game to see the next group of stars that this country is bringing through. On Socceroos selection, Irankunda came across as slightly salty, and quite rightly so after being overlooked for selection last time out but then turning selection down when injuries allowed further call-ups. He said that he could still represent Burundi and Tanzania, and this was almost a plea to the Australia coach to select him. Or else. I could see the headlines in the morning already, but I wasn’t going to have any time to write any of them! We had another game to go.

I headed back up to the media suite, and by now the stadium was looking much fuller. It was clear which of the two games was the headline. The players walked out to huge acclaim, and I headed down to what was the Newcastle United end, but was now being replaced by Arsenal shirts, and watched the first half with Michelle.

The game was entertaining. The All-Stars didn’t look over-awed by the occasion, but Arsenal looked the better team, with crisper passing and more options going forward. Alessia Russo scored, Lydia Williams with no chance of saving. When some fans to our left starting chanting ‘eleven, eleven’ it was clear that they were instead watching the ball girl behind the goal. She was jumping over the ball to keep herself warm, every jump eliciting a cheer from the crowd. It took the intervention of the seccy at the front of the seating area to go over and let her know that she had the crowd in the palm of her hand, and she hammed it up magnificently, playing along with the cheers from the fans. The pantomime villain carrying the bag of balls told her to pick up the ball and stop doing it, which naturally received boos from all around. It was a refreshing change from the Mexican wave, but it did highlight the problem of playing in an oval stadium. The distance between the game and the fans is too much, and anything that catches the eye becomes instantly more interesting.

Jada Whyman came on to allow Lydia Williams a fantastic send-off as she approaches her retirement just before half time and the mood in the stadium was very Matildas.

Sydney FC’s Shane turned up and Michelle went to join his group of Arsenal fans, and I took my opportunity to head back upstairs. The Arsenal VIP area caught my eye. It was a wristband-only area, with table football, proper glasses and food, but it was virtually empty. There was no indication as to why it was there and how you could gain access, and when I walked in to take a photo I was pounced on for not having the right wristband. Anyway, I found the sauce stadium which led me up to the ramps and found the media suite. There was food, which was something that had been lacking all day. I had a laugh to myself as I took a bite of a mini pie and the contents squirted out all over me. In a Homer Simpson move I took another bite and even more spilled out. Amateur, purely amateur.

The second half was entertaining. Caitlin Foord looked menacing on the left, and the All-Stars were in it until the end, Hannah Wilkinson released in a great move by Sophie Harding and Mackenzie Hawkesby, but her shot was brilliantly saved. We had Princess Ibini on the field, Steph Catley had made way, but the changes didn’t seem to disrupt the flow of the game. The seagulls were rampant. I didn’t think it could get any more crazy than AAMI Park – this was plague levels. The final whistle was met with a huge roar. The majority of the fans, let’s face it they were supporting Arsenal, were happy. The All-Stars donned Arsenal shirts as both teams made their way around the stadium to take the acclaim and make dreams come true with their legions of fans. Again the two-minute warning to head downstairs for the press conferences had me packing up quickly and running after the rest of the group, and we took the stairs this time, a much quicker way of getting there.

We had Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord for Arsenal who were loving being back in an Australian press pack, followed by Cortnee Vine and Lydia Williams for the All-Stars. When prompted regarding the possibility of taking All-Stars games overseas in the future, Lydia disagreed; this is all about showcasing our league and showing our country what we have against quality opposition. She joked with Cortnee that she had to wait 17 years for a World Cup and an Asian Cup on home soil, and Cortnee had achieved that in only a few short years.

The final conference was Joe Montemurro. He was in a good mood as always, deflecting those same questions about his future while giving Lydia a big wrap. They had tried to expose the little things in the Arsenal defence, but their players were simply better conditioned. Defence was key, and that was why Kayla Morrison and Rebekah Stott played the whole game. Joe was sure that Kayla could play in Europe if she wanted.

By now I was running low on energy, and I headed out of the stadium, eventually finding the exit, and met up for last drinks at the Nixon just opposite with Michelle and a group of the Matildas most ardent fans. We headed over the other side of the station to continue the night before pulling up stumps in an Uber back to our temprary home, for the three-hour sleep before we had to be up and about for the flight home. A plane-load of Victory fans on their way to Gosford was not on my bucket list, but it was great to meet and sit next to a huge Victory fan in Kieran Francis of Sporting News and talk all things A-League on the way back to Sydney. Only a little bit jealous that we weren’t heading to Sydney to see a Big Blue final instead.

I don’t know how to sum up this trip. It was like a collision of two of my worlds, the A-League and the Premier League, two worlds that exist in different time zones, with different people and that seem so far apart and unknown to each other. To have my beloved Newcastle United in Australia was amazing, and I’m sure that every single Newcastle fan that turned up at the Precinct or the Boat Builders before singing their hearts out amongst fellow Geordies in two magnificent stadiums, watching their team live, will remember this trip forever. My love for football could not be any greater than it is now. My love for Newcastle United remains a constant in my life, and with the A-League making waves around the world for all the right reasons, I cannot wait to see what’s next.

