THE OFFICIAL MATCH DAY PROGRAMME FOR THE NRMA INSURANCE WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS FC SEVENTH EDITION | SEASON 2012/13 FRIDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2012 | ROUND 12 VS ADELAIDE UNITED FC POPOVIC Raises THE BAR COVIC KEEPS IT CLEAN TALL TIMBER: BEAUCHAMP VS DJITE OFFICIAL WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS FC PARTNERS CONTENTS CONTENTS COACH LAYS DOWN 03 CHALLENGE Tony Popovic wants his team to push Adelaide to their limits. S INCE YOU WERE 04 LAST HERE 05 The Wanderers are on a roll with two wins against the Roar and Sydney FC. KEEPING UP WITH 05 COVIC The veteran Goalkeeper is unstoppable. 03 07 GLADESVILLE- Players TO Watch WANDERLAND NEWS 06 HORNSBY CELEBrate 07 Beauchamp and Djite collide. 12 Gavin Austin our football 60 YEARS mad School Ambassador From a meeting in Eastwood Today’S Match and Ryan Simpson part-time Town in 1952 to having 08 Can the Wanderers striker, part-time volunteer. 12,700 players this year. down United tonight? WESTFIELD W-LEAGUE THE WANDERER 13 Match REVIEWS 10 FIND-A-WORD The Wanderers went full Can you find Wanderers throttle to defeat Adelaide in NYL players this week. Round 8, whilst missing out Advertising ENQUIRIES against the Roar in Round 9. NYL Match REVIEWS For all advertising enquiries please 11 WESTERN SYDNEY contact Jonathan Bannister on The boys were defeated by Sydney FC and 14 WANDERERS FC 02 8602 6407, 0438 429 713 or email Partners [email protected] Glory respectively over PHOTOGRAPHY the last two weeks. Thanking our 2012/13 partners. Front cover photograph courtesy of Graeme WE’VE REACHED CAPTION CONTEST Gillmer Photography. All photography 11 5,000 MEMBERS 15 Caption the photo of courtesy of Beans & Mash Photography, Eric Craig Hamrol is excited to Dino Kresinger and Jerome Berry and Graeme Gillmer Photography. be a part of the Wanderers. Polenz for your chance to win. 02 WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS FC VS ADELAIDE UNITED FC COACH LAYS DOWN CHALLENGE NRMA INSURANCE WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS COACH TONY POPOVIC HAS UPPED THE ANTE WITH HIS players GOING INTO THE GAME AGAINST ADELAIDE UNITED. After wins against Sydney FC last week and Brisbane Roar the week before, Popovic has challenged his men to put three good results together for the first time this season. It won’t be easy against Adelaide, even with the home-ground advantage. John Kosmina’s team and the Graham Arnold-coached Central Coast Mariners have put a break on the field after just 11 rounds. The Mariners are in first place, on 26 points, and Adelaide second, on 25. Then it’s eight points to third-placed Melbourne Victory, with the Wanderers a further point behind in fourth. But former Socceroo star Popovic, with his vast experience as a player and his clearly tremendous potential as a coach, knows that if the Wanderers want to be serious contenders for the A-League title they need to be able to push Adelaide to the limit in a game like this. “We’re taking one step at a time,” Popovic said. “We’re coming off back- to-back wins, and that’s the second time we’ve done that now. But we haven’t had three good results in a row yet, so that is the challenge we face this week. Can we get another good result against a very, very good side in Adelaide? Can we put three good results together, which we are yet to do this year? That’s the challenge.” The first time the Wanderers won successive games was in rounds four and five - against Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Heart. But the following week they lost 2-1 at home to Newcastle United. Popovic is looking for his players to establish that hard- edged, week-to-week consistency, and not make the mistake of being comfortable with two wins in a row. Two teams may have jumped out to a lead on the competition table, but the other eight teams are tightly COACH packed, and while a couple of good results in a row can see you make a substantial leap on the standings, two straight losses can send you spiralling. LAYS DOWN Now that the Wanderers have had what can be described as their real CourtesyCourtesy of Graeme Gillmer Photography of Brisbane Roar/Matt Palmer Continued on page 4 CHALLENGE WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS FC VS ADELAIDE UNITED FC 03 SINCE YOU WERE LAST HERE Continued from page 3 Bridge was out injured and Mooy was away on Socceroos duty, but in breakout game in beating their cross-town Mooy’s absence Shinji Ono stepped up rivals 2-0 on the road and in front of a big to take control of the team and played crowd, it is important to build on that. his best football of the season. Ono’s The Wanderers