The Sydney FC W-League team showed tremendous character to come back from two goals down to earn a 3-3 draw with the Newcastle Jets in the opening round clash at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.
The Sydney FC W-League team showed tremendous character to come back from two goals down to earn a 3-3 draw with the Newcastle Jets in the opening round clash at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.
Matildas Striker Sam Kerr was the hero, capping off a Best on Ground performance by scoring two late goals to claim a share of the points in her first match for Sydney FC after joining in the club for the 2012/13 season.
The Sky Blues started slowly with two goals to the Jets inside the first 20 minutes giving the visitors a 2-0 lead. It took the second Newcastle goal for Sydney FC to jolt into action and the Sky Blues pegged one goal back in the 35th minute when Alana Kennedy nodded home a delightful Ellyse Perry free kick to make it 2-1, a score that remained until the break.
Sydney FC continued its revival after half time and looked like going on with the game but missed some gilt-edged chances and it came back to haunt them when Newcastle extended its lead with a 3rd goal in the 58th minute.
The women then showed great character and commitment to dig deep and Kerr struck in the 75th and 78th minutes to restore parity. While it looked likely the Sky Blues would run over the Jets and turn possession into points, they couldn-t find the winning goal.
After the match Sydney FC assistant coach Daniel Barrett, who took charge with coach Alen Stajcic and Kyah Simon both suspended as a carry-over from last year-s semi-final loss, was proud of his team but rued a series of missed chances.
“The girls did tremendously well to come back from 2-0 down and then 3-1 down to grab a point so the character is a fantastic plus for our season,” Barrett said. “It-s always nice to come back like they did today but in reality we didn-t take our chances and got punished. We created enough chances to win the game twice but didn-t convert those chances.”
The Sydney FC W-League team now prepares for the first W-League Sydney Derby, which will be played at Leichhardt Oval this Saturday (27 October). Kick off for the game is 2.00pm.
