Harbour View Week 2. Frustration to Ecstasy
How good is a 90th minute winner?
Newcastle Jets 0-1 Sydney Fc.
After 85 minutes, the travelling cove was a sea of frustration. Throughout the 90 minutes we had seen chance after chance for the sky blues not go in. These included an instance of pinball style mayhem in the Newcastle box in the first half. Smeltz not converting a few chances hitting one at the keeper before trying to chip the keeper which went well other the bar. However it was the captain himself who came the closest hitting the post with a shot from outside the box.
This all changed though when captain Brosque connected with an in swinging corner from Gersbach at the near post. The ball snuck in at the near post sending the travelling supporters into a euphoric state.
However the match wasn’t without controversy with temperatures high both on and off the field. Newcastle could’ve gone down to ten men late in the first half when Ben Kantarovski brought down Naumoff with a dangerous challenge. This did come after a 50/50 offside call against the Jets with the ball finding the net off a free kick. Second half was no different with Shane Smeltz collecting Birighitti during his follow through after the Jets keeper came in bravely to deny the sky blues. This was followed by a possible penalty shout from the Jets shortly after Sydney Fc went ahead.
Overall however the result was deserved, and who could hate a last minute winner?
Sydney Derby preview.
So arguably one of the biggest games of the season has arrived. Who could forget last year’s corresponding fixture where the returning Alex Brosque scored the winner in a game which saw the sky blues come back from 2-0 down. As for this season, any points this early in the season are much welcome. The team looks a bit disjointed on the pitch although the side showed signs of improvement in the second half against the Jets. Most importantly perhaps in this fixture is the first 15 minutes, in both games this season we have started slowly and with an occasion such as the Sydney derby, it could be easy for the team to become overwhelmed. In terms of personnel, the return of Holosko will hopefully mean more chances can be converted.
W-League
Ouch, kinda thankful I wasn’t able to attend this game to be honest. The Sydney W-league side went down 6-0 against well, now every-bodies favourite for the competition Melbourne City. The sky blue girls tried throughout which will hopefully help them rebuild from their first round loss. However it doesn’t get easier, next up for the girls is a trip down to last year’s champions Canberra United.
Player of the week
Now this is a hard choice. Brosque has started the season on fire and came up with the winner against Newcastle. However I’m going to give this week’s player of the week to young midfielder Brandon O’Neil who has surprised many with his start to the season. Not harming his cause is his knack of playing some quality balls behind the opposition’s defensive lines. Overall signs are looking good for the youngster who is currently keeping Tavares and Dimitrijevic on their toes.
Image: A-League.com.au
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