Sydney FC succumb to Cowburn

Sydney FC defender Jop van der Linden had given away a foul for handball close to the right corner post. Dimitri Petratos delivered a great ball in and Cowburn peeled off his marker Adam Le Fondre to nod it home, much to the delight of the 11,415 in attendance at McDonald Jones Stadium.

It was in almost precisely the same spot, and in the same manner, as Alex Brosque's first-half goal that for so long looked like it was going to be the decisive moment of the match.

The Jets are still winless after four rounds and it was only after Cowburn's goal that they started to look dangerous. Before that, they were far too ponderous in attack and easy kill for the Sky Blues' defence. The result might actually mask the team's deficiencies in that respect, although coach Ernie Merrick wasn't too concerned afterwards.

"The stats show we entered the front third more than they did... we had 13 shots to their five. Having said that, stats lie often," Merrick said. "There was some great play from both teams. I think a draw was a fair result [although] I was convinced we were going to get another goal out of it and steal the game at the end."

The draw will probably feel like a loss for Sydney, who were by far the better team. Charles Lokolingoy had the chance to win it late for the visitors but couldn't get his shot past goalkeeper Glen Moss to score what would have been his maiden A-League goal.
Both teams had good early sights at goal on a cool Saturday night in the Hunter. Ronald Vargas had a great chance for the Jets in just the fifth minute when a loose ball fell his way but the Venezuelan's attempt went straight at Andrew Redmayne.

Moments later, a misjudged header from Nikolai Topor-Stanley opened the door for the in-form Le Fondre to surge forward, but he pushed his shot past the right post. Perhaps he's human after all – this was the first game the Englishman has played for Sydney FC without scoring.

Sydney took the lead in the 20th minute courtesy of another blunder at the back. Brandon O'Neill dished out wide to an unmarked Rhyan Grant, who had all the time in the world to measure up his cross from the right flank.