Duke Double Opens Stadium

[mack]

The VAR handed the Wanderers a priceless gift of a Mitch Duke penalty he buried, scoring the Wanderers a 2-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners in their Western Sydney Stadium A-League opener.

With the opening ceremony activities over, the 17000-plus Wanderers supporters filled the stadium with noise along with the sizeable contingent of travelling Mariners. An early injury to Tarek Elrich saw Daniel Wilmering come on with Daniel Georgievski swapping to the right flank, the fullback cutting inside in the 20th minute but his weak foot shot tamely went wide.

The Mariners opened the score in the 35th minute. A seemingly innocuous attack down the left flank by Jordan Murray result in the ball falling to the feet of midfielder Milan Duric, he lashed a shot at goal, it took a deflection that turned the shot from going over the bar to instead loop over the head of Daniel Lopar.

Western Sydney fought back well before half-time and they earned their equaliser through Captain Mitch Duke. The simplest of set pieces, the inswinging corner bought the Mariners undone. Pirmin Schwegler delivering a pin-point cross to the edge of the 6 yard box, Duke Rose high attacking the ball & flicking it on & under Mark Birighitti at the un-manned near post.

The Wanderers continued to turn up the heat, Kosta Grozos shooting from the edge of the area, forcing Birighitti into fumbling, Mo Adam was following in like any good striker does and his potential tap-in was smothered by a diving second save.

Georgievski was the catalyst for the Wanderers winner, he lobbed the ball into the penalty area for a Schwegler diving header back across goal, the desperate Mariners defence lashed a boot out, flicking it into the path of defender Dylan Fox who had stuck his arm out like a construction crane, making contact & giving the VAR a reason to intervene to send Duke to the spot. Captain Duke took the penalty well, sending Birighitti the wrong way and the Wanderers held on for the last 10 minutes, the perfect return to A-League football in Parramatta.

Western Sydney will face Melbourne Victory in Round 2, at the Docklands stadium on Friday, October 18th.

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[Neverbloom]

first thing i have to say was how great it was to see so many familiar faces again, at times felt like a family reunion, apart from having to see goat again it was nice seeing everyone really reminded me of the old days, on the stadium holy **** i knew it was going to be steep but not that steep i planned on going to the top but with my fear of heights never going that high i loved how steep it was, we were pretty terrible but so were CCM most likely didnt deserve the win but i'll take it 

 

nice to be back at parramatta

[mack]

If anyone was online during the game how was the performance of the site like?

[Generator]

2 minutes ago, mack said:

If anyone was online during the game how was the performance of the site like?

It seemed fine whenever I checked in (probably every 15 minutes or so). No lagging.

[lloydy136]

Interesting to hear babbel talk during the match about changes he made at half time - dropping duke back to stop us being outnumbered in midfield. Changes that gumby seemed incapable of making.

I really think we need to change shape or we will see every team exploit us the way the coasties did, box in our attacks against the sideline, force turnover, then quick hitting balls in behind the wingbacks which then pull the back 3 out of shape.

Needs to be fixed asap or we are look at a couple of pantsings coming up.

Lots of positives too though - schwegler is neat, adam's movement gave them a lot of trouble and jurman was a boss, the kid wilmering held up ok too.

Edited October 12, 2019 by lloydy136

[sonar]

Just tried to link to Babbels presser...Bloody Fox....their links are crap.....lol

Edited October 12, 2019 by sonar

[Horus]

So so performance at times but its a start - Jurman was great, fantastic stadium....but need to get better quick smart 

[Edinburgh]

We're sorry the page you requested cannot be found 

[Wanderboy]

2 minutes ago, Edinburgh said:

We're sorry the page you requested cannot be found 

This time, it was the same for me.

[Jefski]

Before we get to critical, just remember folks, although it wasn't pretty at times, it was only game one. 

[Midfielder]

Full replay from the ABC's Iview

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/football-a-league

 

 

 

[Midfielder]

Think the heavy rain all day kept a few thousand from the game...

[pseudonym]

We got lucky

But **** it, I'll take the three points 

[lloydy136]

Also meant to say that lopar made some quality saves and was a big positive too.

[mack]

23 minutes ago, sonar said:

Just tried to link to Babbels presser...Bloody Fox....their links are crap.....lol

It's easiest to go to the match center for the game and it eventually shows up.

[Wanderboy]

The best part about this evening other than the win? Not being at ******* Homebush!

It was chalk and cheese compared to our three years of shite results, atmosphere and game day experience at that hole of a precinct.

Wow, tonight was just like the old days. I feel so at home already. Who'd have thought, just 7 years ago, that we would have grown into warranting a stadium of this caliber and quality? How good is it!!!! Although, being in the back row of the upper deck, I counted 65 straight steps up to my row, not including the access stairs to each aisle and those little bits around the stair openings. I don't understand why drop down oxygen masks weren't provided for the upper seats. For someone my age, it was like trying to climb Everest. Fantastic view though once there.

Already, it seems our supporter base also feels back at home. Crowd involvement was just like the old Pirtek. The RBB were back to their best. Great to also see tifo's back. Just about our best ever tifo considering we can now do it over two levels. Loved the gold star!!