Thanks for reading. Like I said, this is mainly for me, but if it struck a chord with you and you read it all the way to the bottom, you’re a fellow football tragic and I salute you.

Next up – Matildas v China – see you there!

City overcome horror start to take Saints all the way

St George FC 3 Blacktown City 1

Two goals down and only ten minutes on the clock, Blacktown City had every right to crumble to a humiliating defeat at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday in the Football NSW League One Women Under 20s. Goals from Alexia Saltirov and Alana Kozul had St George in the box seat, but a brilliant run and finish from Emily Jackson brought the visitors right back into the game. Despite chances for both teams, the game remained on a knife-edge until the dying moments when Charlotte McGhee pounced to kill the game off with a third St George goal.

A beautiful day in south Sydney gave us a chance to see the miserly defence of Blacktown City come up against one of the top teams in St George, at this fantastic venue. Any doubt that we were in for a good contest was dispelled immediately, the tenacious Sienna Bell in for a strong challenge to set the tone, and when Hayley Reynolds stole the ball on the left to give the St George defence something to think about, we had a game on our hands. Set-piece specialist Maiya Perdikaris gave us a taste of her dead ball skills, firing a corner right into the penalty area, but City goalkeeper Courtney Mackenzie rose well to claim the ball.

A moment that the Blacktown City defence will want to forget then saw Annabelle Gerard coolly control the ball and take a touch out of defence, only to be mugged by Kozul, and Saltirov finished low to Mackenzie’s right for a quick-fire opening goal. Almost immediately it was 2-0; an unusual drop ball by the referee ran away from Aurelia Smith and the ball was worked out to the right to Abbey-Rose Cryer. She delivered a low cross that was half cleared and returned with interest by Kozul, thumping the ball home for a second goal. The City players were shell-shocked, their meagre goals against column threatened with a blow-out.

Maya Harris then delivered a delightful cross to the near post, Kozul just putting the ball wide under very little pressure, and Christine Crnjak was tormenting the visitors on the left as St George went searching for more. The imposing Amy Bennett delivered pinpoint crosses and City scrambled well to keep the scoreline from increasing.

Issy Saunders then gave us a taste of her attacking instincts on the right, taking an early shot at goalkeeper Arabella Penfold, who dived spectacularly to her right to push away the snapshot. City then changed the complexion of the game; Reynolds played a smart ball out to the left to Jackson, who teased in her defender and bore down on goal. The finish under Penfold was exquisite and she wheeled away to take the congratulations of her teammates for a fantastic City goal. The home side were rocked, and it could have been level moments later as the visitors siezed the momentum. Reynolds embarked on a dazzling run, rounding the advancing Penfold on the edge of the area, before firing in a low shot. The last defender did brilliantly to stop the ball heading towards the empty net, but the ball popped up and hit her outstretched arm. City players and fans pleaded for a penalty, but the referee was unmoved, and there was conjecture around the stadium about the handball rules that seem to be refined with every season.

Crnjak and Lara Green were embroiled in a fabulous battle on the St George left, and the ball popped out of a challenge, with Samantha Cole going in with her player in a 50/50 challenge. A stomach-turning clash of knees and blood-curdling screams saw Cole in distress, and play was stopped for a good five minutes. A stretcher was called for but not required, and both teams regrouped to refocus. Unbelievably the free-kick went to St George despite heavy protestations from the Blacktown players, but it was easily dealt with.

Crnjak was causing problems for City, she outpaced Reynolds, not an easy thing to do, and Lucia Franulovic had to sweep up to concede the corner. A mis-directed back-header from Gerard almost proved costly soon after, but the offside flag came to her rescue. Franulovic was again the fixer as Smith was left in Crnjak’s wake, before Bennett and Maya Harris combined well down the right and Abby Duggan brought down Saltirov for yet another free kick.

Reynolds burst from defence as St George switched off for a moment, and she romped almost the whole length of the field before being marshalled into the corner. Saltirov then showed good skill to deliver a cross / shot that Mackenzie did well to claim. The game was ebbing and flowing like a cup final, and when Bell hassled her player out of possession, she held her pass before playing in Jackson on the left and she tested Penfold with a fierce shot that was well saved. The half ended with Bennett feeding Raegan Deeley, who showed great skill before encountering the brick wall of Franulovic. The whistle brought an entertaining first half to a close, and Blacktown City had clawed their way back into a contest that looked lost in the early stages.

