One thing was inevitable when the Sale United Men awoke on Saturday morning; history would soon be made. The Swans met Swinburne University Football Club at 6pm on home turf for their first-ever Australia Cup match in the club’s history.
Swinburne, Victorian Metro 4 side, had caused what may have been the biggest upset of the Australia Cup 2023 in Round 1; it defeated State League 4 opposition, Lyndale United, a club five tiers above them, 5-3 on penalties, and advanced to Round 2 on a high.
Australia Cup debutants Sale, having had a bye in Round 1, knew they were in for a formidable encounter on Saturday night as they prepared to face their Victorian Metro 5 2022 league champion opponents in the national knockout tournament.
As time until kick-off grew closer, more than a hundred Sale United Football Club supporters filed through the club gates; juniors who would walk out the Swans donned their green kits, players and SUFC members modelled club colours, joined by friends and family to bare witness club history in the making.
An admittedly nervous Anouk Meereboer walked with her team as they entered the field in front of the roaring crowd – surely an unexpected scene for Swinburne, whose club president Thomas Burchsmith told Football Victoria in the lead-up to the match they had to “plug Sale into Google Maps” to find out where it was.
Sale’s starting 11 took their positions, the match bursting to life from the whistle’s blow, Swans pressing hard and fast down the right side with the blistering pace of Jake Jeong and Dave Durning, a brilliant link up, terrorising Swinburne’s defence.
Holding possession, denying Swinburne little time in their attacking half, Sale United dominated the game.
Mace Irvine, at centre back, found Sale forward Charlie Cockell. Cockell looked wide, finding Marrien van den Heuvel in the right of the midfield. A quick give-and-go saw van den Heuvel return the ball to Cockell, chipping it forward, met by Jeong, who headed toward the box’s edge.
Enter Isaak Jondahl.
Reading play remarkably, Sale’s left winger stepped in-field as the ball made its way through the centre, Jondahl patiently waiting for his chance to strike. As the ball bounced towards the box, Jondahl marauded towards goal, evading a charging Swinburne keeper, finding the back of the net to give Sale an early lead.
The Swans swiftly squandered their advantage, with Swinburne retaliating and scoring an equaliser in less than 60 seconds, taking full advantage of a dazed Sale, scoring their second goal in two minutes to take the lead.
A determined Sale would not be so easily defeated, Swinburne’s shock lead propelling the Swans into top gear with outstanding performances from midfielder Jude Taylor, Durning at right back, Cockell up front and Jeong and Jondahl on the wings.
At 2-1 down, Sale hungered for an equaliser, applying relentless pressure on Swinburne’s defence but struggled to find the back of the net.
Thirty minutes into the first half, the game’s physicality increased, a Swinburne player sending Jeong and van dan Heuvel flying as he charged downfield. Swinburne’s only other effort on goal was blocked by Irvine, with the Swans denying their opponents any time in their attacking half.
With 10 minutes to go, a sublime cross from Taylor to the centre of the box looked as if to be Sale’s equaliser, but in a jaw-dropping turn of events, Cockell missed a sitter, diminishing Sale’s chances of balancing the score.
A great run from Sale left back Brennen McGill, starting with a class slide tackle, winning a one-on-one directly after, before a direct cross into the box, was the Swans’ final chance to even the score before the break.
Despite Sale’s sheer dominance of the game, the Australia Cup debutants couldn’t find the back of the net and would head into the second half 2-1 down, a score not reflective of the match at play.
After the break, teams returned to the field, Swinburne hoping to hold their lead, Sale hell-bent on coming out on top.
Finishing the first half in style, McGill continued his class display of football, rocketing down the left side, no match for Swinburne’s defence.
McGill sent a direct cross to Cockell at the top of the box, who headed the ball into the back of the net, equalising the score less than two minutes into the second half.
The second half saw an excellent display of skill from experienced players Jake Richardson and van den Heuvel, ascertaining their prominence and significance within the team.
Despite his unwavering tenacity and evident hunger for a goal, van den Heuvel wouldn’t find the back of the net in Round 2 of the Australia Cup.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Meereboer made her first substitution, replacing Jeong with Sale’s fancy footwork forward Ot Khamchom.
Khamchom did what Khamchom does; the Swans fresh-legged wing flummoxed Swinburne’s defence quickly, earning Sale numerous goal opportunities and corner kicks.
It was a corner from Taylor, 20 minutes into the second half, that found the feet of Khamchom, flicking the ball fumbled by Swinburne goalkeeper into the back of the net, regaining Sale’s lead.
The Swans overran a tiring Swinburne, the team performing exceptionally in front of their home crowd, manoeuvred the ball effortlessly across the park, boasting a pro-like fluidity as they tore a stretched Swinburne to shreds.
Richardson, Sale’s captain, made a fantastic run in the final 15 minutes of the game, taking on three players before playing wide to Kamchom, who crossed the ball back to van den Heuvel in the box, the Dutch player striking the ball with his head, clipping the top of the crossbar in an unbelieve goal attempt.
Cooper Coleman, a workhorse in Sale’s midfield, continued his role as a playmaker, attributing to the Swans’ countless shots on goal in the final five minutes.
Sale United Football Club erupted in thunderous cheers as the final whistle sounded.
Golden light from the setting sun bled onto the field, kissing the faces of Sale United players as if the universe itself was spotlighting the Australia Cup Round 2 winners.
Sale United Football Club retired to the change rooms, where the sound of the club song would soon erupt in deafening style, ringing across the reserve, champions, defeating Swinburne University Football Club 3-2 in the first Australia Cup match in club history.
A once nervous head coach percolated with pride, her team now through to Round 3 of the Australia Cup 2023.
“The boys played awesome,” Meereboer said.
“First real game, and they were just trying to find each other, and for 80, 90 per cent were in their half, we just couldn’t put our chances away, but otherwise, they played good. It was awesome.
“We have been trying to play at training in that formation and it’s good that they were putting that together and just their workload,” she said.
“Even the players who didn’t play, like people, put off going to concerts and didn’t play that many minutes, there were subs who didn’t get on at all, but they were all there, and it was awesome to see everyone supporting each other and being there for each other.”
Sale United Football Club president Tom Breakspear shared in Meereboer’s pride as the Swans yielded a win.
“The boys played fantastically today; all the work they have been putting in throughout pre-season has really paid off,” Breakspear said.
“It’s a sign of great things to come for Sale United this season; I can’t wait to see who we get in the next round.”
