Superb result. Watched the highlights this morning, was just too late for me on a Sunday night! Not often you get to see a rufer goal, let alone a Payne goal! Kosta is absolutely on fire and I just love seeing him playing with the weight off his shoulders. Hopefully the weather calms down by the end of the week and we get a great Friday night crowd! Top of the league!
Weather not looking great, indicating showers clearing so may not be a strong walk up crowd. Could be even worse with anniversary weekend travellers making an early start on Friday evening. Watching the Nix on the telly with Paramount commentators is painful, Thompson is ok but the rest are numpty fanboys for their own specific teams.
Saw somewhere Domey said pre sales were some of the best they have had for sometime. Then again we are all aware that the weather can stuff that up bigtime.
Running on the same amount of hours of sleep as goals the Nix scored. But well worth staying up late for. Great spirit from the lads to keep coming back from behind and then manage the game to victory when defence was required for the final 20 minutes to get the result!
Really entertaining game - great advertisement for the league, so hopefully it gets some good news coverage and helps sell the team and the idea of going to the top of the table clash next week.
My only meh is probably Ball at the moment. I love him and his mentality, but he really needs to start delivering more at the pointy end to warrant keeping the youngsters on the bench.
There was about 15 perth fans on the other side, but they weren’t really loud at all. They were only making any amount of noise until we scored for 1-1. Edit: there was some neutrals there but not many. Crowd looked about 2000 to me. As for my game experience it wouldn’t have even changed if you add another few thousand because we were making lots of atmosphere ourselves. Also to note, on the leagues website, they don’t post the attendance until a few days after if it is a bad attendance, so less people notice. So it’s probably <2000 but everyone knew it was gonna be bad especially that it was raining the whole few hours prior to kick off.
Gutted I can’t make it down however I should relax happy as I’ve just come to Sydney for this game.IMG_8213.png681.58 KBballane
Saw somewhere Domey said pre sales were some of the best they have had for sometime. Then again we are all aware that the weather can stuff that up bigtime.
The other takeaway from that is if we defend like that against a top 4, perhaps top 8 club, we’ll lose the game. It could just be concentration after some grueling contests.
We’re still not halfway in the season and generally teams improve as games approach must wins for managers and teams.
We will possibly need reinforcements or two or three youngsters to really come through to hold our position imo. Or Bally and Zawada to hit some form…It seems like we are well conditioned, but that has to hold through 15 more rounds. And if we stay high up some clubs are going to come at us even more physically.
While it might seem that we’ve done a lot, we have A LOT more to do to see out 27 rounds. The tests for Chief and the boys are just getting started.
The other takeaway from that is if we defend like that against a top 4, perhaps top 8 club, we’ll lose the game. It could just be concentration after some grueling contests.
We’re still not halfway in the season and generally teams improve as games approach must wins for managers and teams.
We will possibly need reinforcements or two or three youngsters to really come through to hold our position imo. Or Bally and Zawada to hit some form…It seems like we are well conditioned, but that has to hold through 15 more rounds. And if we stay high up some clubs are going to come at us even more physically.
While it might seem that we’ve done a lot, we have A LOT more to do to see out 27 rounds. The tests for Chief and the boys are just getting started.
I'm more positive. I think that the goals conceded in the last 3 matches have been an aberration. Sydney, we had the draw but went for the win with a couple of academy kids on. Adelaide, Ibushuki and Irankunda were on fire (last time that happened they beat Melbourne city 6-0). Perth, I think that the weather had an effect on the goals scored, the same thing happened in the other match played at the same time.
In my view we go back to conceding significantly less than a goal a game. And with Zawada coming back, I think we'll score a lot of the opportunities we're creating. Kosta is and has been AMAZING but we're creating a lot that's not being converted.
The second half of this season will be better for us than the first. IMHO
I have a suspicion Kosta is playing well because he is the main striker. He could not find himself last season with Zawada being the target man. Same with Kraev, imho.
