Gladesville Ryde Magic, 7:30pm Wednesday 10th April (Away) - FFA Cup

Here is a little bit of a bonus post. I wasn’t going to blog about this game. However, I was reflecting on it, and it was actually a great turnout for a Wednesday night so thought I should share my thoughts…

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The club was formed in 1977 as Gladesville United by the large Greek community in the area. They play in the third tier of the NSW NPL and have played around that level for most of their history. Currently they sit top of the NPL 3, having won 4 of their 5 games so far this season. They reached the sixth qualifying round in last season’s FFA Cup but could not field a team against Blacktown City and went out. With a few ex-Croatia boys on their list, including Robbie Mileski, it promised to be an interesting Wednesday night in Macquarie Park.

The FFA Cup, which started in 2014 is just about the only thing the FFA have ever done right. It is a classic cup competition. Any team can register to play in it and it pits David against Goliath. Who will ever forget a heaving King Tom, with over 8,000 people crammed in 5 years ago, when we played that made up team with no history from down the road? Or that epic encounter with Heidelberg in 2017? It felt like the old NSL, the only thing missing was a Taubmans shirt on my back (god, I want one of those). I have to admit, I love this comp. I still feel shitty about the fact we have to play 4 games to get to the last 32 and a possible big one at King Tom, but even so I look forward to it every year. You also get to visit new grounds that you wouldn’t normally during the league season. I was absolutely gutted when we lost to Rockdale last year - I’m still pissed off actually – so I am hoping that we can carry on our tradition of getting to the last 32.

The boys at the café (no VB)

When I first saw the draw for the FFA Cup I was pretty excited to find that I could walk to the game from my office – it made a change from my usual trek to King Tom! At the end of the working day I walked over to Macquarie Centre and had a Big Mac pre-game (a rare treat given my wife never lets me have them!). I wasn’t sure what food would be on offer at Christie Park and turns out I made the right choice as by all accounts the food was not any good. It was a 10 minute walk to the ground from the shopping centre and I got there around one hour before kick-off (free entry). The place was deserted so I got a coffee while I waited for some of the other guys to show up and while in the queue I finally met club legend Ray! The lack of beer on offer was a bit of a downer. I was unsure as to how many would show up on a cold night in North Ryde but as kick off approached a few started to trickle in. Just as the game was about to kick off a whole load of the SUS turned up to swell the away support. They also managed to smuggle in a case of beer (it was an alcohol free ground) and the songs were soon being sung with a wheelie bin used as a drum. Well done lads!

The SUS in fine voice

It would be fair to say that Croatia never got out of first gear and in honesty Gladesville had a few clear chances that were skied over the bar when both should have scored. As the half wore on the fitness levels began to show and Gladesville had less and less of the ball. Croatia should have scored as well. I can’t recall who was put through but the chance went. The temperature dropped again as the half time whistle went, and we lamented a poor half of football. Thankfully Croatia came out with much more purpose second half but struggled to break down a side that were putting more and more men behind the ball. I felt if we scored it may be enough, and it was to prove the case. Around 15 minutes into the second half Vlastelica put in a great cross and it was expertly finished by Roberts. Croatia then dominated proceedings but were unable to find the killer second goal. In truth Gladesville never looked like scoring in the second half and the game petered out. The only scare was a free kick right in front of us that was floated in but dealt with easily. Credit has to go to Gladesville but in the cup it is a results game and while it wasn’t pretty we are through. God that was tense, we need to improve for the Marconi game on Saturday. Sydney Croatia Ole Ole Ole.

First half action

The many rules of Christie park.