Sydney FC 1-1 Central Coast Mariners
Sydney FC win 2-1 on aggregate
by Ben Carey (27/4/24)
Above: Central Coast Mariners’ Australian international Kyah Simon (yellow shirt) shields the ball from Sydney FC’s Mackenzie Hawkesby in today’s semi-final second leg. Photo: Sydney FC.
Mackenzie Hawkesby’s goal on the half-hour mark eventually proved to be enough to seal Sydney FC’s place in a seventh successive A-League Women Grand Final – but Central Coast Mariners, in their first season back in the league, can take so much pride in their performance across the afternoon and the season as a whole.
A sun-kissed Leichhardt Oval packed with over 7,000 fans, was the stage. Sydney claimed a narrow 1-0 win in Gosford last week thanks to sensational performances from Indiana Dos Santos, Mackenzie Hawkesby, and their entire backline.
The match started in a high tempo but scrappy fashion. Both sides were very evenly matched in attack and defence, but neither could maintain possession long enough to build anything truly dangerous.
Just before the quarter-hour mark, Sydney captain, Princess Ibini, fired two warning shots when she hit the crossbar twice in a minute. Ibini, who dislocated her shoulder during the match last week (and popped it back in herself!) would come back to haunt the Mariners’ defence 15 minutes later.
Ibini chased down a ball that everyone else on the pitch had assumed was going out. She managed to keep it in, just on the sideline, and play it out to Dos Santos, who hit a cross into an awkward position in the Mariners’ box. Matildas star, Cortnee Vine, got a slight touch on it, which confused the defenders and set up Hawkesby for her second Finals goal in as many weeks.
Hawkesby once again proved what a top-quality player she is, setting up and scoring crucial goals for her team, time and time again. There should be a criminal investigation into why her former WSL team, Brighton and Hove Albion, only used her once last season.
After conceding, the Mariners tightened up their defence and pushed forward a little more to try and create goalscoring opportunities. Just before halftime, the visitors finally had a sustained period of possession, which they were able to convert into an equaliser. Some quick passes between Faye Bryson and Wurigumula, and a few poor clearances by Sydney, saw the ball fall Rola Badawiya, who smashed it past Jada Whyman.
The second half picked up where the first left off, with Central Coast in the ascendency. Just before the hour mark, they had a massive chance to force the match into extra time. Some great build-up play from the Mariners and sloppy defending from Sydney saw the ball fall to Paige Hayward a few yards out from the goal, but she must have had a rush of blood to the head because she launched it halfway to the moon.
The game started to open up a lot more after the hour mark. It became a lot more transitional and end-to-end gameplay. Shea Connors once again came on and started causing all sorts of new headaches for the Central Coast defenders. Her best chance came in the 80th minute when she found herself in acres of space with one defender and Casey Dumont to beat. But they combined well and snuffed out her potential match-winning goal.
In the last 20 minutes, Central Coast pressed even higher, throwing everything they had at Sydney who sat back and absorbed wave after wave of attack, solid in their defensive structure and bailed out a few times by Whyman.
The Sydney keeper’s most spectacular and crucial save came just minutes before the end of regular time when a dangerous cross came into the box and Annabel Martin played an excellent high, looping header to the top corner of the box. Whyman lept up and plucked the ball out of the air in what was one of her best saves of the year. When she landed, her whole body was inside the goal, but she had managed to keep her hands and the ball across the line.
Sydney was able to hold on and see out a 1-1 draw, which means that they now go through to the grand final for a record seventh consecutive season. Their record in those seven grand finals is mixed. They have lost twice to both Melbourne City (2018, 2020) and Melbourne Victory (2021, 2022), and won two titles against Perth Glory (2019) and Western United (2023).
Ante Juric’s side will be hoping that Newcastle Jets can pull off a miraculous comeback from a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Melbourne City tomorrow because Sydney have an extremely poor record against City.
They have lost all three grand finals they have played against them. But for now, the Sky Blues will be very happy about making it through to the final, and head coach Juric will have plenty of time to make adjustments for the deciding game of the season. No matter who Sydney face in the final, they will be confident they can win. They are, after all, the most successful club in A-League Women’s history and will be a formidable opponent.
Teams: SYDNEY FC (4-3-3): Whyman, Lemon, Thompson, Mclean, Tumeth, Hawkesby, Hollman, Chauvet, Ibini, I. Dos Santos, Vine. Substitutes: Franco, Connors, Johnson, Ray, Tallon-Henniker.
Scorers: Hawkesby 30’.
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS (3-4-3): Dumont, Martin, Irwin, Wardlow, Bryson, Gomez, Hayward, Galic, Badawiya, Wurigumula, Simon. Substitutes: Langman, Karambasis, Karrys-Stahl, Rasmussen, Trimis.
Scorers: Badawiya 43’.
Referee: Georgia Ghirardello.
Attendance: 7,063.
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