Six-goal thriller at Cromer Park as Manly salvage point
Fresh from stealing a win last week against the West Sydney Berries with a goal in one of the last kicks of the game, a rasping 90th minute effort from Joey Schirripa squared proceedings to evoke feelings of d?j? vu for Moss.
APIA were good value for a point and an upset looked on the cards when John Romeo?s team took a 2-0 lead into the sheds.
Martin Vass gave the Tigers the lead on 12? minutes with a powerful header that Brad Swancott couldn?t keep out from six yards.
Fifteen minutes later APIA doubled their advantage when Christian Care coolly finished off a move that was instigated via a slick exchange of passes from Franco Parisi and Robbie Younis.
Just after the half hour mark referee Nathan Rice produced the games major talking point after he brandished a straight red to Peter Peralta.
It was alleged Peralta struck the face of Manly?s Chris Payne with an elbow and after consulting his linesman Rice gave the defender his marching orders.
The introduction of Andrew Mailer for the start of the second stanza had a profound effect whenever United surged forward and it was no surprise when the former Northern Spirit utility played a large part in Manly?s revival.
After Mailer found stopper Roberto Hamad in acres of space, Hamad played in Michael Lloyd-Green who in turn delivered a dangerous ball in from the right flank which Chris Payne side footed home with aplomb to halve the deficit.
Mailer had the crowd singing his praises two minutes later after instigating another attacking raid down the right which resulted in Manly?s equaliser.
The Wagga born defender played the ball into the path of Lloyd-Green who then found Payne.
Payne then flicked the ball over his marker before squaring a pass to Craig Midgley who couldn?t miss from the penalty spot.
It was expected Manly’s numerical advantage would see them come home with an avalanche of goals but APIA didn?t read that script.
Mailer turned from hero to villain after being dispossessed by Robbie Younis on 71? minutes.
Having no choice but to bring Younis down and concede the freekick, Mailer watched on in horror as Younis dusted himself off and bent a sublime effort inside the near post to give the 10-man Tigers the lead once again.
As the match reached its thrilling climax, United had a host of opportunities to score a third goal but found Matthew Nash impossible to pass.
Rumoured to be on his way to the Central Coast Mariners as cover for the suspended Danny Vukovic, Nash showed why he is so highly regarded with a phenomenal solo performance between the sticks.
Manly skipper Riche Williams urged his troops not to give up the fight and he lead by example after engineering their last gasp equaliser.
Williams ?pinged? a ball to Joey Schirripa who ran to the edge of the area before rifling home a goal that nearly tore a hole in the net.
APIA coach John Romeo cut a sorry figure post match, openly stating that his men threw away two points.
?We classify the result as a loss, it was just garbage from us,? he said.
?We did more than enough to win the game and the send off was a decision I am still stunned about.
?To be up 2-0 at halftime and in control of the game I didn?t expect them to come back but that?s football.
?They move it around well, get up in numbers and play to their strengths.
?It was like a morgue in the changeroom the boys are shattered.?
His counterpart Phil Moss was disappointed with the performance but did acknowledge the never say die attitude from his squad.
?It was a strange game so to take a point with a goal at the death was pleasing,? he said.
?If it wasn?t for the performance of their goalkeeper I really think we would have won quite comfortably.
?We missed a host of chances and really with a one man advantage for an hour we should have run away with it.
?At the moment we aren?t playing well but we are still picking up points.
?We conceded three soft goals which is something I am not happy about and we will address that at training this week.?
Manly United 3 (Chris Payne 61? Craig Midgley 63? Joey Schirripa 90?)
APIA Leichhardt 3 (Martin Vass 18? Christian Care 27? Robbie Younis 71?)
Venue: Cromer Park
Referee: Nathan Rice
Assistants: Alex Glasgow & Nick Backo
Crowd: 700 (approx)
Manly United: 1.Brad SWANCOTT, 2.Adam ISRAEL , (3.Andrew MAILER 46?) 4.Roberto HAMAD, 5.Pascal JULLIARD, 7.Ash RYAN, (8.Micky WILLIAMS 80?) 11.Craig MIDGLEY, 12.Michael LLOYD-GREEN, 14.Keith SHELVIN, (9.Robbie CATTANACH 57?) 16.Joey SCHIRRIPA, 19.Richie WILLIAMS, 33.Chris PAYNE
Substitutes not used: 21.Luke FEMIA (RGK)
Yellow Cards: Andrew Mailer 71?, Ash Ryan 78?, Roberto Hamad 82?
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Matthew NASH, 3.John KELSO, 4.Daniel CLIFFORD, 8.Ian KING, 9.Robbie YOUNIS, 10.Franco PARISI, 13.David D?APUZZO, 12.Martin VASS, 7.Stephen KAYES, 18.Peter PERALTA, 23.Christian CARE (15.Josh LAWSON 77?)
Substitutes not used: 40. Milan UDVARACZ (RGK), 14.Joseph BRUNI, 19.Jason GARRIDO, 16.Simon RYAN
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Peter Peralta 28?
Player Ratings:
3- Matthew Nash (ALT)
2- Robbie Younis (ALT)
1- Andrew Mailer (MU)
