There was just this feeling of belief amongst us Wanderers fans. Leading up to this game, and almost everyone was writing us off against the reigning back to back Champions. On one side of the coin - why not? They demolished a hapless Melbourne Victory the week before and Western Sydney were yet to find the back of the net in three games.

On the other side of the coin, only a small minority though pointed out that Western Sydney had only conceded two goals in three games though. One a penalty, the other a classic counter attack on the back of a set piece at the other end of the pitch. This Wanderers defence was not leaking in goals. They were just impotent at the other end of the pitch.

Brisbane had this remarkable record at home and were basically never held scoreless in front of their own fans. The odds were definitely in the home team’s favour and against Western Sydney to break their duck and get their first win of the season.

The odds were so short for Brisbane that I’m positive the pre-match comments stated they had the shortest odds for a victory ever for an A-League match. Wanderers were paying a huge $10 (or thereabouts) for a win up in Brisbane. And dare I say, a fair few Wanderers fans jumped on that price. As I said, there was just this feeling leading up to this game.

So much was this feeling, that I didn’t want to watch this game alone at home so I headed to our home pub with a large bunch of Wanderers fans who all gathered in the hope of witnessing our first goal and possibly our first ever win, together. Four minutes in, and Mooy broke all the laws of physics by hitting both posts and the ball ricocheting outwards. No one will be able to replicate that feat even if they tried. Two feelings simultaneously entered my head:
1. oh...this is going to be a loooong night
2. the boys are up for it and it might JUST happen tonight!

Yeah...fence sitting in all its glory.

I was in awe as the Wanderers just pushed on in those opening 20 minutes. They gave nothing to the Brisbane players, completely dominating the corner count 8-0 which was unprecedented away from home.

The Roar home crowd was then silenced as finally....FINALLY Mark Bridge rose above three Brisbane defenders who thought it would be a good idea to bunch up and not contest the lofted ball in the box, and headed home to score our first ever goal.

The Woolpack erupted.

Unbelievable feelings as everyone lost their minds as we scored a well deserved goal.

But deep down, we knew it wasn’t over. A one goal lead against Brisbane away, was not a guaranteed thing. There was still a long way to go yet.

I was amazed during the rest of the first half how the Wanderers midfield simply did not allow their Brisbane counterpart to play. They gave no inch of space for Brisbane to weave their magic. All 50/50 balls were won by the Wandering midfield. They stayed compact, closing down all gaps or attempts to unlock the resolute defence and Brisbane had no answers.

Mooy was absolutely outstanding, again, in the midfield. For me, he plays that typical “Pirlo” role. The defence wins the ball and Mooy is their first option, always. He starts off every attack and just had so much time on the ball during this game. The amount of times he found Hersi - who was my man of the match - was amazing. Mooy should be locked into a longer contract as soon as possible and the way he is going, should be called into the Socceroo squad for their friendly in a few weeks against Korea Republic.

Speaking of Hersi; he absolutely had a blinder down that right side. I don’t know where this Hersi has been the last few weeks but Popovic has persisted with him and this faith has been justified.

The second half was a nail biter. The Wanderers boys gave up a lot of possession compared to the first and were content with playing on the counter. They remained compact and players like Broich and Berisha were having a hard time breaking it down. The frustration was highlighted by Berisha’s “shot” that went completely horizontal and went out for a throw in. Also the fact that he was playing so deep, as deep as his own 18 yard box at times to get the ball, says something about the lack of space the Wanderers defence was giving him.

The rather early introduction of Henrique worried me somewhat. He is a dangerous player and Brisbane needed something, someone to do something about this stone wall in front of them. But Western Sydney held on.

Those last 10 minutes of regular time felt like the longest 10 minutes in the history of mankind. Just before the stoppage time was announced I remarked to a fellow fan beside me “I bet we get Fergie time”. Four minutes. This is more nerve racking than a World Cup game! Scrambles in the box, clearances off the line, a free kick on the 94th minute! The wall does its job, the ball at the other end of the park...95th minute! Blow the damn whistle ref!!!

Full time!

Woolpack goes absolutely nuts. Chanting, cheering, beer showers, hugging all around. It was like we won the Championship, but you must forgive us as it was a feeling that none of us had ever experienced before.  I’m hard pressed to say we couldn’t believe it, because deep down, we did. But to win in Brisbane was amazing.

I made a point to wait a couple of days to write this so emotions were down and a more clearer head be at the fore. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it gifts me with these little wisdoms:
- The Wanderers have been competitive since Round 1;
- The defence has been rock solid and only conceded 2 goals in 3 games. A solid spine in the team is essential for success. The only  “weak point” was the killer instinct up front;
- Covic hasn’t really been called into action much in the past 4 rounds. That says something of the defensive structure in front of him;
- The attack has been getting into good positions over the past few weeks, they just weren’t lethal enough;
- The counterattacking style that Popovic is using has shown glimpses of being effective but just lacked a bit of speed and cohesion

For this game in particular, the forced changes in the team worked like a charm. Joey Gibbs was immense up front, holding the ball up when needed and being a nuisance all night. I noticed that Ono didn’t feature too much, or isn’t relied up completely for the team to work. That in my opinion, is a good thing. If a team relies on one player to carry them, then it leaves them open for failure if he is having an off day or unavailable for one reason or another. The amount of chances Western Sydney had and it could easily have been 3-0. Michael Theo was called upon on numerous occasions as the Wanderers bossed the midfield and used the flanks to their advantage.

Now the question that remains on everyone’s lips is “was this just a one off? Did Western Sydney just play their Grand Final?” Only time will tell, but the signs are there that we’ll be competitive to the end and won’t be walkovers. If the team plays with this much intensity every week, then we are genuine finals contenders. But the nature of the A-League suggests that consistency is sometimes lacking and that’s what makes this competition so close.

Next up we are hosting Melbourne Heart who are coming off a defeat. Another tough game but I’m sure the team will rise to the occasion again to give their home fans something to cheer about again.

See you at Wanderland.