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  • Second Half Steamroller Sends Smurfs To Semis


    mack

    The first ever post-season Sydney Derby took place on Saturday night in Parramatta with the Wanderers returning to the finals series for the first time in half a decade, and Sydney FC came out winners with a freight train of a second half as they over-ran an heartless home side who might have made finals for the first time ever but left them just as quickly.

    The 4 v 5 elimination qualifier would see one team go home and the other book a ticket against Melbourne City following Adelaide United's comprehensive win over Wellington Phoenix on Friday night. There were no major changes for the home side while Sydney FC bought former Wanderer Jack Rodwell into the starting lineup along with Robert Mak to form a strike duo with Adam Le Fondre, the two foreign forwards combining for 19 goals so far this season.

    The first chance of the game fell to Kusini Yengi 7 minutes into the half with Brandon Borrello breaking into the penalty area, finding himself on the byline and cutting back. Rodwell came to the rescue by blocking the shot away. Marcelo should have put the Wanderers 1-0 up with Calem Nieuwenhof dinking a ball after a partially cleared corner, the central defender mistimed his header from only 6 yards out, a glorious chance in what promised to be a very tight fixture.

    Rodwell had the best chance of the game thus far for Sydney FC, he was left wide open from an in-swinging corner and he made good contact on the ball but it was directed straight at Wanderers keeper Lawrence Thomas who didn't have to move to snaffle the header. The 30th minute shot was the first on target for the game.

    Milos Ninkovic almost punished his former club in the 35the minute. The Wanderers piled on the pressure for several minutes, until Adama Traore delivered a sterling left footed cross that found Ninkovic and his volley was powerful but turned over the bar by Andrew Redmayne. A minute later the Sydney FC defence was at sixes and sevens and copped a clear handball, in the box and sending the Red & Black to the spot as Alex Wilkinson handled, giving Morgan Schneiderlin the chance to open the scoring. The French international stepped up to the spot and faced up against Redmayne who used all his delaying tactics to try and put off the midfielder.

    Redmayne tried his usual song and dance routine but Schneiderlin wasn't amused firing the ball straight down the middle, scoring his second goal of the season with Redmayne diving forlornly and unable to keep it out. It was what the Wanderers deserved after their dominant first half, with the pressure getting to Mak as he was yellow carded in the aftermath. Neither team could fashion an additional chance, the closest was Borrello finding space 25 yards out from goal only to slip over as he was about to take a touch and shoot. Schneiderlin's penalty separated the two sides at half-time.

    Sydney FC started the second half well, and Thomas needed to pull out a wonderful save to keep the game at 1-0. Adam Le Fondre hadn't been seen much so far but he got in front of Tomislav Mrcela and fired at the near post, on target and going in until Thomas stuck out the right paw and turned it away. Luke Brattan followed up a corner clearance with his own left foot strike that just didn't dip enough to challenge Thomas. They had another chance when Retre managed to duck and weave his way to the byline but his cutback across the face of goal wasn't met by an onrushing far post run and the Wanderers scrambled it clear. Anthony Caceres had another chance with a shot on the turn but Mrcela made one of his trademark diving blocks to keep it away from goal.

    The 15 minutes after half-time were all Sydney FC, they hammered the Wanderers goal without success. Traore and Mrcela both went down with knocks, giving a much needed respite. Mrcela's injury was more severe than it looked like initially and he trudged off the pitch and was replaced by the utility defender Tom Beadling. Amor Layouni had been quiet so far but created the first attack of the half for the Wanderers by striding down the right hand side, his final ball couldn't find a team-mate.

    Rhyan Grant got away with an awful challenging earlier in the game but his 64th minute chop down of Schneiderlin finally earned him his well deserved yellow card, sparking a mini-melee with Alex Wilkinson. The replay showed Grant clearly collecting Schneiderlin in the ankle with his studs up, VAR declined to intervene before the referee handed out cards to Brattan and Borrello. The challenge was followed up by Ninkovic giving it back to Brattan with his own slide tackle from the side.

