Sydney FC 2–0 Newcastle Jets
Report and EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS from Kris Goman.
On a drizzly Sunday evening, there’s a surprisingly decent crowd to watch Newcastle take on undefeated ladder leaders Sydney FC at Cromer Park in Manly.
Newcastle kicks off. Straight from the kick off Tara Andrews, in her 100th W-League game, gets the ball at the top of the box and takes a shot on goal. It’s safely in the hands of Jada Mathyssen-Whyman but it’s a bit of a shock for Sydney to start.
It’s back up the other end quickly and it looks like we’ve got a game on our hands as Remy Siemsen starts her campaign. Newcastle defence are all over it though and soon enough the Jets are attacking again.
Rhianna Pollicina is blocked but it goes over to Lauren Allan whose shot goes to the left of goal. Both teams starting off strong.
An attacking push by the Jets sees the first corner to be taken by Gema Simon. It goes to the near post but Alisha Bass heads it across the goal and away from the strikers and Sydney now have possession. A run down the left flank by Clare Wheeler is initially thwarted but the Ally Green does a 1-2 with Wheeler and takes a shot from the left outside the box that’s on target and has Claire Coelho at full stretch to tip it over the crossbar.
Teresa Polias’ corner kick goes to Ellie Brush at the back post who heads it just over the crossbar. Sydney have turned up the heat now and a Jets back pass goes astray for another corner. The corner is cleared and Newcastle’s defence holds strong during an extended period in the box.
At 20 minutes in, Sydney look marginally on top with the game mostly in their half. Pollicina takes a long range strike but it isn’t dangerous and goes straight into the hands of Mathyssen-Whyman.
From the mid field, Polias sends a long ball to Princess Ibini. She flicks it up and heads it onto Siemsen but it’s not controlled and ends up in the hands of Coelho. A few more attacking runs come to little but then Ibini picks it up again in the midfield and dribbles towards the box unchallenged. She passes to Mackenzie Hawkesby who sends it on to Vine at the top right of the box. She calmly lobs a shot from just outside the box that Coelho can’t quite reach and it goes into the left side of the goal and Sydney hit the lead, 1-0. Vine is cool as a cucumber after the goal and waits for her teammates to run up to congratulate her.
Five minutes later and Cortnee Vine brings the ball into the box from the left. A shot is well blocked and rebounds to Green who sends to Siemsen in front of goal. She deflects the ball past Coelho into goal but she’s offside. She’s got a wry smile but accepts it.
Another attack by Sydney ends with a slide tackle by Hannah Brewer. Sydney are making good use of the space and keep switching play from side to side with long passes.
Just before half time, Newcastle transition but Pollicina only gets a very weak shot on goal that is easily gathered by Mathyssen-Whyman who hasn’t been too busy for a while.
Early in the second half, a tussle, or more like a spot of wrestling, between Taren King and Siemsen sees King get a yellow card. There’s been a few clashes where both players have ended up on the deck so far but this is the first yellow of the match. The resulting free kick is taken by Polias and everyone’s lined about two metres from the top of the box.
She slips it low past the wall and Vine runs onto it in the clear with just Coelho between her and a goal. She shoots high to the right and Coelho is able to bat it down with both hands on what looked to initially be a certain goal. Turns out Vine was offside anyway so even if she got it past Coelho, it would have been disallowed.
In another attack, Hawkesby passes through to Wheeler who brings it down the right side and crosses to Siemsen who tries to head the ball but misses. Ibini chases it down and passes to Green who lobs it back to the centre but the Jets manage to clear it.
Ally Green, who’s having a blinder of a game, brings the ball down midfield and gets tackled but does some tricky footwork, a spin and a lunge and then gets a push in the back to eat some dirt but gets a free kick for her trouble. The free kick is in almost exactly the same spot as the one Vine nearly scored from and is set up the same way. This time it ends up out on the far side-line and the throw in results in a corner.
The corner clearance ends up with Simon who passes to Sunny Franco who dribbles down towards the right corner but then switches back to Tessa Tamplin who loses possession. It’s the first time Newcastle have looked dangerous this half.
A long clearance by Sydney ends at the feet of Coelho with Siemsen rushing her. She fumbles with the ball at her feet but clears it. Davis tries to move it on but Ibini has other ideas and relieves her of possession and takes off down the left. Cassidy Davis trails closely behind but gets tangled in her feet and they both hit the deck with a thud. Davis gets the second yellow of the match. King heads the free kick over the crossbar safely for a corner.
The corner is once again the start of a transition play for the Jets and sees Allen running down the left with Sydney in hot pursuit. She brings it into the box and Green has managed to get back and clears it perfectly and quite spectacularly.
