CITY VIEWS | Soak It In
Over the last seven seasons the landscape has changed and there is no doubt the removalists have earned their money moving the different types of furniture around but the heartbeat has remained the same. Melbourne City may have experienced a few facelifts over the short journey but tonight we’ve finally found reason to celebrate and break open the trophy cabinet.
The 2016 FFA Cup will stand proudly in the cabinet, hopefully not alone for too long but will serve as a reminder of what this club achieves to represent. This silverware doesn’t only represent the players who took the pitch or the coaching staff that rushed the field at the final whistle, this trophy is for every player who ever pulled on a Melbourne Heart/City shirt, every supporter who trickled through the turnstile and anyone who has had an association with the club.
Winning the first major trophy is a special time for any sporting club, and a timely reminder that much work goes into winning them and it takes a huge body of work from passionate individuals to achieve such things. Most sporting clubs you support already have a cabinet full of trophies and a rich array of history so you cannot bask in this moment, but luckily with the A-League still in its infancy such moments can be taken in and enjoyed like the morning sunshine breaking on a winters day.
It was somewhat fitting that Timmy Cahill was the only player who found the back of the net in a season where the ‘Cahill Rule’ is a topic of hot discussion and that the final was played at AAMI Park. This will serve as a constant reminder that Melbourne City have received favourable treatment from the league, but we only need to cast our minds back a few seasons to see how Sydney centric the league were when ADP was in town. The decision to play the game at AAMI was met with a record and enthusiastic crowd and really gave a sneak peak of what Melbourne City could achieve over the next few years. We are a club constantly evolving and tonight showed us what we are capable of as a club and supporter group.
The game itself was by no means a classic but it sure did have me glued to my seat (well technically I stood for the entire game, but you know what I mean). The intensity levels were set early by a couple of rash Luke Brattan challenges and a bit of handbags in the early minutes, but in reality we never really reached boiling point.
During the first half City through everything at Sydney but Sydney were not only up to the challenge but I cannot remember City having a clear chance, despite being dominant for the bulk of the forty-five minutes. Graham Arnold went into the break the happier manager knowing he had the attacking trio of Carney, Dimitrijevic and Simon on the bench whilst questions were hanging over the match fitness of City duo Cahill and Calazo.
Of course Tim Cahill scored a header in the final, only seven minutes into the second half but celebrations were quelled when an unruly Brilliante tackle on the Socceroo called time on his game early. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cahill will now spend a few weeks on the sidelines and maybe be more careful when being interviewed after the game about where he is a little bit sore. The targeted tackle failed to diminish City’s domination and control of the game and Sydney FC really struggled to break down City’s momentum.
As we all know too well you can never be too confident as a City fan, particularly when Osama Malik is on the pitch. He is prone to the odd defensive meltdown or three. In fairness the much maligned player had a solid night up until he became a little too enthusiastic with Alex Brosque late in the game. From where I was seated Malik was all over him like a cheap suit (probably not the thousand dollar suit JVS was wearing that ripped) and in Sunday League it would be deemed a great defensive effort outside the box, thankfully the referee had an entirely different view from myself and chose not to award a Sydney free kick which would’ve made things very interesting considering the stage of the game.
On the balance of play City were deserving winners and hopefully this will be the first of many trophies in the near future but I’m not going to get too carried away, and simply enjoy this one.
The playing of ‘Wonderwall’ as part of the celebrations was an interesting choice, whilst we are linked with Manchester City (Oasis being Manchester City fans) and the City Football Group I personally am not a fan of creating too many ties with that particular club because I find it does more bad than good when wanting to create new fans towards the club, it’s just a small thing and I’m probably reading too much into it.
Sydney FC always travel to Melbourne in numbers and it was great to see so many travelling away fans, I only hope we can return the favour in a few weeks, and also next time we meet you in a FFA Cup final (You probably should host the next one).
I would also like to take a moment to thank both sets of fans for their efforts during the 76’, as a football community we’ve opened our hearts in such tragic circumstances.
Lastly it was great to see so many City fans walking around AAMI Park and the Melbourne CBD after the final whistle. Seven seasons isn’t a long time to wait for silverware but at times it’s felt a lot longer for those on the journey supporting this club. We’ve seen far too many players come and go, too few chances taken at key moments and experienced some pretty dire football at times. Sporting clubs don’t win trophies every day so make sure you take the time to enjoy this moment, it was a pretty special one.
#ThisIsOurCity
Image via @FFACup twitter
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