Manly United suffer crucial loss via determined Demons
Only the one-eyed supporters who made the trip from Seven Hills gave Ken Schembri?s depleted squad a chance of snaring the three points, but a bullet header from Gavin Forbes moments before the break ended up separating the two teams.
The Demons took the game to the home side from the outset and almost got a dream start with the boot of young gun Matt Lewis with 8′ minutes on the clock.
The teenager, just days after signing a senior contract with the Central Coast Mariners senior squad, unleashed a left foot rocket which United keeper Brad Swancott did well to push to safety.
12? minutes later Blacktown marksman Nick Sama skewed an effort just wide of the far post, showing Manly they had a fight on their hands.
After a sluggish opening, Phil Moss? men eventually clicked into gear and on 23? minutes should have troubled the scorers.
Brad Groves found himself with only Brody Crane to beat following a neat flick from Ash Ryan, but the former Leeds United apprentice shot straight at the body of the Demons custodian.
16? minutes later it was that man Lewis in the thick of the action yet again.
The diminutive teenager released Luka Dukic down the left flank who played in a great ball to the near post which Forbes buried clinically.
Renowned for their late second half comebacks, Manly played the patched up Demons off the park in the second stanza but were unable to conjure up a goal, with glaring misses from Robbie Cattanach and substitute Jamie Garside in the 71? and 74? minute summing up the hosts afternoon.
A beaming Schembri said he couldn?t have asked for more from his players.
?To come here (Cromer Park) and get anything is a tall order so it goes without saying I am delighted,? he said.
?We had quite a few out so we had to dig deep.
?I asked the boys for something special and they didn?t let me down.
?We will enjoy the moment and look to build on that performance in our remaining games.?
His opposite Phil Moss was in a less jovial mood.
?Once again we have slipped up against a team lower than us on the ladder,? he said.
?We had a chance to give ourselves a bit of a buffer with a win today but I think the amount of games we have played in recent weeks caught up with us.
?We were flat and I noticed a number of tired legs.
?As a squad we had a pretty serious heart to heart at fulltime and we will look to rectify things against Bankstown and Sydney United then focus on the finals.?
In the Grade 20’s it was 1-1 after 90 minutes, Manly came from behind thanks to a well taken goal from Justin Hayward.
Match Stats
Manly United 0
Blacktown City Demons 1 (Gavin Forbes 39?)
Venue: Cromer Park, South Creek Rd, Dee Why
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho, David Lockeridge
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
Attendance: Approx 300
Manly United: 1.Brad SWANCOTT, 2.Sean BOWDEN, (15.Keith SHEVLIN 77?) 3.Andrew MAILER, 4.Spencer PRIOR, 5.Joel GRENELL, 6.Scott THOMAS, 7.Ash RYAN, 9.Robbie CATTANACH, 11.Craig MIDGLEY, (10.Josh SAMA 61?) 16.Joey SCHIRRIPA, (12.Jamie GARSIDE 69?) 24.Brad GROVES
Substitutes not used: 40.Dylan MITCHELL, 8.Michael LLOYD-GREEN
Yellow cards: 1.Brad SWANCOTT 7?, 7.Scott THOMAS 83?, 7.Ash RYAN 89?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City Demons: 40.Brody CRANE, 4.Luka DURIC, 5.Daniel WILKINSON, 6.Luke CASSERLY, (10.Luke AUSTIN 78?) 11.Nick SAMA, 12.Brendan MARONEY, 13.Ben ELLIS, 14.Gavin FORBES, (19.Adam WOODBINE 90?) 15.Ray MILLER, 16.Ante DEUR, 29.Matt LEWIS
Substitutes not used: 20.Matt RYAN, 18.Akawsi AGYEI, 7.Travis MAJOR
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
-By Andrew Prentice