    Sydney FC were threatening all half and finally equalised with the assistance of a woeful defensive clearance from Traore. With no pressure following an aimless cross to the back post, Traore picked the worst option for his header, sending it back across goal straight to Mak who took two touches to clear his feet and fired off the post with a touch from Thomas not enough to keep it out. With 15 left in regulation time Rudan made a change, bringing off the ineffective Ninkovic for Nicolas Milanovic.

    The 80th minute saw Sydney FC score a simple second from a set piece. The Wanderers had trouble with defending them all game and Le Fondre, one of the smallest men on the pitch rose above Beadling and Marcelo to meet the ball on the 6 yard box. Thomas was nowhere either and Le Fondre made no mistake and put Sydney FC in the lead with just 10 minutes remaining.

    Marcelo had another free header, a free kick delivered perfectly and the Captain rose high, with Redmayne rooted to the line it was harder to miss than score and Marcelo smashed it over the bar with a header that would have missed another goal stacked on top of the first one. Sydney FC were forced into a sub with Joe Lolley lasting all of 10 minutes from his arrival before an injury pulled him back off the pitch.

    6 minutes of stoppage time flashed up on the 4th officials ball and set the deadline for the Wanderers to turn around an inept second half. With just seconds remaining the Wanderers threw everyone forward including goalkeeper Thomas, he came in like a wrecking ball and almost made contact. The 96th minute saw a free kick taken by Thomas that he hit long into the box, Marcelo finally managed to get a header on target but it was tame, the game ending with Redmayne in possession to set up a "Sky Blue Derby" next week against Melbourne City.

    It was the worst time for the worst 45 minutes for the Wanderers in a long time, despite all the talk about "rebuilding" the club from Rudan it was the same old Wanderers. The team that can't defend set pieces, couldn't score from their own corners or free kicks, suffered injuries at inopportune moments and whose offensive players were nullified out of the game. Rudan himself couldn't find a way to respond to his team's gutless second half and both the SFC leveller and their going ahead. Borrello might have scored 13 goals but tonight he was invisible, Troare once again had nothing in attack but also cost the team with poor defense, Ninkovic was kept pocketed by the SFC midfield and Marcelo threw away enough opportunities to have won the game on his own.

    The long off-season beckons, with Rudan going into his 3rd season at the club there will be a shadow hanging over him despite all his rhetoric he will be expected to assemble a better squad and fight for 1st place for the whole season against the juggernaut of Melbourne City and the youthful attacking flair of Adelaide & the Mariners.


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    MathyouWSW

    Posted

    So..I'm gonna grab a bottle of Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey. Then, I'm going to grab a 7oz glass, I'm gonna put some ice in that glass.

    ...and then I'm going to drink straight from the bottle to get over the sh*t I just witness. :nono:

    Not a good night to be a Wanderers fan (that goes for the senior and the NPL squad).

    TwoLeftFoots

    Posted

    Disappointing result.

    Didn't break them down at all really, except for once or twice early on.

    Was a good season. Shame the biggest down at the end will shadow over the many ups we've had this year. Hope we keep the majority of this squad.

    Unlimited

    Posted

    I’m sad

    thats all

    I feel kicked in the guts, kind of like when I asked that girl out at the opera after an amazing convo and we really vibed and then she said she has a boyfriend :( 

    sonar

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, TwoLeftFoots said:

    Disappointing result.

    Didn't break them down at all really, except for once or twice early on.

    Was a good season. Shame the biggest down at the end will shadow over the many ups we've had this year. Hope we keep the majority of this squad.

    Yep....upset we lost but compared to the last six seasons a big step up.

    EmMac

    Posted

    We were in it at 1-1, but the moment they scored their 2nd goal our heads went down and our judgement faltered. 

    They pushed hard coming out of the gates at half time and we let them play their game. They marked us like men possessed, we mostly stood back, pressed them a bit but nothing like they did to us. They were like flies on shite. Quite a few times they had three players on Ninko or Layouni and we didn't counter that tactic. They played the odds and often got the poorly released ball. 

