Sydney FC winger Cortnee Vine has lit the fuse ahead of her side’s A-League Women semi-final second leg, aiming a dig at the Central Coast Mariners over their lack of player-allocated parking.
Vine, whose side will take a 1-0 lead into the second leg at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday, was less than impressed when she arrived at Gosford’s Industree Group Stadium on Sunday.
Opposition teams usually arrive at the picturesque stadium by coach, and the Mariners insist the usual provisions had been made for the Sky Blues.
Newsletters: Our top sports news direct to your inbox. Subscribe now
But Sydney’s players opted to drive themselves — with the Matildas hero saying she and her teammates were told by a steward there was insufficient room for their vehicles.
They were told to instead park at the nearby Leagues Club and walk the 500 metres to the stadium.
Vine said she felt disrespected by the incident, adding it was a common theme among clubs in the build-up to games against her side, who are the competition’s reigning champions.
“Before the match there was no parking and we had to go through that s***fight but that fuels our fire a bit,” Vine told AAP.
“There’s a lot of things happening … I like hearing people in the media talking a big game.
“Every single club that does media before the game doesn’t give us respect and I love it.
“It fuels me for sure, I’m ready for the next one and I don’t feel we’ve achieved anything yet.”
Vine was keen to point out she held nothing against the Mariners players, who she described as “a great team”.
Despite Sydney holding a 1-0 lead in the two-legged tie, Vine was adamant the Mariners would not roll over in the return match.
“We stuck to our plan and we knew it was going to be a fight,” she said.
“They don’t give up very easily and we know it’s going to be the same next week.”
Sydney are awaiting a fitness update on fringe Matildas forward Princess Ibini, who failed to return in the second half of Sunday’s first leg after suffering a dislocated shoulder.
“She’s been landing on her shoulder the last couple of years and it pops out,” coach Ante Juric said.
“(The substitution) was just precautionary, it’s not usually a long-term thing.
“A couple of years ago it was just two or three weeks but rarely longer than that … we’ll have to find out how bad it is.”
Juric was pleased with how his side responded to the dogged Mariners after Mackenzie Hawkesby’s goal, but was less than complimentary when his team had a corner overturned while chasing a second goal.
Sydney striker Shea Connors and Central Coast’s Ashley Irwin collided inside the Mariners’ box and referee Isabella Mossin signalled for a corner when the ball went out of play.
As Irwin stayed down for treatment, replays on the big screen showed Connors had taken the final touch, leading Mossin to overturn the decision.
VAR is not available in the ALW and Juric, who was booked for protesting, was worried the incident set a dangerous precedent.
“I don’t know how you make a decision like that because you saw it on the big screen,” he said.
“If we have VAR, then use it … if not then you can’t just change your mind because you’ve seen it back 10 times.
“That disappoints me, because Cortnee Vine had her shirt pulled back – but I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”