The magnificent cevapi rolls were sizzling away in the canteen at half-time, and the sun was beating down strongly as the players re-emerged for the second half. The visitors started strongly. Jackson won a corner from nothing, closing down her defender in the corner. Franulovic was brought down, Saltirov in the book, and Franulovic took a cheeky free-kick with the ball still moving, Duggan played in Reynolds but the cross was cleared by the fuming St George defence.

The visitors put together some fabulous moves, Duggan and Reynolds combining on the right in front of the benches, but the game was soon to turn in St George’s favour. Deeley raced into the corner but was shepherded out wide, Crnjak burned her way down the left but her cross was poor, before Kozul swept a looping shot high towards goal that Mackenzie tipped away for a corner.

City were showing good fight, Reynolds and Duggan in with fierce challenges, Duggan showing us her MMA moves to concede another free kick. A free kick from Perdikaris then brought a glorious chance for the hosts, Hannah Kim heading wide. Jackson was fouled in the middle of the park, Saunders opting to fire on goal, a high shot that Penfold was very confident of going wide despite the ball just whistling past the post.

Saunders almost had some luck charging down Penfold, before St George fashioned a brilliant move, Nicola Ciocca the last player to make a fabuous tackle with the home attacker bundling through a number of tackles. The inch-perfect corner saw the City defence part to allow Bennett a free header on goal, but somehow she headed over with the net ready to burst.

Cryer threatened to wriggle through, but Gerard remained strong to make a telling interception and the pressure was all from the home team. All of a sudden though, Saunders controlled a ball in the centre circle, surrounded by white shirts, but played a superb ball through for Jackson. The scorer of the City goal took a touch and flashed a shot just wide, a good opportunity to double her tally in a similar position, this time on the right.

Demi Kandylas was proving to be a slippery customer on the St George left. She eked a series of cheap fouls from the referee, Duggan left wondering what she’d done to send her opponent to the floor. Saunders won a corner, but again the corners were lacking purpose, the delivery good but the execution in the penalty area poor.

When Gerard cleared up a St George attack, she played the ball to Mackenzie, but the goalkeeper got the ball stuck under her feet and the ball out was way too short. She made amends diving at the attacker’s feet to concede a corner and City escaped. Kandylas then skipped around Lily Thompson, but Mackenzie made the save look easy. Could the visitors profit from the missed chances at the other end and steal a point?

The chance did come – Bell was again the instigator with her incessant hassling, and the ball was worked out to the right to Reynolds. She delivered a superb cross, but the ball skipped up onto the knees of the advancing Mel Napoli and Penfold made the save. The excitement was rising, both teams watching the clock. Kandylas continued to probe down the left and McGhee turned smartly but her shot went harmlessly wide. Reynolds chased a ball up the right and was wheezing at the end of it, City putting in maximum effort until the end.

It was heart-breaking then when St George snatched the decisive third goal. Kandylas burst through on the left and delivered a ball to the far post. The ball was helped back in and McGhee was there to fire the ball past the helpless Mackenzie for 3-1. The celebrations showed the relief from the home side, and there was barely time for any more action before the final whistle brough this absorbing contest to its conclusion.

St George will wonder how they didn’t score more goals, given their superior possession and passing statistics, but the visitors made it hard for them, recovering from a shaky start to give the high-flying hosts a fright. We await news of Sam Cole’s knee injury, but it is feared that she may not be available for next Sunday’s Blacktown City home game with Camden Tigers at Landen Stadium. Well done to Courtney Mackenzie in goal for a solid display, and Emily Jackson for a superb goal as City showed flashes of what they can do as a liberated attacking force.

St George travel to Bankstown for a tough test next week as the first round of fixtures draws to a close. We’re almost half way through the season and we look forward to seeing more goals and more excitement as the season continues. Find all the action you need right here on your favourite weekly football read.

Thanks for reading. If you click from social media to find this, please like and share or drop a comment. Did we get some names wrong? Let me know! The sun glare was so bad! Did you like the photos, give me your feedback. Let’s go City!

Gosford lock-in as Sydney exit

Central Coast Mariners 0 Sydney FC 0

Sydney FC fans enjoyed a fabulous season-ending party at Central Coast Stadium as the the Sky Blues besieged the Mariners goal and went down with a fight to the premiers on a cold, wet, breezy but magical A-League evening. There was drama and excitement in spades to make up for the lack of goals, and it was not just the players at the centre of the controversy. A battered and bruised Sydney team applauded the travelling masses at the end of momentous semi-final second-leg tie that saw their team come up short, but not for the want of trying.

Nights like these are to be cherished. Straight from the football field, okay after a celebratory beer after a sparkling Over 45s victory, whizzing past to fetch Michelle and then straight up the M1, we arrived in Gosford with an hour to spare. The town was cordoned off by police, the forecourt in front of the members’ stand as we passed in the car was animated, the magnitude of tonight’s crowd already in evidence, and the usual route to the town centre car park was closed. The lead us on a merry diversion around the back streets to our parking destination. We’ve never been this far up the multi-storey either, we were almost at the top.