    For me Marcelos leadership faltered after their second goal. I felt he was second guessing stuff.

    I can't say they're better than us over the season, but they were better than us on the night, in the moment that counted.

    Next year then lads 

    ManfredSchaefer

    Posted (edited)

    Woeful second half.

    No go forward. Looked like minimal hunger. We were in trouble from the second half kick off and it was even worse when Mrcela went off.

    Think Simmonds was found out tonight.

    Hard to feel any pleasure about this season as this squad has under-delivered. And yes, Rudan needs to pull his färken head in & lose the braggadocio.

    Edited by ManfredSchaefer
    mack

    Posted

    Worst thing isn't the loss, it's that the Smurfs won't shut up about this game for 100 years as long as the A-League is alive. Every year the story will be stretched even further from reality. The clear handball pen will become a biased bribed APL ref seeing a kick of the ball and instead giving a non-penalty to stop SFC winning the game but it being overcome anyway, the APL will have funded every ticket for the RBB who were in cahoots over the brutal injustice of showing up to an A-League game but who were silent for the whole game after SFC came back, the Cove's boycott for spurious reasons that make no sense will be viewed like the hunger strikes during The Troubles with their showing up to an APL grand final the week before ignored, Lolley coming off won't be a tactical change it'll be a Wanderers tackle deliberately designed to injure him etc etc and Grant at full time will be lionised for starting **** with our players.

    Edit - and Ninkovic trying to fight Corica and getting thrown out of the SFC dressing room.

    Legionista

    Posted

    21 minutes ago, Stokz said:

    We lost this last week, instead of playing for a draw at 2-2 we open up and cop that late goal to force us for a derby knockout.

    We would have played Nix and then Mariners. 

     

    Why should we be afraid of a derby knockout game?

    ManfredSchaefer

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, Unlimited said:

    I’m sad

    thats all

    I feel kicked in the guts, kind of like when I asked that girl out at the opera after an amazing convo and we really vibed and then she said she has a boyfriend :( 

    Nice to see the forum hadn’t changed that much 😉

    There’s always next time…

    mack

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Legionista said:

    Why should we be afraid of a derby knockout game?

    When you have a path of least resistance you take it, and playing the Nix and then (probably) Mariners instead of Melbourne City was there for the taking.

    Instead we played dumb, lost that game and set this nonsense up.

    GE942150

    Posted

    Why Traore cleared the ball into the middle for their first goal ill never understand. Simply clear it to the side. 

    Marcelo should have nailed that header at the end.

    Legionista

    Posted

    1 minute ago, mack said:

    When you have a path of least resistance you take it, and playing the Nix and then (probably) Mariners instead of Melbourne City was there for the taking.

    Instead we played dumb, lost that game and set this nonsense up.

    -rubs eyes-

    marron

    Posted

     

    9 minutes ago, mack said:

    Worst thing isn't the loss, it's that the Smurfs won't shut up about this game for 100 years as long as the A-League is alive. Every year the story will be stretched even further from reality. The clear handball pen will become a biased bribed APL ref seeing a kick of the ball and instead giving a non-penalty to stop SFC winning the game but it being overcome anyway, the APL will have funded every ticket for the RBB who were in cahoots over the brutal injustice of showing up to an A-League game but who were silent for the whole game after SFC came back, the Cove's boycott for spurious reasons that make no sense will be viewed like the hunger strikes during The Troubles with their showing up to an APL grand final the week before ignored, Lolley coming off won't be a tactical change it'll be a Wanderers tackle deliberately designed to injure him etc etc and Grant at full time will be lionised for starting **** with our players.

    If they make the grand final it will be the heroic tale of the boycotters who forced the APL to change things and allow the final to be played at the bestest teams home ground so they can all go.

    marron

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, Legionista said:

    Why should we be afraid of a derby knockout game?

