Berries frustrate Manly United at Lidcombe Oval

Both sides had their chances on the night though on the whole, Manly United FC did dominate with the greater share of possession.
A Liam Austin goal on 9? minutes against the run of play put the home-side ahead, though Giosue Sama?s equaliser, following a somewhat similar build-up to the Berries goal, sealed Manly United a share of the spoils.
The visitors carved out the first opening of the evening after 2? minutes as a floating Joey Schirripa cross from the left-flank beat the Berries back-line, though striker Robbie Cattanach at the back post only just failed to get on the end of it.
The Berries replied immediately with a tantalising pass over the defence by Austin in-search of Dimitri Zakilas; the Manly United defensive line quickly moved forward to thwart any danger.
Manly?s dominance of possession through midfield showed just why the side is challenging Sydney United for top-spot on the ladder, though totally against the run of play on 9? minutes, the Berries were ahead. A swift counter-attack allowed Zakilas a free reign down the right-flank. The Berries attacking midfielder cut back a low effort across goal ? somewhat uncharacteristically not dealt with by the Manly rearguard ? and Liam Austin was on hand to pick up the loose ball and finish with aplomb from close-range.
Berries goalkeeper Hamish McLean kept his side in the lead on 16? minutes as he made a fine save down to his right following a goal mouth scramble; Johnny Fotiadis was on hand to clear the danger.
The Berries defence was on the back-foot as consecutive Cattanach corners, and crosses from Michael Lloyd-Green?s right-flank, had the visitors peppering the Berries defence, though a goal was not forthcoming.
Keith Shelvin, Cattanach and Giosue Sama combined well on the 30? minute mark with some fine short passing on the edge of the penalty-area; Shelvin?s final cross from the left though was diverted by a retreating Fotiadis for a corner.
West Sydney Berries did respond with a powerful free-kick from captain Aheleas Kotsopoulos. The Berries veteran hit a wicked long-range effort from distance, almost catching Brad Swancott in the Manly goal unawares; the shot-stopper palming the effort over his crossbar.
 Kotsopoulos? free-kick seemed to spur the Berries on as Ryan Jones showed his trickery as he ?slalomed? his way past two defenders ? cutting in from the left-flank ? before forcing Swancott into an exceptional save, diving to his left.
Zakilas should have doubled the Berries lead on 38? minutes as he was played clear on goal in a slightly decentralised position. A slight ?bobble? of the ball on the surface certainly did affect the player?s connection with the ball though, with only the goalkeeper to beat, the effort sky-rocketed over the crossbar.
After the break, Kotsopoulos combined will with Chris Gaitatzis in a perfect display of one-touch football down the left touchline. The Berries captain failed to get a good hold of his cross into the penalty-area and the Manly defence cleared their lines.
Manly United?s ventures forward were still frequent though lacked precision as the Berries retreated well and remained compact, frustrating the visitors.
Despite being on the back-foot, the Berries did keep Manly United on their toes with another quick counter-attack on 55? minutes. A searching ball from deep picked out Zakilas down the right-flank; the speedster?s centre into the penalty-area failed to pick out a teammate and a huge chance went begging.
 The missed opportunity would return to punish the Berries as Manly United did finally find a goal following a monopoly of possession.
Fine play down the left-flank between Cattanach and Shelvin allowed the latter to send in a cross into a crowded penalty-area. As the Berries defenders failed to clear, Sama cleverly got on the ball and coolly slotted into the bottom right-hand corner to pull his side level. It was no less than Manly United deserved on a frustrating evening in the attacking third.
The visitors continued to create their better chances down the left-flank, though on three consecutive occasions, poor delivery proved to be their undoing.
Giosue Sama almost capped off a memorable evening against his former club as positioned himself nicely to hit a bicycle-kick effort, from the edge of the penalty-area, only inches over the woodwork.
Austin then had the small crowd on their feet as he spotted goalkeeper Brad Swancott off his line as the Berries hit out on the counter-attack. Austin hit a long-range effort ? from no less than forty-metres ? though with Swancott back-peddling, the ball finished over the crossbar.
In an action-packed 4? minutes of injury-time, Kotsopoulos beat the offside trap and ventured in on goal from the left-flank. With pressure from a retreating defender, the berries skipper tried to pick out substitute Stefan Donevski at the back post, though his cross was dealt with by the Manly United rearguard, and the chance went begging for the Berries.
At the other end, Schirripa saw his venomous free-kick from 30-metres well parried by McLean, before Cattanach?s dipping effort from the edge of the penalty-area was also dealt with by the Berries shot-stopper with a strong fist in the last action of the match.
West Sydney Berries coach John Calleja was pleased with the point:
?I am happy with how the team played tonight, please with their efforts,? Calleja commented.
?We wanted to remain compact and to hit them (Manly United FC) when we got the chance, and we managed to convert early in the match.
?It has been a busy week for us with the match against Sydney Olympic, and the boys were really focused after that win.
?In saying this, I am disappointed that we conceded a soft goal tonight, that is something we must still work on ? starting from our match with Blacktown City next weekend,? ended Calleja.
Manly United FC boss Phil Moss was less impressed with his side?s offering:
“We have high expectations at the club ? and these high standards are set because I believe the boys can reach them.
?Credit to West Sydney Berries tonight, they are coming from an inconsistent run and they really made it difficult for us tonight.
?We created chances, though we were off our game; something that a top-three side should not do.
?I think following the week off we were not as sharp ? we have also been training in muddy conditions which hasn?t helped ? though we must get back to a much higher level from next weekend,? concluded Moss.
In the Grade 20 division, Manly United FC fended off a late West Sydney Berries charge to take home maximum points following a 2-1 win. The win keeps Manly United FC inside the Top-Four meanwhile the Berries sit in the bottom three.
Match Stats
West Sydney Berries 1 (Liam Austin 1?)
Manly United FC 1 (Giosue Sama 75?)
Saturday, 6th of June, 2009
Lidcombe Oval, Lidcombe
Referee: Matthew Gillett
Assistant Referees: Paul Faithfull and Steven Nguyen
Fourth Official: Chris Wells
Crowd: 200 Approx.
West Sydney Berries: 1.Hamish McLean; 3.Omar Saadi, 5.Daniel Clifford, 6.Jack Sobczyk, 8.John Fotiadis, 11.Aheleas Kotsopoulos (C), 16.Kosta Lagoudakis, 17.Chris Gaitatzis (12.Stefan Donevski 82?), 14.Liam Austin, 19.Dimitri Zakilas (10.John Tsironis 68?), 15.Ryan Jones
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Trinity Allen, 2.Marjan Novotni, 4.Adam Wither
Yellow Cards: Daniel Clifford 90?+3?
Red Cards:  Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Brad Swancott; 3.Andrew Mailer, 4. Spencer Prior, 7.Ashley Ryan, 8.Michael Lloyd-Green (23.Fabio Alves 74?), 9.Robbie Cattanach, 10.Giosue Sama (18.Andrew Hayward 87?), 13.Mitchell Macedo (14.Joseph Gibbs 66?), 15.Keith Shelvin, 16.Joey Schirripa (C), 20.Matthew Bingley
Substitutes Not Used:  40.Rhyss Keane, 2.Sean Bowden
Yellow Cards: Mitchell Macedo 54?
Red Cards: Nil

-By Joseph Carlucci