After a beer and a bite to eat in a local pub (The Local Taphouse – very good if in the area of the SCG), I returned to the Allianz Stadium, right next door to the SCG where AFL side Sydney FC were due to host Melbourne Victory.

The Allianz Stadium is a 44,ooo capacity ground which, as well as being home to Sydney FC also hosts international rugby matches.  I was fascinated to see what AFL soccer was like.  The ground flt about half full (the official attendance was over 19,000) but the Sydney fans did a good job at compensating for the empty spaces.  A group of around 2,000 behind one goal barely sat down and sang for pretty much the whole game.  The atmosphere certainly compared well to a number of English Premier Leaguse grounds.

As to the match itself, Sydney dominated possession throughout but, for the first 60 minutes, Melbourne bore the greater threat.  A missed penalty in the first half eventually proved vital but, deservedly, the Victory took o 1-0 lead into half time.  In the second half Sydney huffed and puffed unconvincingly until a substitute, David Carney was brought on.  Why he hadn’t started is beyond me, since his introduction transformed the game.  After only a few minutes he scored an equaliser (albeit one with s strong hint of hand ball as he controlled the pass) and, later, he scored the goal that proved to be the winner.

I had been sceptical about the entertainment that would be on offer.  However, I watched a very, very entertaining game between two sides who would both be extremely competitive in the English Championship.  The level of skill on display was impressive, counterbalanced by some very naive defending.

Combined with the atmosphere the quality of the game made for a very entertaining evening

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