Manly United stun Blacktown City with two-goal win
A goal from Chris Payne and one from Robbie Cattanach was enough to secure Craig Midgely?s men the three-points from the afternoon.
The game started slowly for the visitors although Blacktown City did not take real advantage of this until a mix up between Pascal Julliard and Joey Schirripa saw Joel Chianese pounce to go one-on-one with the Manly goalkeeper. Chianese?s final shot was poor and went straight to Brad Swancott in the Manly goal.
Blacktown City were particularly good through the likes of Mitchell Long, Mirko Jurilj in midfield early on and some quality lead-up play by them in the 10? minute led to Tolgay Ozbey putting in a cross from the right-flank, but the ball ran away from harm as it was just too long for Ante Deur on the left side of the Blacktown City attack.
This was not to say Manly had no say in the match as they were particularly dangerous on the quick break, especially through the likes of Adam Foti and Robbie Cattanach. It was those two that combined on the quarter hour to force Matt Ryan into a low save to his right. Then Chris Payne ran through on goal only to be denied by a combined defensive effort from Zac Cairncross and Tyler Simpson on the edge of the penalty-area.
A dangerous free-kick from Cattanach in the 20? minute was denied by a strong take in the area from Matt Ryan. A minute later Ryan was at it again, making a strong interception after Manly tried another option from a very similar free-kick.
In the 25? minute Payne seemed to be running onto goal and had his progress impeded on the edge of the area by Luka Dukic but the referee waved play on, much to the angst of the away team.
The game then fired up as both teams gave no quarter and it culminated in Roberto Hamad picking up a yellow card. This seemed to fire up Manly even more and in the 28? minute they should have gone ahead as Jimmy Oates played Foti in on goal – he had been remarkably unmarked in the centre of the area ? though Foti shot straight at Ryan when he could have put the ball anywhere. Then on the half-hour, Foti laid the ball back deep to an advancing Hamad but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
Blacktown City had to try and regain their composure as the Manly machine were clicking into gear. However, the rough stuff continued and an interaction between Andrew Mailer and Mitchell Long saw Mailer pick up a yellow card based on the report of the fourth official.
In the 35? minute Joel Chianese ran through traffic and on the edge of the area curled the ball along the ground the wrong side of the far post, with a seemingly better option being to play it to an unmarked Ante Deur on his left. The ball quickly broke to the other end of the field and Chris Payne was able to shake the defence and place the ball past Ryan and into the back of the net to give the visitors the lead.
That seemed to not be all for the visitors through this period of the match as Payne then received the ball on the edge of the area (all be it off his arm) and played it through to a seemingly offside Foti (again play on), but somehow Foti missed the goal from only metres away from the target.
Blacktown had more control with 5? minutes to go in the half and Zac Cairncross met the ball from a corner with a powerful header but the home fans were disappointed to see the ball go wide of the far post.
Right on half-time, Blacktown tried to claim a penalty as the ball went to and from players in the area like a pin ball machine before Rastall ended up on the ground in the area. However, their claims were waved away by the referee.
Meanwhile the ball went the other end and Chris Payne tried to cut across in the area from the right only to be pulled down by Tyler Simpson.
Payne stood up to take the resultant penalty and he fired it low to Ryan?s left. Ryan was good enough to push the shot away but from distance Oates ran in to smash the ball home ? only for Ryan to get to his feet and deny Oates with the last play of the half.
Blacktown tried to take advantage of the save early in the second-half when they won a free-kick on the right side of the penalty-area after Tolgay Ozbey was fouled, and injured, by Andrew Mailer. A diving punch from Swancott stopped the immediate danger but then Long ran down the ball and cut it back to Chianese who turned on the ball in the area and fired in a shot, but it went over the crossbar.
For the match this would be even more vital than the penalty as the ball went down the other end and Robbie Cattanach shook off his marker to slide the ball home and double the away side?s advantage in the 51? minute.
A minute later good work from Cattanach and Payne almost secured a third goal as Joey Gibbs pounced on a cross on the far side but he headed the ball meekly into Matt Ryan?s grateful hands.