With the intention of heading to Hotel Gosford for a cheeky pre-match pint, the appearance of the marching Cove into the street under the car park changed our plans completely, and we were more than happy to get in amongst it. The thick orange smoke from a smoke bomb was enough to disorient at one point, scarves over faces and squinted eyes the only way to get through the thick fumes, with no idea which direction you were moving in. The chanting was fierce, this was such a big game and everyone knew it. A sell-out, and we were marching into battle to back up the players on the field in their search for an A-League finals spot. There was no suggestion of doubt. We were going to win this.

Thanks to Craig’s tip of a promotional ute filled with energy drinks, we were loaded up with fruity toxic chemicals by the time we reached the away gate, but not before passing the main gate and receiving plenty of barracking from the home fans. We literally couldn’t give a sh*t what they thought. This was the ultimate Central Coast Away trip, and we were here to roar on our beloved Sky Blues. The scene at the main gate was like something from a South American game with people filling the street and the first concourse on the level above. The handheld scanning by the gate staff worked a treat and we were in, and made our way down into the usual bay where no one sits and everyone stands. I don’t know where our seats were meant to be, there were no numbers on the seats anyway, and thankfully we didn’t endure the “excuse me, that’s my seat” scenario. This was proper away day football viewing, everyone standing, flags obscuring the view, just a brilliant scene.

The playing surface looked superb, the palm trees were lit up beautifully, there was a healthy presence of security, familiar unfriendly faces from previous beach parties here, and the stadium filled up, with the anticipation growing. The fireworks were in place and went off spectacularly to greet the entrance of the players, the clock already at the scheduled kick-off time and the game got underway a couple of minutes late to a countdown. The stadium was at full volume. This is what it’s all about!

Our regular capo had lost his voice – it’s quite a key part of the capo toolbelt – so we had a new face on the mega; from our position the acoustics weren’t great and we couldn’t quite hear what was going on, but our new man proceeded to get the Cove bouncing, along with some expert drumming from his accomplice. A new world record drumming speed for Super Sydney FC before the game, anyone? It was good also to hear the noise from the Mariners fans, and not just the Yellow Army behind the goal at the far end. The football-loving locals were becoming accustomed to big nights in Gosford and this was no exception.

Sydney were terrific in the first half. We had chances, mainly up the right with Maxi Burgess the main instigator, and Fabio Gomes should have given us the lead early on when released one-on-one with Danny Vukovic. There was plenty of injury time accruing as Luke Brattan was on the end of a heavy challenge, one that VAR didn’t even flinch at, despite the foot being high. Chief tormentor Christian Theoharous almost unlocked the defence down the left in front of us but Sydney stood firm, and the Sky Blues were much the better side, enjoying the lions’ share of meaningful possession. The atmosphere was so good, and the football so entertaining, that half-time came with a shock, but allowed us to have a breather and take a seat.

Speaking of which, I might be speaking out of turn here, but those sitting or crouching chants are a right bugger. It’s okay from time to time, but after a day of refereeing and playing, the last thing this middle-aged pair of knees needs is a work out. Plus it is a bit of an atmosphere killer too – I remember doing one at Leichhardt Oval a few years ago and the opposition scored when we were doing it, so perhaps it feels like an unlucky thing to do. Feel free to tell me to “suck it up”, “sing or f*ck off” or whatever.

The second half was thrilling. The bumper-sized Rockstar energy drink was doing its job, and we rode the emotions of an onslaught on the Mariners goal. Bratts smashed one in from miles out in front of us that whistled wide, and our captain was there at the other end to clear one off the line with a suspicious handball-looking chest. Sydney were walking a tightrope as they worked out when to gamble it all in search of the elusive equaliser. The Mariners coach got into a war of words with our World Cup referee Ali Faghani, and picked up a yellow and then a red, before eliciting a massive cheer from the crowd on the far side – apparently he had said something into the camera on his way down the tunnel. Maxi was terrific; he wriggled into the box, and a shot hit an arm. Penalty! Had to be! The referee was unmoved, natural position, despite 99% of those being given in leagues around the world. Handball in the box, regardless of intent, usually means penalty.

We were starting to feel as though the footballing gods were against us. The big moment came with just over an hour gone. Sydney stole the ball in a great position, Robert Mak got the ball on the edge of the area and tricked past a player to shoot. A deflection took the ball spinning towards goal with Vukovic beaten and Brian Kaltack raced back to clear the ball from over the line. Goal, surely! We were dead in line and the ball looked well in. I was in a state of celebration akin to that moment behind the goal where Mathew Leckie scored against Denmark. Gooooaaaaallll! Incredibly the goal wasn’t given, and play continued for a minute or so afterwards, the fans almost urging Sydney to put the ball out so VAR could have a look. We were convinced. The referee headed to the screen. It had to be! Incredibly, after all the deliberation, an offside Gomes was adjudged to have been involved in the play by brushing Kaltack, thus allegedly impeding him, and he was therefore adjudged to be involved. Awful. We were feeling really indignant now, but the Sky Blues were totally dominating.