Thank god we won, because this is what we need to make this a fortress. The Eels, who have suffered similar shite seasons to us, proved that being back at home made a hell of a difference to their results and they grew their crowds and success. I'm hoping we can do the same, and then we can start getting back to the crowds we had at Pirtek, plus some.

It's up to Marcus and the lads to not let this opportunity pass. I'm not sure that tonight was the greatest advertisement for that going forward, but it was a start. We won.

Despite, in my opinion, playing poorly, it's amazing how much a win lifts the spirits of fans. We need it to continue. Next weeks game against Victory is just as important as this evening's game.

A win or draw next week, and the derby the following week will be an absolute cracker in all respects.

In saying all that, we'll need to play a whole lot better next week.

Finally, Babbel's fashion sense is still as fine as ever. He looked very classy again tonight. I expected nothing less, and he delivered.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Wanderboy

[Beer]

I was told that we would be at full strength for round one... I guess that means Ziegler, Yeboah and Kamau are not in the Top XI! 

#wewillwinthecomp #gambleresponsibly 

[beatsurrender]

2 minutes ago, Beer said:

I was told that we would be at full strength for round one... I guess that means Ziegler, Yeboah and Kamau are not in the Top XI! 

#wewillwinthecomp #gambleresponsibly 

Ziggy will be back in 2 weeks!

[Horus]

3 minutes ago, Beer said:

I was told that we would be at full strength for round one... I guess that means Ziegler, Yeboah and Kamau are not in the Top XI! 

#wewillwinthecomp #gambleresponsibly 

In Babbels presser he said Bruce and Kwame are injured, Aussie Pat still isnt 100% - he also said that he had to risk Duke, Meier and Jurman who arent match fit, but he knew Ziegler wouldnt last the full 90 he needed out of him

Edited October 12, 2019 by Horus

[Wanderboy]

Just now, beatsurrender said:

Ziggy will be back in 2 weeks!

I'm hearing that Bridge will be as well.

[Paul01]

Just watched the presser.

10+ min for MB, just on 5 min for a salty Stajcic (brought up in Smurf ways)

MB

Happy for the win ungappy with the performance partly due to injuries and depth.

Looking for Raddy replacement but needs to be of similar quality and wants to come, not as an after thought

Kamau was injured in training 

Ziggy nearly played

 

[Beer]

2 minutes ago, Horus said:

In Babbels presser he said Bruce and Kwame are injured, Aussie Pat still isnt 100% - he also said that he had to risk Duke, Meier and Jurman who arent match fit, but he knew Ziegler wouldnt last the full 90 he needed out of him

I’d be worried about all of these injuries but I’ve already put the house on us winning the comp because it’s a sure thing. 

[Paul01]

On the game

Lopar and Schwegler were outstanding.

Baccus poor in the first half much improved in the second half. Loved seeing him tackle Silvera and win the ball routinely.

Meier is not match fit and we need an AM to feed him.

Some said Tass had a bad game. From my seat, I saw him close down multiple passes in the air and on the ground.

Duke, despite the 2 goals, still looked short of a Gallop.

We sparked up when Adam and Grozos came on.

Here endth the sermon

[Smoggy]

6 minutes ago, Horus said:

In Babbels presser he said Bruce and Kwame are injured, Aussie Pat still isnt 100% - he also said that he had to risk Duke, Meier and Jurman who arent match fit, but he knew Ziegler wouldnt last the full 90 he needed out of him

Yep, makes the 3 points even more welcome when you realise the issues with injury and fitness, we were far from our best/

Slightly concerning for next week where we will be properly tested.

[Sithslayer1991]

People critical of Meier including myself due to fitness. However there were moments where you could see the talent. few moments of lay off passes and bringing others to play. But my pick was when Wilmering was brought on first cross landed at Meier's feet and took a touch to beat his player before a shot on target. It was a moment of class although he did not score. We absolutely need him fit he is 3 weeks into pre-season and off the pace

[Wanderboy]

2 more positives to add to my above post.

1. We finally have a walk out song, and it appears that the FFA has been told to **** off with loud music and screaming ground announcers. It was so much better, not just for us onlookers, but for the players and tv as well. Well done clubs and new owners of the A-League.

2. Cops were largely unnoticed. Plenty there for the march, but kept their distance. We could be on a winner here finally, as long as we don't **** up.

 

Does anyone have a pic of the two tifo's?

[Horus]

 

5 minutes ago, Wanderboy said:

2 more positives to add to my above post.

1. We finally have a walk out song, and it appears that the FFA has been told to **** off with loud music and screaming ground announcers. It was so much better, not just for us onlookers, but for the players and tv as well. Well done clubs and new owners of the A-League.

2. Cops were largely unnoticed. Plenty there for the march, but kept their distance. We could be on a winner here finally, as long as we don't **** up.

 

Does anyone have a pic of the two tifo's?

[Wanderboy]

4 minutes ago, Horus said:

 

Thanks Horus.

That is a great angle!!

(shame about all the empty seats, but once we keep winning...…..)

[Burztur]

I think we were lucky to get all 3 points - The VAR was slow but made the right decision imo.

Something needs to be done about our midfield. We're gonna get crushed by better teams if we don't respond quickly.

[Jowel]

Fooking good to be back home