Manly United scrap hard for unlikely win at Marconi

Perhaps Marconi, arguably the better team for large parts of the game, can feel aggrieved that they didn?t capitalise on their chances, but that?s not taking away credit from Manly United who played to win ? at times, at all costs.
Football can sometimes be the ugly game as well and this contest was just that. Manly United played ugly, rigid, defensive football but ultimately it was winning football.
As the old adage goes, winners are grinners and the losers…well, they can please themselves.
After the game Manly United?s coach Craig Midgley was obviously delighted with his team?s win.
?I think that?s the best performance I have seen this year,? he proudly stated. ?The lads were hungry, they were up for it and from my goalkeeper through to my subs that came in, they all put in a massive [work] shift.?
When questioned about his team?s defence, Midgley offered the following:
?I thought that Pascal Julliard has been one my best players in the last five or six weeks and the back four have another clean sheet tonight.
?They had a job to do because Marconi have some lively players and I think that they all knew they had a job to do and they all stood up.
?When the boys win, I enjoy coaching. I am a player as well, so all I try to do is put the lads into a bit of a shape; things change in a game and sometimes your tactics work and sometimes they don?t,? he said.
The night was so cold that the players hardly realised that a game was on until well into the first-half of play when a thunderous free-kick from Jason Naidovski from outside the box ended up just wide of the mark.
It was the moment that sparked some life into a match that seemed to be meandering from one midfield tackle and lost ball, to another.
In some ways all that appeared to be happening was some fairly heavy challenges and tackling from the Manly United players against their Marconi counterparts that had Stallions? passionate mentor Lee Sterrey on his feet and, it must be said, with some justification.
Manly United?s best and only real chance of the first stanza of play arrived in the 28? minute when Scott Balderson found Adam Foti on the edge of the box who delightfully cut the ball back for Joey Schirripa who, in the end, fired his shot just wide of Jose Bello-Amigo?s goal.
Marconi?s best chance of the first-half arrived shortly afterwards when Christopher Nunes took responsibility and charged towards the Manly United goal leaving a trail of destruction in his path, but unfortunately after such a stupendous effort his powerful finish was just off target.
In the 38? minute Marconi thought that they had scored when Naidovski found the back of the net from close-range after a great phase of play involving a number of players.
However, much to Naidovski?s dismay the assistant referee on the far side raised his flag in a robotic fashion after a considered split second to indicate that the Marconi player was offside and, given that he was perfectly positioned, who could argue.
In the second-half, Manly United frustrated Marconi. The bus was parked well and truly and there was simply no way through for the young Stallions.
In the 61? minute Manly United could have scored when a long Schirripa free-kick floated dangerously into the box for Foti to head towards goal, only to be thwarted by a brilliant diving save from Bello-Amigo who majestically turned the ball away for a corner one handed.
In the 70? minute Manly United did take the lead through former NSW Premier League Gold Medal winner Robbie Cattanach who hadn?t been on the pitch too long.
After receiving a quick long ball from David Dodd, the alert striker quickly turned on the edge of the box and fired a shot that rebounded off the post, but as luck would have it the ball rebounded straight back to Cattanach who made no mistake the second time around.
It was rough justice for Marconi who up until that point had been the better team but couldn?t seem to penetrate the rigid and brick-like defence of the visitors.
In the 87? minute Manly United made it two: a quick ball split Marconi?s defence through the middle and David Dodd fired in the drive to beat Bello-Amigo.

Late in the game Marconi scrambled well but were just off target twice. Nahuel Arrarte, always in there trying, missed the goal marginally with his powerful shot.
Naidovski then forced Brad Swancott into a brilliant save to turn the ball over for a corner from a nice attempt from just outside the box, before Schirripa set up Keith Shevlin for Manly United?s last roll of the dice. It was a frenetic finish but all too late for the Marconi Stallions.
Lee Sterrey, who was sent from the bench at half-time interval for protesting against the heavy challenges, later explained his frustrations as follows:
?I?ve been coaching about 20 years and I?ve never been ejected from the sidelines to outside the fence, so that should say something without going into it too much.
?On the playing front, I was concerned too about the movement of our ball and our control of the play.
?Marconi is a team that tries to play a lot of ball and everybody knows it,? he said. ?However, I?ve still got to look at a few things about the way we play.
?We did let in two bad goals and didn?t really test [Brad] Swancott too much in the second-half,? he stated.
Meanwhile, in the Grade 20s Marconi Stallions defeated Manly United FC 1-0.
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 0
Manly United FC 2 (Cattanach 70?, Dodd 87?)
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Adam Weir
Assistant Referees: Christian Mehl and Bachar Allam
Fourth Official: Miles Allen-Scott
Crowd: 300 Approx.
Marconi Stallions: 21.Jose Bello-Amigo; 2.Brenton Rhodes, 4.Umut Tokdogan (18.Jared Lum 73?) 8.Alex Canak, 11.Matthew Gordon, 16.Jason Naidovski, 23.Christopher Nunes, 26.Nahuel Arrarte, 31.Mitchell Mallia (15.Matthew Hall 73?), 39.Sean O?Connell (9.Erick Anabalon 84?), 42.Giorgio Speranza.
Substitutes Not Used: 22.James Chronopoulos, 10.Graziano Trimboli
Yellow Cards: Nunes 82?, Canak 85?
Red Cards: Sterrey 46?
Manly United FC: 1.Brad Swancott; 3.Roberto Hamad, 5.Pascal Julliard, 6.Luke Casserly, 7.Andrew Mailer, 11.Adam Foti (8.Keith Shevlin 72?), 12.Scott Balderson, 16.Joey Schirripa, 17.Jimmy Oates (9.Robbie Cattanach 68?), 23.David Dodd, 24.Beau Busch
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Rhyss Keen, 4.Mathew Simm, 19.Bradley Groves
Yellow Cards: Hamad 67?
Red Cards: Nil

– Joe Russo