Paddy Wood was on, looking for redemption at this stadium, and Jaiden Kucharski apearred for a cameo. This had shades of Macarthur away, when Sydney FC toyed with the ball around the box, but did nothing to prise open the wall of defenders. The final chance was a Gomes header that sailed over, potentially the only header he had won all night, and after seven minutes of injury time, the final whistle condemned us to a premature and unsatisfying conclusion to the season. The songs of defiance had started well before the end, and it had the empty feeling of a failed relegation battle, if Australian fans ever get to experience that. We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when.

The players came across to give their thanks to the travelling fans, Joe Lolley was one who stayed there until the end, and the staff came over too. Bratts surprisingly could still walk after being pole-axed twice during the game, and we were absorbed in the love being shown between players and fans down below. We were one of the last groups out of the stadium, some action still happening near the tunnel and there were still fans in the home end in party mode. We headed back to the car park along with half the population of the Central Coast. After paying the $10 parking, the queue to exit was right up to where we were parked in the upper levels, so we made the call to abandon ship and sample the Gosford nightlife for a quick commiseratory beer and to plan the following weekend now that a grand final was not on the menu.

After baulking at the mammoth queue to get in to the Hotel Gosford, which was way too young a crowd for us, we headed instead to the Railway Hotel just along the road. A much more appropriate venue, with the Under Scrutiny cover band pumping out modern hits, and we were there for a couple of drinks until 11.30pm when we made the call to head home. That’s when the fun started. Car park closed and locked at 11.40pm and we arrived to heavy metal shutters and a deactivated lift. Calls to the security numbers yielded no help whatsoever, other than “the car park closes at 3pm on Saturdays. We’ll call you back in five minutes.” Thankfully Michelle found a better number to call and negotiated our release with a princely sum of $63 being demanded. Luckily we weren’t the only ones in the same situation, so the $63 was split between the parties in a fantastic show of community. It was now 12.30pm, the security guard arrived for his weekly after-hours re-opening of the gates and after paying another $22 for the parking (for some reason) we were on our way. Relieved! $10 converted into $95 for the privilege of avoiding the half-hour queue on exit. Pish!

We arrived back in the north western suburbs of Sydney after dropping Prof a bit closer to home, well after 1.30am, that magical time of morning when red lights last for five minutes and the only life in the suburbs is the late night bar with the 3am mythical prosperity lounge. What a peculiar way to bring the 2023/24 season to a close.

So, a brilliant night at Central Coast Stadium with Sydney FC hard done by but ultimately beaten over two legs. It was exciting to the end, the Cove sang from start to finish, and it was a fitting entry into the memory banks as the club membership renewals crush our dwindling savings accounts this week. A season that gave us some magical moments on the park (4-1 at Commbank, 3-1 at Mariners) and some not-so-magical moments (1-0 at Macarthur, 3-1 at Newcastle), but gave us so many fantastic moments off the field. That’s it, until we get our Australia Cup campaign underway. Global Football Week and the Matildas coming right up – stay tuned for more match wraps from this never-ending football blog.

Forza Sydney FC!

Deadlock in lawless scoreless draw

Mt Druitt Town Rangers 0 Blacktown City 0

Blacktown City travelled to neighbours Mt Druitt for a Mother’s Day fixture at the new Popondetta synthetic stadium and after a bruising ninety minutes came away with an important point against the high-scoring hosts. A game that was littered with fouls and mystery stoppages threatened to boil over as tempers became frayed on a surprisingly warm day, and goalkeepers Laura Tredennick and Anna Ivanovic had to be on top form to keep the game goalless. The game opened up as the second half wore on, and despite City sensing a three-point haul, the elusive winning goal was missing and the visitors had to be content with the point.

The players were walked on with their mums before the game, a lovely touch for Mothers Day, and they were met by bright conditions and hot sun between the heavy clouds. Mt Druitt were on the back of a defeat to Bankstown during the week, and thing could have got worse in the opening stages, when Hayley Reynolds was played in on the right, but her fabulous shot from an acute angle hit the outside of the post. City were positive right from the start, hassling and harrying their opponents, but the danger from the home side was evident when Makayla Crouch crossed from the right and Samantha Cole was forced into conceding the first of many corners.

Lily Thompson combined with Brianna Tinney, but the through ball was too strong, and from the clearance, Tinney hassled Tiana-Louise Barton and lofted a high shot that was dipping under the bar, Tredennick standing her ground and showing good handling to prevent the ball crossing the line. Reynolds then stole the ball again as City pressed, this time Tinney’s low shot was easily saved.

