Marconi seal semi-final berth with defeat of Manly United

Lee Sterrey’s youthful outfit withstood a rampant home side, who came out of the blocks at a million miles an hour. However it was the Stallions who took the lead on 8′ minutes.
Breaking from a Manly corner, Jared Lum pinged a brilliant ball into the path of Alex Canak, who squeezed his shot under Brad Swancott.
Jimmy Oates almost put Manly on level terms 5′ minutes later but was denied twice by an alert Jose Bello Amigo.
18′ minutes in, Marconi went two up when Laurence Braude nipped in at the far post.
Braude caught the eye all evening as the former Central Coast Mariners youth player forced home a pinpoint Matt Gordon cross.
Manly refused to buckle and played their way back into the contest midway through the first-half.
Chris Payne, who caused Marconi continual problems with his blinding pace, rifled home from twenty-yards, with an effort that won’t be forgotten by the brave few who battled the cold in the Lucas Neill grandstand.
Braude should have restored the Stallions two goal buffer seconds later but shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
2′ minutes after the break Payne grabbed his second after being played in by Luke Casserly.
The home team dominated the rest of the match, until a sucker punch from Marconi after 81′ minutes ensured a happy trip back to Sydney’s west.
Nahuel Arrarte forced home from the edge of the area, aided by a deflection from Pascal Julliard.
Manly pushed for a third goal to push the contest in extra time but in the end came up short.
Stallions boss Lee Sterrey was elated his troops got the job done:
?It wasn’t an easy task, travelling to the northern beaches midweek to take on Manly, who always give a good account of themselves,? he said.
?We fielded a young team and took our chances.
?Once they came back to 2-2 I thought we were a bit defensive, whoever got that third goal was always going to win, thankfully it was us.”
His counterpart Craig Midgley was understandably shattered moments after the final whistle:
?I made of point of telling the lads football can be a cruel game if you aren’t clinical in front of goal,? he said.
?The character we showed to come from two goals down impressed me, and I felt the winner was very harsh given we were controlling the game.
?The effort was there, we just have to focus on the league now.?
Match Stats
Manly United 2 (Chris Payne 24′, 47′)
Marconi Stallions 3 (Alex Canak 8′, Laurence Braude 18′, Nahuel Arrarte 81′)
Wednesday 9 June, 2010,
Cromer Park, Dee Why
Referee: Ryan Shepheard
Assistant Referees: Paul Faithfull and Matt Colquhoun
Manly United FC: 1.Brad SWANCOTT; 3.Roberto HAMAD (19.Brad GROVES 86′), 5.Pascal JULLIARD, 6.Luke CASSERLY (8.Keith SHEVLIN 62′), 11.Adam FOTI, 14.Matt SIM (13.Mitch MACEDO 83′),  16.Joey SCHIRRIPA, 17.Jimmy OATES, 22.Joey GIBBS, 23.Chris PAYNE, 24.Beau BUSCH
Substitutes Not Used: 18.Alex HUNT, 21.Chris GALLO
Yellow Cards: Joey Schirripa 44′
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 21.Jose Bello AMIGO; 2.Brenton RHODES, 4.Umut TOKDOGAN (5.Adel ELJAMAL 74′), 8.Alex CANAK, 10.Graziano TRIMBOLI (39.Sean O’CONNELL 74′), 11.Matt GORDON (31.Mitch MALLIA 45′), 17.Laurence BRAUDE, 18.Jared LUM (34.Nathan JAGELMAN 45′), 23.Chris NUNES, 26.Nahuel ARRARTE, 42.Giorgio SPERANZA
Substitutes Not Used: 1.James CHRONOPOULOS
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil