Sydney Olympic punish hapless Manly United
Matthew Mayora, Dimitri Petratos and Alan Kovacevic buried Manly, who gave away too much possession and missed several chances in front of goal.
Straight from the kick-off Manly United were on the front foot and could have taken the lead within 40?? seconds after Joey Schrippa sent his free-kick just wide of the goal.
Sydney Olympic were not going to let their home advantage go to waste and quickly responded, attacking with conviction though lacking the final shot on goal.
4? minutes later and Sydney Olympic had their first sight on goal. Matthew Mayora and Iain Ramsey pressured Joey Schrippa deep in his half, Ramsey won the ball and produced a great cross for Mayora to head on goal, only for his effort to go over the crossbar.
In the 12? minute, the home-side created a second goalscoring chance. Chris Triantis sent a corner in aiming for a teammate, the ball gradually curled toward goal and needed a great save by Brad Swancott, in goal for Manly, to keep the score level.
Manly United won the ball back and in the next run of play moved forward as Adam Foti sent his shot over the crossbar, keeping the Blues defence on notice.
The long-range shooting continued from the visitors as former Sydney FC striker Chris Payne sent a shot again over the cross bar in the 16? minute.
Sydney Olympic?s clinical football however paid dividends 1? minute later as they took the lead. Great work by Iain Ramsey on the left-hand touchline ended in a cross which Pascal Julliard missed, falling to Matthew Mayora to slam into the net.
Sydney Olympic doubled their lead just 2? minutes later. After Manly United failed to clear the ball, Mitchell Stamatellis laid the ball to Dimitri Petratos who had it all to do as he turned his defender, stepped past another two and sent his left foot drive into the bottom corner of the net.
Manly United were not going to die wondering and in the 21? minute Beau Busch squandered a great chance. A floating corner fell to the former A-League player who was unmarked at the far post, only for his effort to again miss the target.
In the 29? minute Manly were given their best chance of the match as a floating cross was accidentally hand-balled by Dimitri Petratos in the box, giving the Cromer Park side a penalty. From the spot however, Chris Payne could still not hit the back of the net as Paul Henderson pulled off a spectacular save, diving to his left and keeping the score at 2-0.
Henderson continued his rich form between the sticks, pulling off several saves in the back end of the first-half.
In the 35? minute however, things turned almost turned sour for Sydney Olympic as influential striker Matthew Mayora was cruelly hacked down by Julliard. Quickly strapping his knee, Mayora was thrust back into the action.
Sydney Olympic?s clever football continued to give them the majority of possession as keeping the ball moving on the ground allowed them to run rings around the Manly defence leading into half-time.
The Blues were right back on the attack after the break, as Phil Makrys? chipped attempt over Manly goalkeeper Brad Swancott sailed just wide of the target.
Their need for three points continued to show, as Iain Ramsey?s masterful display on the left-hand side baffled Manly captain Joey Schrippa.
Manly United tried to calm their play down as several passes became unstuck, coughing up possession.
In the 52? minute, Manly United moved forward in positive fashion earning themselves a free-kick outside the penalty-area. Schrippa again stepped up to the mark, but failed to trouble Henderson, sending the ball down the chest of the waiting shot-stopper.
3? minutes later Sydney Olympic let a golden opportunity to put the game to bed slip. Chris Triantis showed silky skills to pass two defenders on the right-hand side before crossing to Mayora who could not get a clean touch on the ball as he missed the open goal.
Manly were forced into their own half as Sydney Olympic threw everything they had at their counterparts, forcing them to play counter-attack football.
After failing to trouble the Olympic defence for 60? minutes, United coach Craig Midgley injected Robbie Cattanach into his attacking third with the hope of getting back into the game.
The changed seemed to work for Manly, as they stepped up their game to take over possession and pin Olympic into their own half.
Sydney Olympic had goalkeeper Paul Henderson to again thank in the 70? minute, as the man between the sticks pulled off two world class saves in the same play to keep Manly scoreless.
10? minutes later and Sydney Olympic extended their lead. After a back pass by Manly was picked up by Brad Swancott, Sydney Olympic took an indirect free-kick from inside the box. Failure by the Manly United defence to clear, substitute Alan Kovacevic slotted the ball home to make it 3-0.
In the dying stages of the match, Manly United had the chance the peg one back but Matthew Simm hit the ball over the crossbar of an open goal.
Following the game, Sydney Olympic coach Andre Gumprecht was happy his side finally hit their straps:
?It took us a while to get this win,? he said.
?I am fairly happy with the result, again we had troubles with injuries but I think the under 20?s boys who came in did a fantastic job for us and we got the 3-points.?
In the opposite dressing shed, Manly United stalwart Luke Casserley said his team?s poor performance was due to how well Sydney Olympic played:
?Simply I think we were out enthused in the game,? he said.
?We came up against a very desperate Sydney Olympic side and we just made a few silly errors.?
In the Grade 20?s encounter, Sydney Olympic edged Manly United FC 2-1.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 2 (Matthew Mayora 17?, Dimitri Petratos 19?, Alan Kovacevic 80?))
Manly United FC 0
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: Peter Vrtkovski
Crowd: 400 Approx.
Sydney Olympic: 13.Paul Henderson; 4.Angelo Petratos (37.Sean Robertson 21?), 8.Chris Triantis, 11.Phil Makrys (C), 12.Billy Darwich, 15.Matthew Mayora (28.Alan Kovacevic 69?), 17.Iain Ramsey, 18.Jerry Kalouris, 22.Dimitri Petratos, 33.Nick Tsattalios
Substitutions Not Used: 1.Zaim Zanelli, 19.Steven Biason
Yellow Cards: Nick Tsattalios 51?
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Brad Swancott; 3.Roberto Hamad, 5.Pascal Julliard, 6.Luke Casserly, 11.Adam Foti, 16.Joey Schrippa (C), 17.Jimmy Oates (12.Matthew Simm 46?), 22.Joey Gibbs (9.Robbie Cattanach 60?), 23.Chris Payne (8.Keith Shevlin 75?), 24.Beau Busch
Substitutions Not Used: 10.Craig Midgley
Yellow Cards: Pascal Julliard 34?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Christopher Georges
