A goal to Youssouf Hersi in the first half, and one to captain Michael Beauchamp in the second half gave the Wanderers their first ever Sydney Derby victory 2 goals to 0 at the Sydney Football Stadium.
This was the first ever away Sydney Derby, incidentally it was the first major NSW away trip for the RBB. I feel it would be remiss not to include at least a summary and highlights of the "best trip, I've ever been on." After making my way to Parramatta via a couple of Westbus services I wandered over to our home pub, the Woolpack Hotel. The RBB were already in fine voice by 1pm, drinking and eating the lunch provided by the Woolpack. The pub filled up very nicely by the time we were leaving, perhaps more gathered than expectations, louder and rowdier as the time approached to leave.
The long road to the SFS was launched by a take-over of the Church Street Mall. RBB chanting reverberated around the Town Hall, much to the amusement of the street vendors and families playing in the park. From there we made our way to Parramatta Railway station, the mass of humanity standing side by side and taking over a minute to filter through the stairs and escalator to the platform.
As the train pulled in I can only imagine what the driver was thinking upon seeing the great horde of Red & Black. We packed out at least 3 carriages, and started a "Who do we sing for?" chant with separate carriages taking each line of the chant. Myself and JAR managed to fit in an impromptu Around The Bloc Podcast segment so stay tuned for that. Once we hit Central we poured down the staircase and initiated the Paranoia chant. The Wanderers were in the city. It seemed that we'd picked up even more numbers since leaving Parramatta and I would estimate the group numbered around 1,000 as we stretched a huge distance down Cleveland Street.
The main sour note of the night came when after we made our way to the Bat & Ball who were unprepared for us despite assurances they would be. Within a few minutes it was clear they neither had the room inside or the staff outside to quickly get people in. This lead to a quick decision to migrate to the pub previously known as The Fox & Lion, now a newly opened PJ Gallaghers Irish Pub. We arrived en masse and quickly took control of the location. A handful of Sydney FC fans decided to leave, others stayed to take in the vibrant atmosphere.
Hours later it was our time to arrive at the SFS. We gathered in the away bay around an hour from kick-off, preparing our tifos and chants for the evening. I ended up standing on the fence before the front row, along with Charonis, Erebus, JAR, Benched (making his long-awaited return) and Speccy, just to name a few. As Simon Hill said the RBB did not stop from the moment we arrived. As the players emerged we unveiled our tifo. A message banner saying "A Team For All Of Sydney To Be Proud Of", accompanied by dozens, if not hundreds, of small banners that various Sydney postcodes had been painted onto.
The match began and the stadium exploded in a cacophony of noise. After an intense opening 8 minutes with several fouls, Mateo Poljak fired the opening salvo of the Derby. It was powerful but aimed straight at Vedran Janjetovic. Youssouf Hersi lost a scramble after a heavy touch from Poljak. Hersi dragged Fabio back and was given a yellow card. Iacopo La Rocca was given free reign of the central midfield by Sydney FC and nearly punished them, his placed shot being dragged just wide. Shinji Ono was the next Wanderer to have a go at scoring, just missing an audacious long range effort when Janjetovic failed to clear his lines after advancing out of his area. It took 20 minutes for Sydney FC to have their first crack on goal as Terry Antonis cut back on his left and fired from well outside area, the shot cannoned off a scrum of 4 players and was cleared. Yairo Yau for Sydney FC and Rocca for the Wanderers also had long shots saved.
The first telling moment in this match fell for Hersi in the 25th minute. A tug of the shirt by Sydney in the Wanderers half lead to a sweeping team goal from the free kick, Topor-Stanley found La Rocca who chipped it forward, Gibbs knocking it down to Ono. Turning and striking a volley, he found Jerome Polenz in acres of space. With time to set himself the cross from Polenz created havoc in the 6 yard box as Gibbs drew Seb Ryall and Adam Griffiths into a challenge. The ball fell from the shoulder of Ryall into the path of Hersi, who turned neatly on the ball and from close range blasted his shot past Janjetovic. The entire away end roared a celebration to rival any heard in the 26 year history of the Sydney Football Stadium as the Wanderers took the lead with their first ever Sydney Derby goal.
Shortly after the goal Shinji Ono nearly doubled the advantage for Western Sydney, given huge amounts of room he took aim and fired a chipped venture at the top left hand corner. It sailed just wide having beaten Janjetovic. Sydney FC had their only decent chance of the half on 33 minutes, with a deep free kick lofted into the penalty box. Adam Griffiths got his head to the ball but it was no trouble at all, going out for a goal kick.
With no substitutions at half time, the second half commenced as the first had gone, with the Wanderers in total control. Only a mistake by Covic when he failed to find a fellow Wanderer with his clearance allowed Blake Powell to attempt a long-range drive. Covic had regained his position and made a neat diving save. Sydney's only chances came from the set piece but nothing overtly dangerous for Covic resulted from them.
Aaron Mooy entered the fray, replacing La Rocca, followed by Del Piero coming on for Culina. Mooy made his impact on the Italian marquee, making a strong tackle, getting the ball but taking out Del Piero in his follow through, conceding a foul and yellow card. With 75 minutes on the clock Bosschaart sliced a clearance for a corner. Dino Kresinger came on to rapturous applause from the RBB as Ono prepared to take the kick.
Ono nearly hit Topor-Stanley on the head, but Janjetovic punched it clear although only as far as Tahj Minniecon. Minniecon chested down and volleyed back to the wing where Ono waited, and after beating Emerton he delivered a low cross. Even with 5 defenders and their keeper up against Polenz, Dino and Beauchamp, the Sydney defence fell asleep and allowed the ball to run across the face of goal to the back post where Beauchamp made a run. The Wanderers captain couldn't miss from point blank with a near-open goal in front of him, even though the ball hit Janjetovic's desperate outstretched hand.
The goal gave the Wanderers a 2-0 lead and Sydney looked dead and buried. Many clad in the Sydney FC shirt made for the exit. Shannon Cole smacked a volley from a corner against the woodwork from inside the 6 yard box and Tahj Minniecon had several chances to seal the game but couldn't convert them into a 3-0 lead. The final insult for Sydney FC was their marquee Del Piero making a horrible lunge on Poljak and collecting a yellow card for his trouble.
Viewing the replay at home I noted that in the 85th minute a lull in play gave the Fox Sports cameras the chance to focus on the crowd. They did so with a series of shots of our end, doing our "1, 2, 3 West!" chant, with the overhead clapping. The first panned across a small section of the supporters, showing maybe 40 or 50. The second was a wide angle. It showed the core central bay along with the bay to the right. The next was was low to the ground, from the home supporters end of the ground. It showed three of the bays clapping before switching to one last shot as the corner the Wanderers had won was taken.
It was a spine-tingling view of the entire away congregation clapping at the end of the chant, our noise reverberating around the ground.
The match ending whistle marked the start of a long post-game party for the travelling supporters as they waited for the crowd to disperse. The squad made their way over to the supporters bay, with Covic leading the RBB in a "Who do we sing for?" chant, and the entire team leading European style celebration.
This was the best performance for the club in our short history. This applies on the pitch for the players, on the sideline for manager Tony Popovic, and for the supporters in the away end. This was a night those in the RBB will never forget and one that Sydney FC fans will hope to forget but never will. The first derby was indicative of the new nature of the club and the supporters, nerves seized the players and the terrace was still introducing a lot of now-core members to active support for the first time. The second derby has put the entire league on notice.
Our initiation is over and the Wanderers are coming for you.
The Wanderers next match is against Adelaide United at Parramatta Stadium on Friday the 21st of December at 7:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
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