    We shouldn't be, but I ****in was and what happened was exactly why. :lol:

     

    Woodie

    Posted

    At least the extra time before the next game with give Rudan a chance to learn a few more words of the Queens English😂😂

    marron

    Posted

    Just now, Cynth said:

    That second half just gutted me. There were no tactics. They let Sydney FC bully them. Rudan seems to have sent them out to defend a measly 1-0 lead. I blame him. 

    I really want to, and I can but probably more because he couldn't get them up for it. I'm not sure that the intent was to defend all half, I think they couldn't match their intensity.

    mack

    Posted

    Just now, marron said:

    If they make the grand final it will be the heroic tale of the boycotters who forced the APL to change things and allow the final to be played at the bestest teams home ground so they can all go.

    The Cove leaders are already setting that up because of the APL statement from this week "yes, we have obviously been working on holding up our agreement and we've already been in talks with the clubs about how the processes will work" from earlier this week, they've all taken that statement as if it was actually "The Cove boycott forced this all to happen right now". Add an excuse like "the RBB didn't boycott and we deserve to host it because City don't have fans anyway" or some inane nonsense and they'll show up.

    MathyouWSW

    Posted

    1 minute ago, GE942150 said:

    Why Traore cleared the ball into the middle for their first goal ill never understand. Simply clear it to the side.

    Yeah, this. That's definitely cemented my thoughts that Traore can go. I understand footballers make some slip ups on the field but throughout the season, he has done some things where it's hurt the squad.

    Rudan's substitutes were absurd. I think the squad just went on a downwards spiral when Mrcela had to be taken off. As @Mack said in twitter. That moment gave Wanderers vs Roar grand final vibes.

     

    marron

    Posted

    Yeah I have been prepared to back Traore the whole way through. Players make mistakes, it's the A-League, we can't all be world beaters. But that was criminal. Perfectly placed with loads of time to decide. Cross goal? into a pocket of empty space in the box? Bloody hell. Especially when you look at the mad 10 minutes before that where we were at sixes and sevens and still had come through unscathed, to just gift Mak like that. Killed us.

    marron

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, mack said:

    The Cove leaders are already setting that up because of the APL statement from this week "yes, we have obviously been working on holding up our agreement and we've already been in talks with the clubs about how the processes will work" from earlier this week, they've all taken that statement as if it was actually "The Cove boycott forced this all to happen right now". Add an excuse like "the RBB didn't boycott and we deserve to host it because City don't have fans anyway" or some inane nonsense and they'll show up.

    Yeah, club statements asking people to nominate to be on some focus group. Big win that.

    SBW

    Posted

    Saved our worst performance for last.

    It just seemed the occasion got the better of us, Smurfs looked really comfortable and we did not trouble them at all except for the last 10 minutes of the first half. Smurfs copied the same tactics Melbourne City used on us last week and it worked a treat for them tonight.

    Sithslayer1991

    Posted

    Hurts but those 2nd half fade outs cost us. I did say if Caceres and Burgess get space they could hurt us and they did. Let Mak and Le Fondre do what they wanted. 

    Marcelo will definitely be reliving the 86th minute header

    Potkorok

    Posted

    33 minutes ago, marron said:

     

    If they make the grand final it will be the heroic tale of the boycotters who forced the APL to change things and allow the final to be played at the bestest teams home ground so they can all go.

    Nah I call bulls#!t on the boycott - plenty of them were there. Too many of their chants were being sung after they scored. They just didn’t sit together. No way their non active fans would have sung like that - they’re normally as quiet as church mice

    EmMac

    Posted

    27 minutes ago, marron said:

     they couldn't match their intensity.

    This is it. SFC found that extra bit of focus and, yes, intensity. 

    I'm not going to blame Rudan for that lose. You have to play the cards that are in front of you. We didn't counter them. They figured out how to bully us. Having said that, Beath is a deadset chunt, who let some bully tactics go unpunished. Would it have changed the game had he called a few more fouls against them... who knows? 




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