dominated Sydney fitness has improved dramatically after FC, and one of the best things about he needed work when he arrived at the their back-to-back wins in rounds 10 club, and he is looking sleek and sharp and 11 is that they did it without Mark out on the field. The Japanese superstar Bridge in both games and with Aaron is now as dangerous in the closing Mooy missing the first of those and only stages of games as he is at any stage. coming off the bench in the second. Courtesy of Graeme Gillmer Photography SINCE YOU WERE LAST HERE ROUND 10 VS Brisbane had a couple of good football crowds seen in Sydney (26,176). BRISBANE ROAR at first-half chances as well, but the Sydney flew out of the blocks and pressed Parramatta Stadium Wanderers were the better side for the the Wanderers early with several wide balance of the opening 45 minutes. raids through Brett Emerton but they were Marquee man Shinji Ono brought the With 15 minutes to go in the second half, unable to produce any meaningful chances. house down at Parramatta Stadium Kresinger came off the bench, replacing Joey Wanderers midfielder Iacopo La Rocca when he scored his first goal for the Gibbs, and Ono dropped just behind him. made two incisive runs up the middle, one in NRMA Insurance Western Sydney The move looked like paying off in the the 15th minute and the other in the 19th, Wanderers – clinching another win over 85th minute when Ono collected a pass and they both ended with powerful shots. champions Brisbane Roar in the process. and brilliantly beat two defenders, only to Dominance was franked by Hersi Second-half substitute Dino Kresinger shoot just wide. But the Wanderers were in the 23rd when he accepted a cross was brought down in the penalty box in the only one minute away from capitalising headed towards him in the box by Joey 86th minute, and Ono took the spot kick on the most dramatic moment of the Gibbs off Sebastian Ryall. The Dutchman successfully sending the crowd into raptures. game – and getting a crucial win. trapped the ball, turned and fired a The Wanderers then withstood a Western Sydney Wanderers 1 blistering shot into the back of the net. desperate late flurry from the Roar (Ono 87) Ono should have added another before finishing 1-0 winners. Brisbane Roar 0 two goals with some superb footwork “We’ve been rewarded, finally, I and shooting, only to see his efforts think, for some of the great football ROUND 11 VS SYDNEY FC drift wide or over the goal. we’ve been playing. I’m really happy at ALLIANZ Stadium The second half continued where for the players,” Tony Popovic said. the first left off - chances came and Youssouf Hersi hit the underside of The NRMA Insurance Western went from Hersi, Ono and Gibbs. the crossbar with a cracking shot in the Sydney Wanderers secured the second Aaron Mooy came on for La eighth minute, but unfortunately the ball instalment of the Sydney Derby by totally Rocco in the 64th minute and Tahj stayed out. Ono shot just wide twice from dominating their cross-city rivals in a Minniecon on for Hersi in the 72nd. outside the box, and also had a deflected spectacular display at Allianz Stadium. Sydney introduced injured superstar shot palmed wide by Michael Theo. The Wanderers scored in the first and Alessandro De Piero to a rousing applause Mateo Poljak had a long-distance attempt second halves to beat Sydney FC 2-0. The in the 69th minute but he contributed that narrowly missed, and Iacopo La Rocca Wanderers humbled their rivals in front little in the one-way Wanderers traffic. put the ball over the top from inside the box. of one of the loudest and most colourful However, a 76-minute corner by Ono made its way back to the Japanese legend and his second cross found his captain Michael Beauchamp on the far post. Beauchamp snapped a powerful shot from close range for the second goal. Minniecon had two golden chances late with both saved by Vedran Janjetovic. By this stage the Wanderers were running rampant. Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Hersi 23, Beauchamp 76) Courtesy of Beans & Mash Photography Sydney FC 0 04 WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS FC VS ADELAIDE UNITED FC KEEPING UP WITH COVIC KEEPING UP WITH COVIC Courtesy of Graeme Gillmer Photography NRMA INSURANCE WESTERN missed opportunity to take the lead ten SYDNEY WANDERERS minutes later sending the Wanderers GOALKEEPER ANTE COVIC home with their first defeat. IS PROOF that EXPERIENCE A 2006 World Cup Socceroo, Covic is COUNTS AND HE’LL BE well-regarded in the football community BANKING ON THOSE YEARS for his penalty spot stops – so too is his TONIGHT AGAINST A Reds counterpart Galekovic who denied RESILIENT ADELAIDE UNITED.