I have a suspicion Kosta is playing well because he is the main striker. He could not find himself last season with Zawada being the target man. Same with Kraev, imho.
Probably true but there have been a number of balls flash across the box to no one but i suspect Zawada may well have put away . It was intersting watching them in training when Zawada was fit they practiced a lot with them all swapping position up front.
I have a suspicion Kosta is playing well because he is the main striker. He could not find himself last season with Zawada being the target man. Same with Kraev, imho.
Probably true but there have been a number of balls flash across the box to no one but i suspect Zawada may well have put away . It was intersting watching them in training when Zawada was fit they practiced a lot with them all swapping position up front.
It's going to be a dilemma when they're both available, isn't it?
Seem to recall we were going okay before Zawada was injured so dont see why there should be any problems with him fitting straight back in when fully fit.
Seem to recall we were going okay before Zawada was injured so dont see why there should be any problems with him fitting straight back in when fully fit.
We scored 9 in the 6 games that Zawada has played in, compared to 13 in the 6 he’s been absent for.
7 conceded in the 6 he’s played, 8 in the 6 he hasn’t.
I have a suspicion Kosta is playing well because he is the main striker. He could not find himself last season with Zawada being the target man. Same with Kraev, imho.
Probably true but there have been a number of balls flash across the box to no one but i suspect Zawada may well have put away . It was intersting watching them in training when Zawada was fit they practiced a lot with them all swapping position up front.
It's going to be a dilemma when they're both available, isn't it?
It would give us some subbing options. This would make it easier on David Ball - subbing him in later for a shorter game if his body is giving in. And the same with Zawada - not sure I would want to risk a full game initially, especially against any bruising opposition. Kosta's fitness? Start him unless injured. He could probably play two games in a row it seems on what he is running like. I've not seen him fitter, unless we go back 10 years. He has more stamina than Kraev who tends to fade a bit towards the end.
The real headache is whether you play to zawada's strengths or Kosta's. They both won't fire. ATM you'd have to say we stick with Kosta and playing around him. It's going to be a headache for chiefy
But when you look at our youthful inexperienced bench on the weekend. We could do with the extra depth Zawada return brings. Having different options up front surely pleases Chiefy so he can formulate a plan to suit the opposition and or keep them guessing.
Zawada will need a couple of weeks on bench to get up to speed again so wouldnt worry too much about it all just yet. Up to him when he comes on to make an impact and give us all something to debate in regard to where he then fits. He's probably off at end of season but im sure he cares and is up for the challenge over next few months. Healthy situation for the team.
Watching the replay last night (more fun second time round) I was really impressed with Pennington. While it was Rufer who provided the best individual moments Pennington was the most mobile of our midfielders and his workrate was enormous. Even right in the last few seconds of the game when Old broke up the sideline it was Pennington sprinting forward into space to make himself available. Must be very fit.
Watching the replay last night (more fun second time round) I was really impressed with Pennington. While it was Rufer who provided the best individual moments Pennington was the most mobile of our midfielders and his workrate was enormous. Even right in the last few seconds of the game when Old broke up the sideline it was Pennington sprinting forward into space to make himself available. Must be very fit.
Absolutely correct. Pennington is a machine. Before the Rufer goal, everyone is sleeping except Pennington. He had to go around a 3-4 players to get the ball, pass to Rufer to bang it in! It was 90% Penningtons goal.
Agreed on Pennington. Believe it or not, towards the end of the Perth game, I was about to post that Pennington had a great game when Kosta scored for a 4-3 and I forgot all about it. In any case, I could not type as I was chewing my fingernails on both hands by then.
Agreed on Pennington. Believe it or not, towards the end of the Perth game, I was about to post that Pennington had a great game when Kosta scored for 4-3 and I forgot all about it. In any case, I could not type as I was chewing my fingernails on both hands by then.
Kungfu Panda's unrelenting, never-ending, and impassioned support of Pennington, in the face of immense opposition at times, is perhaps the greatest thing to come out of YF in years.
For what it's worth, I thought Pennington played well this game.
