Sydney FC skipper Terry McFlynn has spoken of the character in his team after coming from behind to defeat the Jets 2-1 in Newcastle on Saturday night.
Sydney FC skipper Terry McFlynn has spoken of the character in his team after coming from behind to defeat Newcastle Jets 2-1 at Ausgrid Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a half-cleared defensive header from McFlynn that led to Jeremy Brockie slamming home Newcastle’s goal midway through the first half as Sydney leaked a number of opportunities in the opening 45.
But when Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka questioned the resolve of the Sydney players during the half-time break his team responded with a sparkling second half performance punctuated by an equaliser from Bruno Cazarine on the hour mark and the winner from substitute striker Juho Makela six minutes from full-time.
“The character in this team since the pre-season has been immense and the courage showed coming from a goal down at half-time,” McFlynn said.
“We spent a lot of time together and we are like a family. There were a few home truths said at half-time and we took that on the chin and we played for each other.”
“We showed that we will keep going until the 95th minute and I can’t be prouder of the effort the boys put in and coming away with the victory.”
Lavicka agreed that the spirit in the Sydney side is immense this season and would be the key ingredient for them to challenge for the title as they moved into the top four just two points behind Brisbane and five from league leaders Central Coast Mariners.
“We have shown this similar spirit several times this season, for example we beat the Roar at home but we didn’t get the same performance against the Gold Coast but I am happy that we were able to answer the challenge,” he said.
“Three important points and we showed we could play quality football.”
“We didn’t start very well the first 25 minutes we played too passively and let them pay in the midfield and it was only a matter of time before we conceded a goal, and we did.”
“But the last part of the first half we improved and in the second half we played much more aggressively in the midfield to squeeze the opponent and we also played more actively in attack and we used the space in the wide areas and we turned the game. “
Lavicka was forced to replace superstar midfield Brett Emerton at half-time after the seasoned international sustained a hamstring strain but the FC coach said he was always confident in his bench to do the job.
“Brett Emerton had a problem with his hamstring – he had some tightness and as he is one of the senior players we have to be smart in how we manage him,” Lavicka said.
“The medical staff looked after him very well and his experience also tells him when he and we think he will be ready for next week’s game against Adelaide.”
“We had a game plan it was the reason why we put two attacking strikers on the bench in Juho Makela and Mitchell Mallia and along with Rhyan Grant they played an important part in turning the game.”
