But they did more than just frustrate too, and right at the end James Garside charged into the box with purpose and determination only to be denied by a brilliant save from James Chronopoulos.
However, Marconi certainly wouldn?t have deserved the loss because, on the whole, they were the better team. Football is at times a game of only centimetres and Marconi found this out the hard way when several chances missed the intended target by very little.
After the match Manly United coach Phil Moss couldn?t have been more pleased with his team:
?I am the proudest coach in the TeleChoice Premier League tonight,? he stated. ?We also could have had a couple of goals in the first-half and I think we worked as hard as any team will work this season.
?Marconi are a good side especially around the box and they are going to create chances, but it is how we dealt with them for the majority of the game that I am most pleased with.?
In the 12? minute Ben Vidaic found himself with some space as he descended into the box, but Brad Swancott came off his line very nicely to deny the former Sydney FC player.
It was the only serious chance in the opening third of the first-half of what was shaping up as a bland game of football, but all this changed shortly afterwards when Manly United took the lead. And, in the end, it was a most enjoyable game for all present.
Manly opened the scoring when Luke Reading, with an accurate cross from the right, was able to find Robbie Cattanach who, with two bites of the cherry, steered the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
In reality the Marconi defence should never have gifted the deadly goal scorer so much space and time on the ball.
In the 21? minute Josh Sama found himself with the ball close to the opposition goal, but the best he could was hit the side netting.
Marconi came close to squaring the ledger when Erick Anabalon found Vidaic lurking in the box, but unfortunately for the home side his shot was just wide.
However, only a minute later the equaliser did arrive when Reading brought Vidaic down in the box and in the process earned himself a red card and gifted the Stallions a penalty.
Nahuel Arrarte doesn?t make too many mistakes from the spot and he wasn?t about to let Manly off the hook.
After the game the Marconi captain expressed how his teammates were disappointed with the overall result.
?It is very disappointing because when they went down to ten men relatively early in the game, I think it was a chance for us to take all three points.
?We gave away a silly goal, but the good thing is that we created enough chances to win two games. The boys are still settling in and to get a point against a team like Manly that has been together for a few years is positive.?
The last real chance of the first-half fell to Sama who met a Joey Schirripa free-kick and forced Chronopoulos into a diving save to turn the ball away for a corner.
In the second-half there were a plethora of chances ? mainly to Marconi ? but none were converted.
Shortly after the interval Arrarte forced Swancott into a nice save and a minute later Vidaic incredibly shot over the crossbar from close-range. Manly replied with Schirripa who shot wide after finding himself with too much space, but Marconi shot straight back: Toure, the 17 year old from the Cote D?Ivoire, tested Swancott and Vidaic shot over the goal shortly afterwards.
In the 80? minute a great free-kick from Bradley Groves finished over the crossbar and then a minute later Alexander Canak had the ball in the back of the net only to be ruled offside.
Marconi?s best chance fell to Daniel Ott in the 88? minute when he narrowly steered the ball just wide before Garside missed his golden chance for the visitors at the other end of the field.
After the game Marconi coach Lee Sterrey stated: ?I am very disappointed with the result because at the end of the day we had enough chances to win the game.
?We won?t though get down on ourselves because there were some really good passages of play and that happens in football.
?Overall, people will take responsibility for their finishing in the same way that defenders take responsibility for their work. But, as a collective group, we will all take responsibility.?
Match Stats
Saturday, 7^th March, 2009
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: David Goldsmith and Lance Greenshield
Marconi Stallions 1 (Nahuel Arrarte (pen) 30?)

Manly United FC 1 (Robbie Cattanach 18?)

Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 4.Umut Tokdogan, 5.Abel El-Jamal, 6.Vuko Tomasevic, 7.Oumane Toure (14.Daniel Ott 77?), 8.Alexander Canak, 9.Erick Anabalon, 10.Ali Al-Hilfi, 13.Ben Vidaic (15.Tim McGowan 86?), 25.Domenic Trimboli (23.Christopher Nunes 63?), 26.Nahuel Arrarte
Substitutes Not Used: 18.Graziano Trimboli, 20.Cem Akiuli
Yellow Cards: Ben Vidaic 25?
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Brad Swancott; 4.Spencer Prior, 5.Joel Grenell, 6.Scott Thomas, 9.Robbie Cattanach (12.Jamie Garside 75?), 10.Josh Sama, 11.Craig Midgley (8.Michael Lloyd-Green 7?), 15.Keith Shelvin, 16.Joey Schirripa, 19.Luke Reading, 35.Joe Gibbs (24.Bradley Groves 58?)
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Rhyss Keane, 17.Scott Wright
Yellow Cards: Scott Thomas 33?
Red Cards: Luke Reading 29?
Player Ratings:
3 – Ben Vidaic (MS)
2 – Brad Swancott (MU)
1 – Nahuel Arrarte (MS)
-By Joe Russo