Friday 31 August Lismore, NSW - Melbourne Heart vs Western Sydney Wanderers

[heart_fan10]

at least we've got a month to work on it now with pretty much all our first choice 11 players signed and at the club. I just want to see us go out there on october 5 all guns blazing.

[cadete]

at least we've got a month to work on it now with pretty much all our first choice 11 players signed and at the club. I just want to see us go out there on october 5 all guns blazing.

I honestly reckon we will, this squad to me seems to have been well thought out with each new signing from our backline to our strikeforce...

JA also strikes me as a winner and at the same time someone prepared to listen to the experienced heads around him.

[Rellum]

No vids of this game yet? I would have though SBS would have crew there based on their interest in the Sydney teams.

[TigerBenji]

Up in Lismore now with my dad. Beautiful weather and just kicking around the town centre ish area now. Looking forward to game.

Sorry I didn't post any updates lads I didn't get any kind of vodaphone reception in that god forsaken shithole Losermore. Probably the most boring football game I've ever seen. By halftime I was in the clubroom with my dad playing backgammon.

Wow, that escalated quickly. Did you have a deal go sour or run into some unruly locals? Lismore CBD is really not a place you want to be. Ever.

That Williams goal sounds like it could of been incorrectly ruled offside, with even the Wanderers official twitter account calling it a 'lucky break' for them: '28th min: Heart claim a goal but it's called back by the official's for offside. Lucky break for the @wswanderersfc. #GoWanderers'.

Redmayne must have been solid in goal, or our defence was strong and we starved them of chances (or option 3, the Wanderers were awful at finishing).

Williams was offside by a clear margin, never any doubt.

Redmayne was solid but to be honest probably looked the most likely to concede between him and Tyson. He had absolutely no idea where Mooy's free kicks were going.

Could have been one of those Pre-season games where the whole focus is on holding the ball - If so I applaud for JA choosing an interstate fixture to do this in rather than in front of me as last years match against Newy in Morwell was very very boring.

The whole game for both sides was very back/midfield orientated with any movement towards the attacking third being from attempted through balls. Not bad in the 1st half, a lot of attempts were made by both sides but once a few replacements were made and triallists came on, a lot of attack broke down and the game seemed to really die down and a 0-0 draw was inevitable.

What I actually came here to comment on was how great the Heart were for the week they were here. They carried out a number of training sessions with local clubs (junior & senior) and both teams carried local keepers on the bench. Merchandise was being sold at the game... $5 for hats or $39 for team shirts. At that price they were being snapped up... good way to get your name around and get people wearing your gear. After the game all the players did a lap of the fence signing autographs. Williams wanted to stand around and chat with everyone, Redmayne came over for a chat with me as I was wearing a Brisbane Roar scarf. All in all, a fantastic week in which the club & the fans of the club should be proud of the events and how they upheld themselves. Our region technically is Newcastle Jets territory, and we are 100kms from the Gold Coast but neither of those clubs have ever had anything to do with the area, despite it being known as a football heartland and the sports popularity here.

In summary, thankyou Melbourne Heart. Come back next year.

[bazzatron]

After the game all the players did a lap of the fence signing autographs. Williams wanted to stand around and chat with everyone, Redmayne came over for a chat with me as I was wearing a Brisbane Roar scarf.

WTF, they do this interstate, but not in Epping? Whats wrong with this club?

[cadete]

WTF, they do this interstate, but not in Epping? Whats wrong with this club?

Agreed.

Even more annoying is how last season they began to do it selectively interstate as well.

I don’t begrudge any other supporters getting to enjoy such an experience but it has not just me that has seen a noticeable trend that when YSIDE ppl take up the majority of the Away Bay – Then the team seemed much less inclined to come and thank us for their support compared to games where the Bay consisted mainly of Scarfers .

This is not at all about who supports the club more all anything like that...

But I am sure a vast majority of Heart supporters with a knowledge of YSIDE’s efforts would agree that members of YSIDE support the side as much as anyone else and thus deserve the same level of recognition from the players.

Edited September 3, 2012 by cadete

[natalie182]

I remember for the Sydney FC away game last year, being really surprised and disappointed that the players didn't even bother coming to the fence to thank the Heart supporters. They had just won 4-0 and just stood behind the advertising boards, gave us a brief wave then left. It was during our really good run last year, and it felt a bit arrogant to me. After that we lost pretty much every game for the rest of the season.

Not sure why this is relevant, but I think, especially for away games, the players should make the effort to thank all Heart fans, no matter what, even though quite a few of us were there for that Sydney game.

[cadete]

I remember for the Sydney FC away game last year, being really surprised and disappointed that the players didn't even bother coming to the fence to thank the Heart supporters. They had just won 4-0 and just stood behind the advertising boards, gave us a brief wave then left. It was during our really good run last year, and it felt a bit arrogant to me. After that we lost pretty much every game for the rest of the season.

Not sure why this is relevant, but I think, especially for away games, the players should make the effort to thank all Heart fans, no matter what, even though quite a few of us were there for that Sydney game.

This game was one of main incidents for my above post as it was both well attended by both YSIDE members and MHFC supporters in general and the Club Hierarchy was quite aware of both of these facts having attended Pre Match drinks.

The year prior when it was only five or so of us there and we won we even had JVS come up and shake our hands. It really felt kind of hollow that the next season after the club’s greatest ever win (And I agree at the club highest point so far) – That the boys could not come up to us and throw out a few High Fives.

[Murfy1]

Thanks a lot for the post TigerBenji. Comments from Heart administrators and players have been pretty positive about Lismore. And given a cup has been created for Heart matches against the Wanderers named the Craig Foster Cup, I reckon there is a decent chance Heart will be back next preseason.