Manly United ends Sydney United’s season

Phil Moss? men booked themselves a trip to Belmore Oval next Sunday where they will take on Sydney Olympic but they will be the first to admit they rode their luck at times against the former NSL giants.
After scraping into the Top-Five courtesy of a last round draw against Sydney Olympic, Sydney United started the better and should have taken the lead after just 4? minutes.
Mitchell Thompson reacted quickest to a bouncing ball on the edge of the box but could only clip his effort over the bar with Brad Swancott well beaten.
16? minutes later, winger Chris Boyle delivered a ball on a platter for Elsid Barkhousir but the youngster hurried his finish and blazed over.
On the half hour mark Manly?s Joe Schirripa went on a mazy run inside the penalty-area but instead of squaring the ball to Midgley elected to go himself.
He fired a powerful shot towards the near post but couldn?t beat Vedran Janjetovic.
After the break Moss brought on Robbie Cattanach for the ineffective Michael Lloyd-Green and the move seemed to lift Manly who looked a lot better going forward in the second stanza.
Newcastle Jets bound defender Beau Busch saved his team?s blushes 3? minutes after the interval when he denied Luka Glavas with a fantastic last ditch tackle inside the box when the former Perth Glory and Sydney FC marksman looked certain to score.
6? minutes later Midgley did trouble the scorers after a solo run.
Shrugging off repeat challenges from Saso Trajcevski, the Englishman composed himself and clipped the ball on the run past Janjetovic, sending the small home crowd into a state of delirium.
Glavas squared proceedings on 61? minutes after earning his side a penalty.
Hesitant defending from Manly duo Sean Bowden and Roberto Hamad saw Glavas force his way inside the box where Hamad collected him as he advanced towards goal.
Referee Peter Vrtkovski had no choice but to point to the spot and Glavas duly dispatched his effort from 12-yards in the bottom left corner.
Schirripa then almost regained the lead for the home side on 74? minutes after his shot from the edge of the box whistled past the post with Janjetovic beaten.
Midgley then showed his class when it mattered after latching onto an in-swinging Schirripa corner at the near post with five minutes remaining.
With his run not tracked, the hardworking goal-poacher tucked his header inside the near post to ensure at least another week of semi-final football for the northern beaches boys.
A relieved Phil Moss said the result will give his team confidence heading into the do-or-die Olympic clash:
?We made hard work of it and it took a lot of character to come back after conceding,? he said.
?It was matter of who wanted to step up and take control and thankfully we did that.
?I felt Craig was the difference tonight, both his goals were outstanding.
?We rolled our sleeves up and the boys always like playing Olympic, they play good football and will be a good test for us.?
Sydney United striker Luka Glavas felt it was an opportunity lost:
?We had a few chances but weren?t good enough on the night,? he said.
?We knew we had to be patient and I thought once we equalised we would go on with it.
?To lose from a set piece is frustrating but that?s football.?
Match Stats
Manly United FC 2 (Craig Midgley 56?, 85?)
Sydney United 1 (Luka Glavas 61?)
Venue: Cromer Park.
Referee: Peter Vrtkovski
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo and Andrew Best
Manly United FC: 1. Brad SWANCOTT; 3. Andrew MAILER, 4. Roberto HAMAD, 6. Brad GROVES, 7. Ash RYAN, 10. Dusan MIHAJLOVIC, (8. Michael WILLIAMS 80?), 11. Craig MIDGLEY, 12. Michael LLOYD-GREEN, (9. Robbie CATTANACH 46?), 16. Joey SCHIRRIPA, 17. Sean BOWDEN, 18. Beau BUSCH
Substitutes Not Used: 21. Luke FEMIA, 5. Pascal JULLIARD, 19. Richie WILLIAMS
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United: 30. Vedran JANJETOVIC, 4. Milan BOSNAR, 6. Joe VRKIC, 21. Saso TRAJCEVSKI, (5. Damon COLLINA 63?), 19. Mitchell THOMPSON, 23. Ivo BOSNAR, 18. Andrija PETKOVIC, 15. Chris BOYLE, 9. Chris DE SOARES, (10. Mark ROBERTSON 44?), 11. Luka GLAVAS, 16. Elsid BARKHOUSIR
Substitutes Not Used: 37. Dennis CUTURA, 31. Anthony GOLEC, 20. Steve MINOVSKI
Yellow Cards: Mark ROBERTSON 50?, Milan BOSNAR 82?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Craig Midgley (MU)
2 – Andrew Mailer (MU)
1 – Luka Glavas (SU)
-By Andrew Prentice