Finally a Sydney derby for the ages.

It was a drama-packed, emotion-charged affair at Parramatta Stadium that more than lived up to its billing. Two sides went at each other for 97 minutes with ferocious intent while both sets of fans provided colour and noise in an atmosphere that other sports in this country can never hope to replicate.

The two red cards? Replays show Shannon Cole moving into position to take maximum advantage of Brett Emerton’s mistimed challenge, and Cole’s recovery was Lazarus-like to say the least. But the referee has no luxury of an action replay (long may that continue) and on that basis I cannot fault his decision. If it wasn’t a straight red it was certainly a second yellow, enough for the captain on the day to be shown the sideline.

An experienced player like Emerton is expected to make a better snap decision and not dive in studs first. Honest man that he is, he would have been looking in the mirror on Sunday morning with self-condemnation.

The other red card is a no brainer. Iacopo La Rocca’s act of low-life thuggery deserves scorn from all football fans, not just those in Sky Blue. If Joel Griffiths’ verbal spray at a linesman was worth a three match suspension, how much for a premeditated elbow to the face of Terry Antonis? Surely a linesman’s ego is worth less than Antonis’ facial bones? Let’s see if the Match Review Panel sees sense and throws the book at him.

The Wanderers began the match well, pinning us deep though not troubling Ivan Necevski. Having soaked up pressure in the first 15, the Sky Blues began to play and there was only one team in the contest for the remainder of the half. Still, the visitors needed a top-notch Necevski save, the big man going down smartly to his left to deny Mark Bridge.

The goal came courtesy of Nicolai Topor-Stanley’s blunder, but he was put under pressure by Griffiths and Del Piero. The first five yards are in your head, so the adage goes, and Del Piero’s anticipation was first class, as was his finish.

Just as Nani’s unfortunate sending-off against Real Madrid turned the UCL tie on its head, the sending off of Emerton proved the catalyst for a Wanderers revival. Back in the contest, the home side got on top and stayed there for most of the remaining 40 minutes . 

Cole took his free kick with some style, but questions must be asked about Necevski’s wall positioning. Or should that be non-positioning?  That’s Ivan for you – he’ll win and lose you a game in 90 minutes.

The Sky Blues refused to fold, fighting for the ball like men possessed, and may well have had a winner had Joel Chianese’s shot not been cleared off the line.

Was the draw a fair result? I am not convinced it was – even with 10 men we had our chances and should have taken them. It was clear that a determined Sydney wanted it more on the day, while even with a spare man the home side looked devoid of creativity in the final third. It could have been worse I guess, so we’ll take the point and live to fight another day. Thursday.

So kudos to the heroes in Sky Blue for a herculean effort against all odds. We were the outsiders coming into the derby and come away with pride and self-respect intact. And the draw still keeps us in the finals race.

They say that a referee’s good game is one where nobody remembers his performance. The same can be said of Lucas Neill’s first half effort. Perfect positioning, precise distribution, the odd tackle and job done. It is a pity that he did not come out of the sheds for the second half. If he had, we may well have been celebrating all three points. This was the kind of performance that we all expect from the Socceroo captain.

Every Sydney player deserves credit for a magnificent effort. Tiago bossed the backline, Triantis, Ryall, Antonis and Grant threw themselves at everything, Joel Griffiths worked ever so hard at both ends of the park and the sight of Del Piero pushing his 38 year old legs to help the midfield in the last 20 minutes was inspiring. I don’t think the Italian will do much training this week as he looks to recover in time for Thursday night.

Antonis once again contributed much in attack, supporting Del Piero, Griffiths and Abbas, and again becoming more dominant the longer the game went. Del Piero returned to his best, not only getting on the scoresheet but a constant thorn in the opposition side with his movement and passing.

No matter what Tony Popovic may say publicly, I feel his team would have come in for a behind-closed-doors roasting after the match. Second to everything when 11 on 11, they were unable to capitalise on Emerton’s sending off and shorn of Ono, there was little creativity from the red and black side.

It is good to see that there was no instruction to physically destroy Del Piero this time round. And in further praise to Popovic, his appraisal of La Rocca’s sending off was refreshingly honest instead of resorting to a Wenger-esque “I deed not see ze eencident”.

Perhaps Poppa is still thanking his lucky stars that he himself did not see red after his elbow to the head of Alvaro Recoba back in 2005. It is frightening to think how different it could all have turned out that night…

So up to Suncorp we go to play a grand final. Leaving side mathematical permutations through other results, it really is as simple as winner in, loser out. Neither side can afford to play for a draw. Neither side is good at that anyway.

We have not done well at Suncorp in recent history, but perhaps an extra day’s rest will give the Sky Blues the winning edge.

With Emerton out, I again plead for Antonis to be moved into central midfield. And out wide? Let’s think outside the square and start Joel Chianese on the right to really take it to the ageing Shane Stefanutto.

Paul Reid and Hagi Gligor have been looking good at training in recent weeks so it would not surprise me to see one of them chosen to fly up to Brisbane. Blake Powell and Yairo Yau should be the two other outfield players on the bench, unless Farina opts to keep Adam Griffiths as cover for Neill.

Four teams, two spots. Heart and Phoenix are finally off the pace, but Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Newcastle will go into the weekend round believing in their ability to make the Top 6. Yes, we are governed by Foxtel, but it would have made sense to start all final round matches at the same time.

We can finish anywhere from fifth to eighth come the end of the final round. It’s in our hands. As Mark Bosnich stated, if Sydney don’t win at Suncorp they don’t deserve to be in the finals anyway. He is right.

We are paying the price for an awful start to the season. There is no doubt that Farina’s contribution has been immense, and we’d be in the top three on the ladder if we began counting points from the time he arrived in the Harbour City.

It doesn’t work that way of course, but it is clear that the team and the club now appear to be moving in the right direction, no matter what happens on Thursday night. The players look focused, desperate not only to keep their place in the side but to fight for three points with furious intent. The passing game is coming along nicely.

For a rusted-on Sky Blue fan, that’s good enough and something to build on. For this season and beyond.