Went to this on Australia night.
We got to our seats just as the players were walking onto the pitch. For a brief moment I was hit by an amazing sensation, awe and anticipation mixed in equal parts as I watched 21,000-odd (that's the official figure, it seemed like at least 27k+) people roar, flags and banners whipping and flapping in gusty wind. Now, in retrospect, I wish I'd brought a camera along, but I doubt the photo would tell the same story as my eyes did.
The game itself was a pretty standard Sydney FC performance: run rings around opponent in first half, lose crucial player to injury/suspension (this time it was McFlynn with a groin injury), attempt to replace player from paltry bench stocks, then try to hang on grimly against resurgent opponent. We got to see both sides of the story close up, being side-on to Newcastle's goal as Brosque and Milligan scored rampant headers and Milton Rodriguez's comprehensive schooling of Topor-Stanley and Iain Fyfe in the second half.
It'll be a tense match up at EAS this sunday - despite Newy's away goal, this team as shown it has form against them and they have yet to beat us this season. It'll be interesting as well to see who we end up facing should we go through. At the moment it looks like a plummeting Melbourne victory - wiping them out of the finals would be fitting revenge for Round Two and Round Seventeen, even if they are on the downward slope of an impressive season.
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