Home and away: Local hero Mark Bridge (home) and Tarek Elrich (away) in the two strips that are already synonymous with the Sydney Wanderers. Picture: Carlos Furtado
WESTERN Sydney Wanderers don't need to go a-wanderin anymore.
Just four games in and they've already found a permanent home in the A-League soccer competition.
Before Friday night there was still doubt whether the goalless Wanderers deserved a posse.
No more.
Not after the Wanderers stunned back-to-back premiers the Brisbane Roar 1-0 in Brisbane.
And it was only right that the goalscorer was a genuine Westie in Mark Bridge, whose junior club was the Parramatta Eagles.
He etched his name in history by scoring the Wanderers first goal, nodding in a 19th-minute cross from the impressive Youssouf Hersi.
Supplied by a Shinji Ono short corner, Hersi was completely unmarked on the left and had all the time in the world to craft the perfect ball for Bridge, who wheeled away in celebration in front of 12,663 orange-clad fans.
"This is up there, let me tell you, this is up there," said Bridges, who scored decisive goals in the 2007 and 2010 grand finals.
"This was a very big moment for the club and even bigger for me, being a West Sydney boy and being able to say that I was the first person to score a goal for the team.
"It's a big goal and I'm very honoured," he told The Sydney Morning Herald. "It felt great, once I saw it hit the back of the net, it was unbelievable."
The Wanderers had made no secret of their disappointment in losing to Sydney FC in the previous match and admitted their confidence had taken a bit of a hit.
Bridge said coach Tony Popovic's words had been: "Keep doing what you're doing and believe in what we're aiming for, believe in the structure, believe in the way we're playing and the rest will come."
There were almost 20,000 true believers when the Wanderers hosted Sydney FC at Parramatta Stadium. There should now be plenty of true believers when they host the Melbourne Hear at Parramatta Stadium this Friday night.