City’s slick passing was causing trouble, Tinney with a sweeping ball to Reynolds but she couldn’t get around her player. Sofia Sollecito then combined with Crouch up the right for the home side, Lara Green doing well to concede the corner, and from the short corner the ball was flashed across the face of goal and Cole did well to force the ball behind again. Reynolds eased the pressure with a galloping run up the right to win a corner for City, and Emily Jackson’s corner into the penalty area was headed wide by Tinney.

The referee was whistle-shy, many niggling tackles and late hits going unsanctioned, but Tinney managed to draw a free-kick, wrestling Jessica Anand to the floor. Reynolds then raced clear on the right and opted to pass early instead of taking the clear run on goal, the pass not finding its target and the chance was gone. Sienna Bell went in with a crunching tackle that allowed Reynolds to race down the right, and her dangerous cross was well fielded by Tredennick.

The duels were appearing all over the field. Green vs Crouch, Bell vs Barton. When Cameron Janssen released Isabella Williams, the assistant’s flag came to the rescue, and when Barton played in Sollecito, Cole’s improvised overhead clearance brought applause from the fans. Sollecito and Crouch combined again up the right and when the cross was fired in, Niamh Nolan’s clearance went just past the post with hearts in mouths. A timely interception by Green then diverted the ball into the path of Sollecito who found herself in a one-on-one with Ivanovic, and the City goalkeeper got a touch to send the ball wide. The resulting corner was missed by Ivanovic, Williams free at the far post, but she could only bundle the ball wide with the goal at her mercy.

A flashpoint then could have seen yellow cards, Bell dragging down Barton, who reacted with a petulant push on the City midfielder, but again the referee chose to ignore it. Jackson then robbed her defender and teed up Tinney, but the ball had bounced off her hand and she was denied. Sarah Polinsky was then caught in possession but Tinney couldn’t find any power in the shot.

When Anand went down with a head knock on the sideline, the game took a mysterious turn. Play was held up for four minutes while teammates took photos of the head wound, and the referee team were in discussion, with no indication of what was happening. The welcome break for drinks and coach instruction was taken though, and play resumed for a short period, Williams playing in Sollecito, who crossed for Crouch but the shot faded away from goal and past the post. The game was locked at 0-0 but not through a lack of effort and enterprise.

The second half started with Sollecito playing in Williams for another one-on-one, Ivanovic doing brilliantly to force the ball away, and City broke up the other end, Reynolds and Jackson hassling well to free Tinney, and her shot was only just over the bar, a superb move from the visitors. More tenacity from Tinney won a ball in an advanced position and Bell was allowed to stride forward and fire in a shot that Tredennick saved.

Molly Jones played in Anand on the right who could have done better, before Cole dallied on the ball and presented the a chance to Williams, but Green was there to intervene and she won a free kick after being bundled over. The boistrous tackling continued when Bell flattened Kaitlyn Smith, and when Crouch was released on the left, her cross found Isabella Bonnici but the shot went tamely wide. City continued to probe on the counter-attack – Nolan played the ball to Jackson, racing up the right and her cross found Bell, but she was penalised for flooring Anand and a good chance went begging.

Jackson was instrumental in attack and played in Reynolds again on the right, who homed in on goal and smashed in a shot. Tredennick got her fingers to it, but the ball spilled at the far post, alas there was no City player on hand to finish the job. Jackson stretched her legs again on the right, cut past her defender and this time opted to lay the ball square for Reynolds. Alas she couldn’t sort out her feet and missed the shot completely.

Bell was down for a moment after hitting the ground hard chasing Anand, and Reynolds was busy again, winning another corner. Issy Saunders’ corner was deep and just out of reach of the incoming Annabelle Gerard. It was time for another mystery moment as Nolan went down on the touchline in front of the benches. Play was stopped even though she was off the field, the referee unsure what to do and when the Mt Druitt bench asked for play to continue, Cole dragged Nolan onto the field to keep play stopped. Absolute comedy gold.

An injection of energy from Abby Duggan saw her race forward and release Reynolds again on the right – the cross was too strong but City won a free kick on the left when Saunders was upended. Her bending shot from the set-piece was well saved by Tredennick.

At the other end, Crouch raided down the left but Cole was calm and ushered the ball out for a goal kick. Anand and Ella Mangan then combined to prise open the City defence, Ivanovic racing off her line to smother at Mangan’s feet. We finally had yellow cards in quick succession as first Crouch then Lucia Franuolvic were booked.

Saunders and Thompson combined to release Duggan on the right side of the penalty area and her shot was saved by Tredennick. City continued to press and seemed to have a shock win on their radar. Mackayla Diasinos did brilliantly to clear the ball from danger, and Reynolds and Keiara King exchanged words on the byline as tempers flared, the referee choosing not to take any action other than a stern talking-to. A dangerous cross from Crouch from the left was then saved by a combination of Green and Ivanovic, the ball grasped gratefully as it was lodged under Green’s foot.

