View from the stands

“Here we go again” sing Angus and Julia Stone into my headphones, and I am reminded of my tweet of only 8 hours ago as the Canberra supporters’ bus pulled out of Canberra, up the highway to Sydney.

It was a quiet affair, given the magnitude of the occasion, headphones in and a few nods to each other as we took our seats.

There were a few of us ‘practising’ chants from the outskirts of Sydney, really just to gauge the passion of our fellow travellers, and I have to say there wasn’t a whole lot flowing.

You have to give it to Canberrans though. We know how to pace ourselves.

The Cove floundered midway through the second half, exhausted from a controversial night last night with their well reported walk out, and a premiership winning match for their Youth Team over the Brisbane Roar as the curtain raiser this afternoon.

With 10 minutes to go, The Cove’s tunes and diction were unrecognisable and I felt like I was back at karaoke in Goulburn St, Chinatown at 2am – memories of another lifetime…

The Canberra crowd in contrast not only banded together with some steady chants in the first half, but they swiftly created some of their own at half time.

The chant about being the fans, created by the talented Falls family, was a popular addition to the repertoire.

By the end of the match, anything Sydney had, Canberra was twice as loud, certainly helped along by the scoreline and the desperation to keep the lead.

It was a controversial match.

I didn’t like the penalty that was awarded to Canberra.

I thought that Casey Dumont had fairly launched herself over Michelle Heyman and her defender to punch the ball away.

Yes, she collected them both and they both fell, but at some point the keeper is surely allowed to challenge physically for the ball without touching the players with her hands. The resultant penalty from Caitlin Munoz put the visitors up 1-0 to a disgusted Sydney crowd and a not exactly exultant Canberra crowd given the circumstances.

Minutes later Sydney was awarded a free kick at the other end, just outside the box. Sadly for Sydney, their deadball specialist Renee Rollason was not on the field, and Perry did not put enough heat on her shot to trouble Canberra keeper Lydia Williams.

There were plenty of Canberra fans blaming themselves for the equaliser (“Oh, I shouldn’t have gone to the toilet!”) but it was all Sam Kerr and there was no stopping her flying in at the far post and collecting a long floating Ellyse Perry cross.

Williams would have been lucky to see it, far or less get a glove to it, and Kerr celebrated mid-field with her elated team mates.

A close contest to end the season

Through to half time and into the second half, it was a real roller coaster for both teams.

When Canberra took control, Sydney struggled to play their running game in the forward third and were forced to shoot from outside the box.

When Canberra wained through periods of fatigue, it was all Emma Kete, Caitlin Foord, Sam Kerr, Nicola Bolger – this Sky Blue team has danger written all over it.

It was a break away that separated the teams. Ashleigh Sykes had been winning foot races all over the park, and she did it again midway through the second half, sent away on a one on one with Amy Harrison.

As she streaked away down the left, she spotted a lone Stephanie Ochs making ground on the right side of the field. A perfectly weighted switch across to Ochs saw her take a touch, then another, and as the Sydney FC defence progressed towards her across the field, she curled the ball perfectly into the top right corner of the net, beating a diving Dumont.

If Heyman’s rocket in Canberra’s previous match up against Sydney was goal of the season, this was goal of the decade.

The game of push-me pull-me continued, with Canberra not only holding the lead, but the premiership, in one shaky hand.

PHOTO: Peter / http://twitter.com/arrtside

With 15 minutes remaining, Sydney played their trump card with Jodie Taylor coming into the game.

Her spark generated numerous chances for Sydney FC with Emma Kete coming to life and making incisive runs,  Kerr re-ignited, and although Foord dropped to the back, she was always a danger for the Canberra defence.

Canberra held on grimly, and despite sending Ashleigh Sykes, Heyman and Ochs on a number of long and close runs at goal, it was their inexperienced backline of Georgia Yeoman-Dale and Grace Field paired with stalwarts Catherine Brown and Nicole Sykes, and the calm and a dominant Williams who held firm.

While Sydney FC have been the team to beat all season, on the final whistle of the regular season it was Canberra who were united, and the Canberra fans who were untied.