The Sydney Sessions - Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory

February brought the return of 'Jamie Jacobs' and Jon from the East Coast with many a tail to trade with it. They clearly one on the better stories front, again another reason for me heading up north. This event also finally brought me out of the halls of 1D to move on up to the safer ground of 3D and all of us dorming together. The first night set the standard for the week with us smashing the place randomly while watching Arsenal vs Chelsea game, I personally will never forget that Tomato sliding down the tv,Cornick's "dance moves" and Jamie Jacobs' complaints of suffering from double vision.
The week that followed was just a tremendous time of randomness, partying, terrorizing, Bruno's, suresuresures, surly Germans and me don't think so's. Repeating the tales of nights out would be troublesome but one event that was rather good would be Sydney vs Melbourne, not only was it the final game of the season but whomever won would also be crowned A-League champions. Much on the line there was.
As i recall the night before was a big one (standard) and may have also been home to the great ocassion where i happily ordered a round of Jaegerbombs for me and Jon despite having no cash at all so he was left to pay. I also sent one of the great all time drunken texts from his phone and spent two hours wandering around in the rain looking for another hostel but that's a story for another day. Anyways after we gayed it up on the taxi journey there, with me being the first to break thanks to a particularly disturbing Jon comment we arrived at the pub for pre match drinks. We made the decision to be Melbourne fans so got tickets to the away section with hope it would all kick off, surprisingly here you can drink beer in the stands which is just another thing that would lead to mass carnage back home. Jon did meet a lovely chap in the bogs though, greeting him with something like " The cops have just put me through the ringer mate" "Why" "They know who I am"......He clearly must be a big deal.
In the stands it was east to notice quite a few people who looked potentially hectic and on edge. They were dressed like English hooligans, not in colours but the Ben Sherman, Burberry and the like and were very skinny types resembling Francis Begbie. There was of course the standard skinhead there too. One odd thing was that there were four blokes (including guy from the bogs) standing with their backs to the pitch, leading the crowd in various chants ant telling them to man up. Aussies ain't good at football chanting, they just have no sense of timing or aggressiveness to do it properly.
Much to everyones delight (especially Adam "English Defence League, i love hooliganism really" Skinner) it didn't take long for trouble to start with a mini "riot" ensuing. It was all handbags really. I think it started with someone throwing a bottle on the pitch leading a policeman to grab said person and then it all just snowballed from there. This caused the crowd to siege forward, then the police jumped in, flares/smoke bombs went off and it turned into one giant grapple fest. The old bill had no weapons so it was quite funny watching them try to get people out by the scruff of their neck. The Italian police would have loved all this, cracking many a skull and dishing out blows to kneecaps all round. I think about 30 people got thrown out in the end but it certainly made our day worthwhile, especially how casual we all ere as it all unfolded directly in front of us. Always fun to have the opportunity to shout a "You fucking what??!!1" or a "Who are ya?" too.
As far as the game goes, the standard was absolutely shocking, i don't think these teams could've even competed in League one back home. Melbourne refused to shoot at all, despite being given countless opportunities and it was so frustrating, we'd only been supporters for 60 minutes too! I'd still take this then Mick McCarthy's Sunderland era, god how i hated going to those games and his none stop smugness. Sydney ended up winning 2-0 with two of "the A-leagues" greatest ever goals. The first being a shin kick and with the second, John Aloisi took the ball from his own half, ran with it as the defenders literally ran away from him until he had no choice to shoot. It's clear to see why Robbie Fowler loves it over here. All in all a good day though, it was a shame to see Jamie Jacobs and Skinner leave the next day with Jon following on the Tuesday to NZ. The hostel never had the same atmosphere after but it was great to hear of Skinner and Jacobs lasting 45 minutes fruit picking before dropping their baskets, doing a runner and then having to hitchhike back to the middle of nowhere!. Amazing.

Here's a video of the "mini riot" I've got a hat on and the other three are on my right.