Polinksy then found herself in a good position, her shot saved by Ivanovic, and the game ended with a frantic attack by the visitors, Gerard finding herself in attack and feeding Mel Napoli in space, but the defence swamped her and the shot was charged down. The final whistle brought an epic goalless draw to a close. and Mothers Day would, as a ressult, be a happy day for everyone.

Mt Druitt will rue the chances they spurned in the first half, and Anna Ivanovic was the difference, while City sensed a chance to grab a statement win in the second half, but just fell short. This goal-shy Blacktown team failed to find the target again, but their resolute defence made sure that their miserly goals against column remained one of the tightest in the division. This will not go down as a classic, and on paper the 0-0 draw looks action-free, but this was an entertaining encounter with plenty of talking points.

Mt Druitt now travel to South Coast Flame for a tough encounter with one of the league’s strongest teams, while Blacktown City are at St George next week, who made easy work of high-flying Flame this weekend. Another difficult fixture for Blacktown City, but the endeavour and spirit is bountiful in this young team. Stay tuned for more!

Happy Mothers Day to all you Mums out there

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Damage limitation as women steal the show

Sydney FC 1 Central Coast Mariners 2

Sydney FC lived to fight another day as their nine remaining players battled to the end to keep the scoreline down, setting up a classic finals encounter in Gosford next weekend. A miserable evening burst to life when Joel King somehow finished midway through the first half, but a mistake from Andrew Redmayne handed the Mariners a half-time sweetener. Sydney women’s championship winning side then received deserved acclaim for their heroic victory last week as the rain held off during the break. When Mikael Doka powered home a penalty at the start of the second half, the away end was bouncing and the Sky Blues pressed self-destruct from then on, first Jack Rodwell then Corey Hollman shown red cards. The cheers at the final whistle were not only from the travelling Mariners fans, but also the home supporters who had willed their team on to hold out for the final ten minutes with backs firmly against the wall.

The end of the working week and it was rush rush rush to get to Central to get the evening off to a good start, a couple of pints at the Royal Exhibition before heading up the hill on the light rail. We just got on a tram to find it full of Mariners fans, which made for an entertaining trip to Moore Park, humming, ironically, The Entertainer. From the amount of people piling off the light rail, another one pulling in by the time we’d negotiated the underground steps, it looked as though it would be a big turnout tonight. The walk up to the stadium was busy and coming into the stadium there was a healthy throng of punters swarming the gate.

Of course, seeing the field and then noticing the half-empty stands around it told a different story, and at first glance we were on for a similar number to the previous week’s paltry turnout against Macarthur. The addition of a stand selling solely margheritas was a good find, and by the time we got to our seats – we’d chosen our normal seats for the season – the stadium was starting to fill up. The atmosphere was really ramping up, the Mariners were out in force at the far end, the fireworks filled the air with smoke and the Cove down below roared the Sky Blues through the kick off. This was finals football, and the addition of a sprinkling of rain gave the stadium a real aura.

The tricky Christian Theoharous raced down the left to sting the palms of Redders down below us in the opening exchanges, as the two teams felt each other out. Sydney looked full of verve and were pressing the visitors as we knew they would. Overseas-bound superstar Jake Girdwood-Reich didn’t last very long, substituted off to be replaced by everyone’s favourite, Maxi Burgess, and he was instrumental in the opening goal up the far end that silenced the Yellow Army. He shaped to shoot, cutting in from the right, and when his shot was blocked, the ball went all the way to Joel King at the far post who somehow forced the ball into the net via maybe two deflections to set the crowd alight.

It was Burgess again just before half time when he opened his body up to curl a shot goalwards. From our angle he looked a lot closer than he was, but the shot curved well wide. A goal up at the break was probably enough reward for a great first half by the Sky Blues, but the half wasn’t over. There was still time for a hopeful shot from Mikael Doka that bounced in the dirt patch in front of Redders and skidded away from his grasp. The Sydney defence had totally switched off and we watched helplessly as Josh Nisbet was the only player with the wherewithal to follow up the shot, and he coolly clipped the rebound into the net for a dramatic equaliser.

As always there was a delay as we prayed for VAR to find something, anything, and as soon as the check was complete and Sydney kicked off, the half time whistle sounded. What shit timing, and a disaster for our number one goalkeeper in front of his adoring fans.

Time for a walk around the stadium concourse, taking in the Mariners ultras in the corner, and the Sydney Women’s team made their way onto the field for a swift lap of honour. They headed straight down to the away end, showing off their medals to good-natured barracking from the visitors, before heading to the Eastern Stand to sign autographs and get the love from the supporters. They received a huge welcome at the Cove, and it was lovely to see the players getting the congratulations they deserved for an incredible season.

