We (daughter Lowenna and I) got to King Tom with 10 mins to spare to be confronted by nearly 1,000 people queuing to get in the two turnstiles open. By the time we got a seat the game was 8 mins old and we had parted with the price of 2 adult reseved seat tickets (the only ones being sold by the staff moving through the crowd)! We only saw 2 Breakers fans in the crush so when we got in we took some terrace seating. Poor organisation - perhaps to give you more time to buy Croation music tapes on the way in!
The two teams were both looking different from last season, especially the SU defence without Rudan, Bilokapic, and worse the Breakers had only three regulars from last year on starting on the park (Pryce, McManus, and Sprod), plus Freddy Umlil. They looked to be tentative and were on the backfoot when we arrived and for some time after. Sydney United were looking better organised and with better controlled passing. Catlin had one scare and then Tom Hayth. had a great chance but fluffed it as he did another in the 2nd half. Sydney United were definitely on top and it was no surprise when in the 38th min they again got extra men up and Mile Sterjovski (sp?) slotted home from the right past an outstretched Catlin. Although stunned the Breakers actually were sparked by this and slowly got back into the match, with ex NSW SL Leichhardt Tiger John Buonovaglia being given some space as SU pushed up for the kill desired by the good crowd (I wonder about SU arithmetic though! ;-))
After half-time the game was pretty even for the first 30 mins and the game became a tense tussle in the midfield. It was on one of the diminutive Buonovoglia's tricky runs that brought fruit as he slotted the ball home despite tight marking. Mark Wilson came on for Hayth. at 60 mins and added better balance to the Breakers. For the rest of the half SU tried to lift the game and gave Bob Catlin a few moments of concentration which were weathered without incident. A serious injury saw Andrew Borghetto stretchered off at 85 mins being replaced by young Chris Tancheski and at 90 mins Andy Roberts came on for Adam Sanderson to steady the last few moments.
Overall a deserved draw for this was a Breakers side with less class than that of 96/97 but far more tenacity and a steadier defence than last years side. Best for Newcastle: Pryce, Catlin, Buonovaglia, with mentions for Umlil and Sprod. The new wee striker Johnny did quite well and knows where the goal is; he even had a small Italian 'cheer' squad behind us in the crowd. Aging Scot and Hibernians reject Robert Shannon looked very short of a run and not quite fitting in yet but held down the defensive centre midfield with clear experience. Pryce showed he has the shoulders for Captain and Catlin was commanding in the box. In short a good point to get away and an encouraging if not star packed first game.
PS. Caught up with the GM and some fans near the team bus - no news on the injured player. Said 'see you on Friday'!