Harding comes on for Allen. The Sydney goal kick goes to Green who sends it upfield to Coelho with Siemsen closing quickly. The pressure sees Coelho sky the ball. When it eventually comes down from space, Siemsen, Ibini and Tamplin are there. Siemsen chests it to the right and strikes. Coelho has recovered enough to touch it but not to stop it and the ball sails into goal. Siemsen gets her long awaited first goal of the season and celebrates appropriately. 2-0 Sydney.
Almost straight after, Vine sends a perfectly placed cross to Siemsen’s head but it’s deflected to the left of goal.
A ball is sent across from Harding to Tamplin. Green beats her to it and kicks it out. It looks like it deflects off Tamplin lower leg on the way out but Tamplin thinks Green kicked it out and picks up the ball for a throw in. The linesman indicates the other way and then Tamplin just boots the ball sky high in defiance. That goes down like a lead balloon and earns her an immediate yellow card for a moment of stupidity.
Green gets about five more throw ins as the ball goes in and out along the side-line. She gets a ball back to her and starts dribbling but is tripped by Franco and is on the ground face down again. And guess what? It’s another yellow card, this time for Franco. At this stage Newcastle are making some really dumb mistakes. Almost immediately afterwards, Pollicina yanks on Wheeler’s arm to bring her to the ground in a judo style move. It’s a free kick and I think yet another yellow.
Play gets back to relative normal. A ball is sent down the centre and Ibini is on it like a gazelle. She sidesteps King in the box and it’s just her and Coelho when Brewer comes screaming in, and in a sensational slide tackle and clears it out of the box.
With about 12 minutes to go, Brewer brings the ball down the left and sends a long ball into the box, beating the Sydney defence. Mathyssen-Whyman comes out of goal to clear it and then collides with a defender before running back to goal. In the meantime the ball has landed in front of Andrews but Brush is able to clear it in a very close call.
Then Tamplin gets the ball at the top right of the box and has an unimpeded shot at goal. It’s just high and lands on top of the net instead of in it. Newcastle have settled down a bit and finally trying to come back.
Pollicina sends a beautiful pass through the centre of the Sydney defence for House to run onto in the box. She’s onside and it’s just her and Mathyssen-Whyman. The Sydney goalkeeper comes out and throws herself sideways at the ball and gathers it as House leaps over her. Mathyssen-Whyman is suddenly very busy and engaged and proving her worth.
Newcastle continue to attack but can’t make any serious inroads through the Sydney defence. In a final fling, Harding sends the ball across goal from the right. It goes slightly behind House and hits her hip. She’s able to give it to Pollicina right in front of goal. She sends the ball flying over the crossbar instead of into the net for what should have been a sitter.
The match ends with Sydney on a for match winning streak conceding only one goal over that period, although they have only played Newcastle and Western Sydney Wanderers twice each so far. The Sky Blues are now clear at the top of the table as well which should make the fans very happy.
In the end, it was a well-deserved win. Sydney were able to finish and didn’t lose their cool. The same couldn’t be said for Newcastle with four or five yellow cards in that crazy period in the middle of the match.
Teresa Polias got Player of the Match and while she’s always solid, I was a little surprised by this. I really thought Ally Green should have got this award. She had a couple of incredible goal-saving tackles and was all over the field in both attack and defence. A truly outstanding effort.
Teams: SYDNEY FC: Mathyssen-Whyman, Mclean, Green, Tobin, Brush, Polias, Wheeler, Hawkesby, Siemsen, Vine, Ibini. Substitutes: Offer (GK), Hristodoulou, Ray, Toby.
Scorers: Vine 32, Siemsen 61.
NEWCASTLE JETS: Coelho, Tamplin, Simon, King, Brewer, Bass, Franco, Davis, Pollicina, Allan, Andrews. Substitutes: Simonsen, O’Brien, Petratos, Harding, House.
Referee: Kelly Jones.
Attendance: 1,329.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD | |
| Sydney FC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 12 | + 8 |
| Canberra United | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 11 | + 5 |
| Brisbane Roar | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 10 | + 7 |
| Adelaide United | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 9 | + 1 |
| Melbourne Victory | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 7 | = |
| Newcastle Jets | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 4 | – 1 |
| Melbourne City | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 4 | – 8 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 3 | – 10 |
| Perth Glory | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – 2 |
Top four sides qualify for the finals at the end of the regular season.
Impetus’ coverage of Australian Women’s Football is supported by The Chicken Salt Co. They are offering every Impetus reader 5% off all orders of Chicken Salt from their website. Go to https://www.chickensalt.co.uk/?mate=impetus and place your order – 5% will automatically be taken off of the cost. The coupon code is impetus.
impetusfootball.org 