The queue for beers was way too long and others had the same idea of grabbing a margherita instead, and even that queue was too long, the players already out before I made it back empty-handed to my seat.

Sydney had bossed the first half, and Fabio Gomes was on to get us back into the lead. It was with despair though that we saw the Central Coast Mariners break upfield within ten minutes of the restart and win a penalty up at the far end. Theoharous checked back in the penalty area in full flight, Anthony Caceres was just moving too fast to stop him, and when the most minimal of contact with either the legs or the arm sent the Mariners player to the ground, the referee pointed directly to the spot without hesitation. We weren’t convinced. The replays on the screen showed him going down cheaply, maybe even slipping, but it was probably the right call. The replay also showed just how fast Hayden Matthews is, taking one stride for Luke Brattan’s two and getting in place to sweep the ball behind. After plenty of deliberation, it was a penalty, and Doka stepped up, Redders doing the dance on the line, which we thought was no longer allowed, and getting a hand to it. But it was in, and the bank of yellow erupted.

Sydney pressed immediately, and that’s where the problems started. The home side were caught in attack, a repeat of the break for the penalty looking likely, and Jack Rodwell knew it. His only option was to break it up with a foul. He was a long way from the player with the ball, and we could see exactly when he committed to making the challenge and there was no pulling out of it. He ploughed into Theoharous and the way the Mariners players surrounded the referee, the instant yellow card didn’t look appropriate. Sure enough, after a long look at the screen, the referee reappeared and gave us the news, talking us through the thought process of the red card and Rodwell was off. Fair play, if VAR has to stay then at least we’re getting replays and explanations, the fans in the stadium no longer in the dark for large chunks of the game.

Incredibly, unbelievably, Burgess was substituted. Why on earth would we continually take off our biggest source of the unexpected, especially when we need the X-factor, down to ten players. On came Gabriel Lacerda to shore up the defence, and I really feel for Maxi, it’s not the first time this season he’s been the fall guy when a man is sent off, and he is massively under-rated.

It wasn’t long before the Sky Blues were level, a long searching free kick into the area was poked goalwards by Matthews, which hit the post. Caceres did remarkably well to control the ball and lift it to Rhyan Grant who headed home. Hands were immediately on heads though when the assistant’s flag curtailed the celebrations, and when we looked at the replay it was obvious that Caceres was offside when Matthews got his ball to it. It could be argued that it wasn’t a pass, rather a rebound off the post. Tricky one, but again probably the correct call.

The game then took a farcical turn when sub Ronald Barcellos went on a run into a blind alley and was expertly bullied off the ball by Corey Hollman and Lacerda. The referee immediately brandished a yellow card followed by a red and Hollman was off. It looked like an outrageous call, and the replay showed that it was Barcellos running into the challenge. Further replays from different angles made the impact look heavy, but Hollman can feel aggrived with that one. Sydney down to nine. The half-time substitition of Fabio looked like the worst decision ever. The rearguard action was on, and when Fabio managed to get into the Mariners half, with the task of beating five players with no support, he drew massive cheers from the crowd.

Any notion of attacking was gone when Robert Mak was replaced by Aaron Gurd, and we had a good ten minutes to survive with two players short. Mariners didn’t seem too bothered – they obviously had all the possession, but couldn’t muster a chance on goal, and Redders marshalled his defence well and it became an exercise in damage limitation. The full time whistle was a mixture of boos and cheers; the relief at only losing 2-1 and keeping this two-legged tie alive mixed with scorn for the officials. In reality though, the visitors had already done the damage before the dismissals, and a superb first half gave way to a disastrous second.

Post-game we descended from Cove Heights into the Cove. Members of the Sydney Women’s team were still in there loving life and we got a photo of the Championship medals round our necks, thanks to Margot for the photo! The rain continued to fall as we walked around to the tunnel to take in the atmosphere. Jaiden Kucharski signed plenty of autographs, Luke Brattan seemed to be saying goodbye, and the Sydney players were in good spirits despite the loss and the manner of the defeat. All to play for next weekend!

The ground staff were hurriedly removing the lines from the pitch – we can only hope that whatever code was playing on the weekend could still see the lines to show who really owns this marvellous stadium.

It was quite late when we finally left Allianz Stadium, not many people left to get on the light rail, and we were at Central in no time, greeted by the dreaded buses replace trains and taking up our place in the massive queue on Eddy Avenue to head towards Strathfield. A cheeky Uber for the final leg of the adventure had us back home in no time, and another Sydney FC game day came to a close well after 11.30pm, a late one for us old timers!

The big game comes at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday. It’ll be a mad rush once again as club football takes us up to 5pm, but it’s not far and we’ll be there to join the travelling thousands who descend upon Gosford to cheer on our boys in blue. It ain’t over til it’s over, and the result will shape the end of our Global Football week – where will we end up? Find out next week! Forza Sydney FC.