(With Sinozic having a holiday in the States, Ceccoli was more defensive and Masi came into a midfield forward sorta position. Actually, he got a fair bit of action as the recipient of throw ins; more than he usually gets as the target of through balls.)
I'd been looking forward to seeing Marusic/Slater/Cranney match it with our midfield. Didn't get Cranney, of course, and wasn't that disappointed, really, in having Wolves face a depleted Spirit.
We (Mr and Mrs Webb and two Webbs junior) parked in the city (at work) and trained over The Bridge (the real divider between Sydney's us and them). Fluked a shuttle bus outside North Sydney Station. In past the Spirit Burger stand (we don't get chicken at Brandon Park) and off to our miserable isolation near the front in the middle of the O'Reilly Stand. Far to our left were the Bob Mob. And at the other end of the ground, over to our right, was the Wolves contingent. I think, because it is a cricket oval and most of the 14,000 spectators are so far from the pitch (apart from those at either end), we had one of the best vantage points. Though perhaps I'd have preferred to be sitting among my own kind. I cheered valiantly and cheerfully but vainly in the first half, bravely earning the ire of those around me -- and I was even politely applauding and acknowledging Spirit now and then -- but this sitting among the enemy is a habit I must break, particular when we head off to Edenzer Park in the near future.
It was good to be in a full stadium; and apart from those sitting near me, the spirit of the Spirit fans was quite warm; several wryly noting, in their various Pommy tongues, the inappropriateness of my Wolves shirt.
The facilities were okay. Long but quickly moving queues for food and drink. And service with a smile even when I made the long order for my pack.
The music in the stand was too loud when we were arriving. The ground announcer was a prat. We had a laugh at the St Aloysius schoolboys choir singing the anthem. And played Spot the Spirit Mascot. But it was too hard: there were too many wankers in suits.
Wolves started better. Spirit picked up during the first half and Wolves had their usual flurry at the end. There were only three half-decent/roughly on target shots from general play each in the first half. Wolves had two early. Spirit's first came after 35 minutes. Pogliacomi didn't handle the ball until 30 minutes through. I think his only touch before that was a goal kick after a ball dribbled across the line near the flag. Bilokapic was my pick from the first half. Apparently Marusic had some good touches and he used the dead ball well. But he was still ineffective in the first half and was a dead loss in the second.
I was still buoyant at half time.
Mrs Webb said the first to score would score the only goal and she was right. And our buoy sank.
Slater was a real bastard in the second half (meaning he started to run rings around us; used his body well; intercepted long balls; distributed well). Whereas in the first half the Spirit players were lobbing the ball out and to nobody in particular as if they'd never been on the ground before, in the second half they were doing one-twos and triangles and it was working for them and I was very quiet I can assure you.
(On the subject of noise, I was proud of the Wolves crowd. They weren't as pulsating as the Bob Mob, but made a good fist of it, considering. I was annoyed that the announcer called Spirit's oval a cauldron; that heretofore has been the cliche designated to Brandon Park).
Dimoski, Surjan, Brooks, and Souris (I think) got yellows. And Bilokapic and Casserly (at least I remember baying that he _should_ be getting one).
Chris' report is pretty fair. Wolves rarely looked like getting through. One effective series of passes ended with Henderson beaten but the shot was saved by some other big galoot. That was the best chance at an equaliser.
Pogliamomi was frightening. I want Hughes and Brodbeck back. He badly fisted away balls he should have caught, the type of balls Henderson _was_ gathering in at the other end. Once Pogliacomi left his box and 14,000 people gasped in anticipation that Spirit would reap the benefits of his poor judgment.
Wolves played like they were playing out of position, which they were a bit. Huxley was confident coming on for Stanton. But the Wollongong squad has such little depth this season. There's no way they can sustain the injury blight that hit them last season.
I was just happy Mr Zane (did Mike Cockerill call him "Clacka" in the program?) didn't score. That would have been _so_ embarrassing. Spirit really need to get something/someone up front. Great defence, but other sides would have punished Wolves more.
_We_ were pissed off because they _did_ call out the Spirit team as they ran on; but they _didn't_ call out the Wolves team. Fireworks whenever your team scores a goal may be barely tolerable (if a tad over the top) but I thought calling out the names of only the home side was the height of arrogant rudeness.
I don't think it's a good place to watch soccer. But it's a good crowd to watch soccer with and in. My Chris, who usually runs off to play soccer with other kids in the crowd, sat and watched the whole game.
He and his sister enjoyed the walk with the legion of Spirit supporters back to the station.
I was pretty glum ... But the return match at the _real_ cauldron should see the scoreline reversed ... and more.