Wollongong, 4pm Saturday 24th August 2019 (Away) – Preliminary Final

Wednesday night had seen Sydney Croatia see off Blacktown City 7-3 after extra time in one of the most extraordinary games that I have witnessed. For pure passion, drama and heart stopping moments it was going to be hard to top. That win had given us another away game down in Wollongong to face premiers Wollongong, who had lost the major semi final 2-1 to APIA the same night. The game would be Croatia’s fourth in less than 2 weeks. This absurd situation meant that to beat Wollongong was going to take a monumental effort away on the coast, but as I got on the train for the 90 minute journey South I was quietly confident. I had a feeling that we would win and make the Grand Final. Wollongong had not beaten us in the season and I felt they looked flat against APIA.

The queue to get a ticket

As I stepped off the train into glorious sunshine I was spotted by an old Wollongong supporter who directed me to the Harp Hotel, the meeting place for the SUS before the game. There was a nice outside area on the street and already it was shaping up to be a classic away day, regardless of the result. After a beer we headed to the stadium, which was only a few minutes’ walk away, and into a massive queue for tickets. To be fair, all 4 windows were open but as this is a modern stadium used for rugby league all the tickets had to be printed off one by one and it took an age. The kick off was delayed and that allowed us to take our seats before the game started. We had been allocated 4 bays in the lower tier of the Northern grandstand, while Wollongong had the entire lower tier of the main Western Grandstand. The hill and other areas were closed. This was no surprise. The crowd looked around the 2,500 mark and the capacity of the ground is 23,000, so to keep costs down they only open part of it. It was another great away following that made the trip, and the songs were soon being sung, making it feel like a home game. There was no VB alas, so James Squires it was at $8 a can. A bit pricey, but what can you do? I needed it to take the edge off the nerves.

The away support

The game started scrappily. Passes went astray as both teams tried to work each other out. My initial thought in the first 10 minutes was that Wollongong looked flat. They struggled to create anything with the ball for the opening 20 minutes as Croatia made a few half chances, the best of which fell to Antelmi but he could only shoot straight at the keeper when well placed. The tension was rising and Wollongong started to pass the ball with more fluency as the half wore on. It was around this time that security decided that we could not sit in the seats we had been given, for the odd reason that the private boxes were being used for a kids function. We were told to move, and then around 15 police turned up along with the Head of Police. Once it was realised that the stadium management were to blame for such an absurd situation, the police left without incident. I mean come on, why place us in that section if it is an issue? Madness. Anyway, we were allowed back to our seats and saw Wollongong take the lead just before half time. A cross found it’s way into the box and was headed down by Dimoski to control and lash a shot towards goal. Manos got a hand to it but the power took it into the corner. It was a blow just before half time. Wollongong had begun to turn the screw and get back into the game after a poor start. A few minutes later the half time whistle went - Croatia was in another battle to keep their season alive.

Celebrations after Liam Rose scores!

It had been an even game up until half time, but my worry was the amount of games we had been playing. We came out the better team after the restart and had Wollongong on the back foot for the first 10 minutes or so, without creating a great deal. There was far too much room on the right hand side for Wollongong, however, and this was almost exploited a couple of times before Croatia sorted it out. By the mid way point Croatia had got back into it again and I headed to the bar for a pie. As I came out from under the stand I saw the ball passed to Liam Rose who side footed a cracker into the keepers near post! It was some sight to see the away support go crazy in front of me and I tried to take a picture while jumping up and down. A smoke bomb went off in the end and orange smoke drifted across the pitch to chants of CRO-ART-ZIA.

It was game on as I rushed back to my seat in what was turning into another classic NPL finals game. The game was end to end and Wollongong almost took the lead with 15 minutes to play when a header flashed past the post. As Croatia pressed forward just a few minutes later, Antlemi took on a defender on the edge of the box and shot. The ball took a deflection off the defender and wrong footed the keeper, who could only watch as the ball rolled almost in slow motion into the corner of the net. Cue pandemonium in the Croatia end! A flare was let off and the wall at the bottom partially collapsed under the weight of the supporters who ran down to mob the players. I almost fell down the stairs running to join in the madness. With only 10 minutes left Wollongong threw everything forward but unsurprisingly looked absolutely stunned and could not create enough to pull the game level. As the referee blew the whistle the team ran to the supporters who jumped the fence to celebrate with the players in a mass of euphoria. What can be said of this team and supporters? It was a privilege to be part of another epic game and performance from a team who have defied the odds - again.

A grand final next Saturday, but before that the FFA Cup on Wednesday. I am lost for words. What an afternoon in the Gong!

Crazy scenes at full time!

Into the final!