Sydney FC 1-0 Western United
By Jonathon Hagger 14/1/24
Above: Cortnee Vine is mobbed by teammates after her winning goal. Photo: Sydney FC
The Unite Round of 2024 provided an opportunity for Sydneysiders and keen fans to watch a rematch of the 2022/23 A League Women’s Grand Final.
Both Sydney and Western United coaches made some strategic changes to their player formations. Kat Smith, Uniteds coach, sent Chloe Logarzo into a forward position as striker. On the other side Ante Juric, Sydney FC coach, put his faith in the young gun Jynaya Dos Santos.
In the early stages of the match both sides spent a lot of time getting their side settled. While United dominated possession and field position, Sydney comfortably kept United at bay. The few times Sydney won possession and went on the counter attack, the United defenders stood strong.
Logarzo took the first corner of the match in the 11th minute placing the ball perfectly and a deflection from a Sydney defender gave United a clear path to the goal. Sadly the football gods weren’t smiling on Alana Cerne of United as the ball hit the goalpost with the Sydney defenders quickly clearing their line.
Uniteds second attacking corner in the 15th minute resulted in another missed opportunity as the Sydney defence went to sleep giving Cerne another free shot at goal as her headed ball hit the crossbar.
Sydney found themselves in an unusual position in the 19th minute with their first real attack on goal. Hillary Bell, United goalkeeper, was able to easily gather in the ball and stop the attack. It was at this point that Sydney found their offensive legs.
Fast feet and precision passing provided United with another excellent opportunity to score in the 29th minute but, yet again, the football gods denied the goal. Hieda, Uniteds midfield magician, opened up the Sydney defence up with ease and found herself open in front of goal but Jada Whyman (Sydney GK) was able to go full stretch and the shot rolled wide of the goal.
Yet another United corner, in the 39th minute, saw the ball end up at the feet of Cerne who took a swing but a Sydney body got in the way.
Goodness knows how Sydney managed to end the first half with the score at only 0-0. The momentum in the second half remained with Western United coming out strong and Sydney trying to find cohesion.
It took until 8 minutes in the second half for Sydney to create a goal scoring opportunity with Princess Ibini looping a lovely pass into the path of Mackenzie Hawkesby but the ball just sailed beyond her reach.
Repeated assertive plays with Ibini and Kirsty Fenton linking up down the left channel sent a clear message that Sydney were in the fight!
The 60th minute saw the coaches of both teams ring the changes and bring on their big guns. Sydney moved first with Courtnee Vine followed soon after by United bringing on last seasons top goal scorer Hannah Keane. Both players made an immediate impact on the match bringing a ton of fresh energy. Cue end to end football!
The 69th minute resulted in Vine Time happening with Courtnee pinching a wonderful goal as she sneaked in behind Uniteds defence and beat the keeper. Sydney went ahead 1-0.
The start of light rain as the match entered its final ten minutes did nothing to dampen Sydneys attacking approach. Following the referee not sighting a hand ball by a Sydney defender in their goal ata, Abbey Lemon received a beautiful long pass down the right hand side which she fired towards the United goal requiring the goalkeeper to swat the ball away over the top of the goal.
Throughout the additional time period United tried with all their might to score and square up the match however it just didn’t happen.
The old cliche that ‘it was a game of two halves’ describes this match perfectly. United absolutely dominated the first half whereas Sydney FC had all the momentum in the second half.
The football gods smiled upon Sydney FC for Unite Round with the match ending up 1-0 in Sydneys favour.
Final thoughts. Both teams played good quality football and each side had multiple opportunities to win the match. All players from both teams can hold their heads high as they all played well.
Sydney looked flat energy wise without Courtnee Vine but incredible when she came on. Uniteds performances have improved each week and their losing this match can only be put down to bad luck.
Young players to keep an eye on in future matches – Abbey Lemon (Sydney) and Avaani Prakash (United).
TEAMS: SYDNEY FC (4-1-2-3). Whyman, Tumeth, McLean, Thompson, Fenton, Hawkesby, Hollman, Ray, Keane, Dos Santos, Ibini.
Substitutes: Lemon (68’), Vine (60’), Dos Santos, Kruger, Black.
Scorer: Vine 70’
WESTERN UNITED (4-2-3-1). Beall, Vlajnic, Maher, Cerne, Papadopoulos, M Taranto, Roberts, Hieda, Sawicki, A Taranto, Logarzo.
Substitutes: Keane (64’), Prakash (80’), Sardo (64’), Dakic, Dall’Oste. Scorer – Vine 70’.
Referee : Casey Reibelt
Attendance: TBC.
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