A double substitution was not enough to gain the home team the momentum on the park and the war continued. The match was becoming fiercer and fiercer and this tempo continued in the 62? minute when Payne fouled Long and picked up Manly?s third yellow card of the match.
A minute later Chianese was called upon to put in a last ditch tackle and deny Gibbs another goal scoring opportunity for Manly. On 70? minutes Luke Roodenberg had two headers go off target.
For much of the last 20? minutes Blacktown were sucked into the fight which freed up Manly to pile on more pressure in the attacking third, although they were unable to fully capitalise on this possession with another goal.
In the 77? minute Ante Deur pounced on a loose ball in the area but was well denied by Brad Swancott who was already on the ground. For Swancott it marked a purple patch in the game as he made some good saves to deny Blacktown any chance of getting back into the match time and time again until the referee?s final whistle.
On 79? minutes Luke Roodenberg and Roberto Hamad clashed and the away fans demanded a card, their wish not granted. 2? minutes later the referee denied them another wish as Craig Midgley went down in the area and got up pointing to Kain Rastall as the reason for his progress being impeded.
There was still enough time for Manly to be denied a third goal by the far post as a spectacular shot came in from the left, but in the end the away side came away satisfied having won the match by the two goals.
Craig Midgely was pleased to have secured the win, and proud of his players:
?We knew it was going to be a hard game and they are deservedly near the top of the table. We had good opportunities in the first-half to double our lead and overall I think we deserved the win. We knew we had to work hard and every single Manly player did so today.
?We had a game plan and the boys stuck to it. I thank all my players today for the great effort they put in today.?
Man of the match Chris Payne was just as praiseworthy of his new gaffer:
?I enjoyed it a lot tonight as I have not been playing to the standard I can play. Tonight I was more involved, I worked harder, kept the ball and made runs at the right times.
?I spoke to Mossy Midge and Ed Neill about how to change my game up and it helped tonight. These coaches have all been great for me and I really appreciate them, Mossy going to the Mariners is what he deserves for the great work he has done at Manly.?
Aytec Genc was disappointed with the result:
?It was a battle, a war tonight. Physically they went out to get us tonight and this time they got the better of us.
?They stuck to their plan and it was successful tonight.?
In the earlier Grade-20 match, Blacktown City FC defeated Manly United FC 4-2.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 0
Manly United FC 2 (Chris Payne 37?, Robbie Cattanach 51?)
Sunday 23rd, May, 2010
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: James LEWIS
Assistant Referees: Mathew COLQUHOUN and Dave LOCKERIDGE
Fourth Official: Thomas KLEIN
Crowd: 250
Blacktown City FC: 20.Matt RYAN; 2.Tyler SIMPSON (13.Lachlan CAHILL 53?), 4.Mirko JURILJ, 5.Luka DUKIC, 17.Joel CHIANESE, 6.Matt PRESSELLO, 11.Mitchell LONG, 19.Tolgay OZBEY, (35.Bernie IBINI 66?), 9.Kain RASTALL, 22.Zac CAIRNCROSS (7.Luke ROODENBERG 53?), 16.Ante DEUR
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Matt NEMES, 18.Travis MAJOR
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Brad SWANCOTT; 3.Roberto HAMAD, 5.Pascal JULLIARD,6.Luke CASSERLY (19.Bradley GROVES 64?), 7.Andrew MAILER, 9.Robbie CATTANACH (10.Craig MIDGLEY 71?), 11.Adam FOTI (22.Joseph GIBBS 44?), 16.Joey SCHIRRIPA, 17.Jimmy OATES, 23.Chris PAYNE, 24. Beau BUSCH
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Rhyss KEANE, 15.Luke WALKER
Yellow Cards: Roberto HAMAD 27? Andrew MAILER 34? Chris PAYNE 62?
Red Cards: Nil
*Note – Player Ratings will now be hidden until the end of the NSW Premier League season with the overall standings to select the 2010 NSW Premier League All-Stars line-up
-By Stuart Jones
