Sydney Derby Recap

The 7th instalment of the Sydney Derby, a game that sees two sides battle for one result, it is a game of us vs them, Sky Blue vs Black and Red, East vs West, one team inevitably will experience victory whilst all that is left for the other is defeat, the game had both fireworks and pyro, the RBB vs The Cove, Goalkeeping errors and offside decisions (or lack thereof), a red card and the controversy that comes with it but at the end of the evening all that matters is the score on the board; a 3-2 victory to Sydney FC (as much as that hurts to say).

The many social and cultural undercurrents that drive the action on the field are what breeds life into a derby that admittedly in its Third season instalment barely need’s it. The match has taken on a personality and life of its own which is evolving into something more than its simple origins. Big personalities both on the field as well as in the stands help to provide added drama and intrigue to the match, whilst the battle of the opposing fans at either end of the stadium makes for more interesting viewing than the action on the pitch at times. Needless to say there was a lot of anticipation leading up to the match and it certainly delivered on the night, whether you liked the outcome or not.

Some notable mentions regarding this week’s line up’s first, with Topor-Stanley returning to strengthen a defence which was torn apart by the Victory one week earlier with Anthony Golec moving to his favoured left back position, both Saba and Castelen started in attacking positions along with Bridge supporting the lone striker and Sydney antagonist Santalab. For Sydney FC the towering Marc Janko began up front, two Western Sydney juniors supported the Austrian in the form of Bernie Ibini and club captain Alex Brosque, both school mates of Mark Bridge at Westfield’s Sports High. The match began amongst much noise from both sets of fans and the nervous tension that had been building during the long day began to settle as the action on the pitch got underway.

The early action was was nervy, Western Sydney were playing the ball around well as Romeo Castelen and Vitor Saba looked sharp, Sydney seemed to lack fluid build-up play and were unable to supply Janko with any real service apart from a few waywayrd free kicks. Bernie Ibini had a couple of early half chances but it was the Wanderers with their positive play who were rewarded, the threatening Romeo Castelen beat his defender and delivered a dangerous cross with an early goal to ex Sydney FC man Mark Bridge. Soon after another positive move saw a corner and a beautifully whipped in ball by Saba, the cross caused what could only be referred to as a shemozzle in the penalty area which ended up with Sydney keeper Janjetovic Palming the ball into his own net. Cue rapturous celebrations in the Wanderers sections of the crowd and utter dismay on the faces of Sydney supporters. The half had been sufficiently dominated by the men in red and black and it looked as though they were going to enjoy a 2 goal buffer through the half time break until a well manouvered counter attack ended in the impressive Corey Gamiero landing a somewhat deflected dagger blow on the stroke of half time taking a large portion of shine off an otherwise dominant half for the Wanderers.

The late goal seemed to have a significant mental effect on both sides and the Sydney outfit came out firing early in the second half, the pressure paid off very quickly with an early goal wiping out Western Sydney’s lead entirely and leaving the game in the balance. The goal was a controversial one with a scuffle in the box leaving the ball at the feet of Sasa Ognenovski who swept it towards goal, the ball bobbled through the box and into the corner of the net. It could be argued (and has been repeatedly online) that Bernie Ibini was standing in an offside position as he intruded upon Ante Covic’s vision but controversy aside the goal stood and the game was now 2-2.

The momentum was now with Sydney as the game stood tied and the pace seemed to increase as did the action, soon after that sparked a moment which depending on your outlook either ruined or cemented the game’s outcome. As the ball was being played out of the Sydney defence Vitor Saba flew into a tackle that is representative of a derby of this nature. A scuffle ensued as Sydney players flock to the scene and surrounded the Brazilian and without a moments consideration the referee (who in my opinion was having a very poor match) pulled out the red card with the vigour of a child opening their present on Christmas morning. As the replay was shown on the big screen you could see Saba lunging into the tackle only to win the ball, the intensity of the challenge was clear but a red card in my book was a harsh decision. If you take away challenges like this in a derby match your left with a diluted product which is what we saw for the final half an hour of play, certainly you don’t need players being injured by rash challenges but in this case Antonis certainly made a meal of it. The result now inevitable as the Wanderers were later reduced to nine player with an injury to Santalab up front, an Alex Brosque goal sealed the victory for the Sky Blue half of Sydney and the result was secured.

Not the end to the game that was deserving of such a spectacle but in fairness to Sydney they went after the game after their slow start to the game. You cannot excuse losing a game like this after being 2-0 up so early and I am sure Tony Popovic was ropable in the sheds despite controversy regarding decisions against his side. As we left the stadium I didn’t see a lot of glum faces in Wanderers jerseys, as usual spirits and pride in the Western Sydney team was still very evident, illustrating the spirit of the side and their loyalty to the players and what they represent. As the Glorious chant was bellowed out from the RBB they remained beaten but not defeated as we look forward to the second instalment back at Pirtek Stadium later in the season.

Knowing that at this early stage of the season we are still very much under strength with Socceroos players Matthew Spiranovic and Tomi Juric still out injured we are missing two significant cogs to the side as well as the unknown but optimistic addition that Nikita Rukavystya will make to our side. We are sure to improve moving forward but never one to make excuses we rely upon Popovic’s rotation policy which has served us so well until this point in our history (ignoring last week). For now we march onto the Champions league final next week as we are absent from A League fixtures whilst we focus on the more important task of becoming Champions of Asia.

The derby is certainly a fiery encounter and one that at times has spilled over into violence and insults, something that many fans find embarrassing whereas a minority from both sides thoroughly enjoy. The derby has brought so much life to football and its fans in a city that for a long time was left with subpar alternatives, win lose or draw I think all fans left the stadium having thoroughly enjoyed a true world class football experience. Late Saturday night after the match I found myself in a kebab shop where I was ‘welcomed’ by a couple of Sydney Fc fans and the inevitable banter began, as I spoke with one supporter he said something that resonated with me when talking about the derby and I will finish with this, he said ‘I love the derby and you know what, I couldn’t imagine Sydney FC without the Wanderers’.