All square at Cromer Park between Manly and Marconi

After a cagey opening 40? minutes, Lee Sterrey?s men should have taken the lead on 43? minutes.
Erick Anabalon attacked a loose ball in the area with purpose but slammed his header onto the crossbar with Manly custodian Brad Swancott well beaten.
The home side came to life in the second stanza with Robbie Cattanach stinging the palms of Stallions shot stopper James Chronopoulos after a vicious drive from the edge of the area 3? minutes after the interval.
19? minutes later Brad Groves combined well with Cattanach, who fired across an enticing ball but his team-mates failed to convert the half chance.
Groves then jinked past a series of defenders with 15? minutes on the clock before being cynically fouled by Umut Tokdogan.
United skipper Joe Schirripa wasted the resulting freekick and Cattanach then spurned the best chance of the night on 85? minutes.
Sean Bowden played in Ash Ryan who whipped in a great ball from the byline but Cattanach somehow missed the target, much to the disappointment of the diehards in the Lucas Neill Grandstand, who braved yet another damp night on the peninsula.
Schirripa was the next to get the crowd prematurely celebrating after he guided his shot past Chronopoulos but his goal-bound effort was hacked to safety by the retreating Chris Nunes on 86? minutes.
An upbeat Sterrey was happy to snare a point on the road.
?Manly are a well structured team who play a good brand of football,? he said.
?We had a few (troops) out and still battled well.
?In the end we did well to hold them out, if we keep improving we will be a threat come semi-final time.?
An equally content Phil Moss was satisfied with what his team dished up.
?We set out to prove we can be a force against a good attacking team and we did that,? he said.
?The boys have had a pretty big fixture list of late, so the energy we displayed was pleasing.
?We looked match hardened, which is a good sign at this time of the year.?
* In the under 20s fixture on Tuesday night, a double from Andrew Hayward saw Manly share the spoils with Marconi in an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Match Stats
Round 13 of the Telechoice Premier League ? deferred fixture
Manly United 0
Marconi Stallions 0
Venue: Cromer Park, South Creek Rd, Dee Why
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Referee: Kris Griffith-Jones
Assistant Referees: Christian Mehl, Miles Allen Scott
Attendance: Approx 200
Manly United: 1.Brad SWANCOTT, 2.Sean BOWDEN, 3.Andrew MAILER, 4.Spencer PRIOR, 6.Scott THOMAS, 7.Ash RYAN, 9.Robbie CATTANACH, 15.Keith SHEVLIN (11.Craig MIDGLEY 81?), 16.Joey SCHIRRIPA, 20.Matt BINGLEY (30.Joel GRENELL 55?) 24.Brad GROVES (8.Michael LLOYD-GREEN 72?)
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Dylan MITCHELL, 10.Josh SAMA
Yellow Cards: 24.Brad GROVES 17?, 3.Andrew MAILER 89?
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 22.James CHRONOPOULOS, 4.Umut TOKDOGAN, 5.Adel ELJAMAL, 7.Ousmane TOURE, 8.Alex CANAK, 9.Erick ANABALON (44.Vuko TOMASEVIC 81?), 10.Ali Abbas AL HILFI (15.Tim McGOWAN 68?), 11.Matt GORDON (13.Ben VIDAIC 89?), 17.Vamara DIARRA, 23.Chris NUNES, 26.Nahuel ARRARTE
Substitutes Not Used: 42.Lenox TWENEBOA, 20.Cem AKILLI
Yellow Cards: 4.Umut TOKDOGAN 71?, 26.Nahuel ARRARTE 90?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Andrew Prentice