Sydney FC still building

Sydney FC hosted the Newcastle Jets at new home ground WIN Stadium Wollongong on a wet and blustery day.

Always an unpredictable match-up, the battle was initially tightly contested until the Sky Blues overran the Jets 4-0.

Senior stalwart Renee Rollason was a solid presence in defence for Sydney FC and opened up scoring late in the first half via a neat dipping free kick that beat goalkeeper Eliza Campbell at the near post.

Tara Andrews almost equalised with a cracking rocket shot that rattled the crossbar but chances became far and few for the Jets as the game wore on.  Sydney withstood the visitor's best before going away with the match late.

The scoreline was not indicative of the Jets' early performance.  Their commanding midfield, led by Andrews, was their strength and in the first 45 minutes, the usually dominant Sydney FC captain Teresa Polias struggled to get a touch of the ball to distribute it forward.

Overwhelming Sydney in the midfield, Gema Simon and Rhali Dobson combined to create a lot of momentum for the Jets but they couldn't capitalise.  They did however manage to ask the home side several questions.

Sydney defender’s Liz Ralston and Alesha Clifford were pushed hard to match pacey Jets striker Adriana Jones who did a lot of leg work.

Defensively the incredible tackling prowess of Stacey Day saved the ‘Day’ countless times while Ashley Spina held her own against Jodie Taylor in an engrossing battle.  However, once again, it was Eliza Campbell’s brave goalkeeping that stood out as she went head-to-head with Taylor, Kerr, and Emma Kete without flinching.

Andrews crossbar clanger was a momentum shifter and in the final 45 minutes, it turned in the Sky Blues favour.

Had the Jets taken the lead in the first half it is debatable that Sydney FC would have shown the resolve to return from the halftime break and have Sam Kerr net her first 2013/14 W-league goal and Taylor secure a brace.

It's fair to say that despite the convincing scorelines, Sydney FC are still looking to find their feet.

Positional changes forced by injuries, Clifford out at right back and Rollason at centreback, saw the Sky Blues take time to adjust.

Once they did the pace of Sam Kerr, Kete and Taylor caused all sorts of problems for the Jets.  A combination of last ditch scramble defending by the Jets and one-touch-too-many attacking by Sydney FC created a mammoth amount of ‘almost’ opportunities for the Sky Blues and kept the home crowd on their feet in suspense.

Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets are two teams with opposing issues.

Sydney FC struggled in their opening 25 minutes of play to find a good tempo and appeared flat-footed and dazed.  The Jets on the other hand come flying out of the gates putting in a frenetic first half before fading out as the game progressed (their Round 1 loss to Perth Glory also mirroring this pattern).

With a two week break for both teams before Round 3, there will be a lot to work on.

The Jets to focus on player conditioning including improved match fitness and bolstering the legs coming off the bench.

Sydney FC may be a finals forerunner, and show good planning in attack, but their execution can be sloppy and requires further refinement to make better use of the chances they create.