Manly end Sutherland?s Finals hopes

In what was the last game at home for captain Joey Schirripa and goalkeeper Brad Swancott after both chose to pursue other interests in 2011, Manly were handed a dream start after just 11? minutes.
Right wingback Andrew Mailer played a ball into the penalty box which hit a Sharks defender on the hand.
Referee Chris Kerr had no hesitation in awarding a spot kick which Robbie Cattanach slotted home past Nathan Denham.
David Dodd and Mailer were then booked after 22? and 27? minutes respectively, with referee Kerr making it known he was not going to tolerate clumsy challenges.
On the half hour mark Sutherland, who needed to win to have any hope of reeling in fifth placed A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt, should have squared proceedings after a driving run from Chris Price, but Ben Vidaic headed wide of the target.
Seconds later Paul Kohler had Swancott scrambling with an audacious effort from 25-yards which just cleared the crossbar.
Sutherland came out firing after the break and made it 1-1 on 48? minutes. Some casual defending allowed Ben Spruce to ghost in at the near post where he headed home, but Swancott should have parried the ball away for a corner.
12? minutes later Manly took the lead for a second time. Schirripa whipped in a ball that Pascal Julliard headed into the path of David Dodd who tucked the ball away on the goal line.
With 8? minutes remaining a sublime ball from substitute Keith Shevlin played in Schirripa but he chose to go for glory at the near post, despite having two team-mates unmarked on the penalty spot.
Late chances from Mailer and Shevlin were wasted, but in the end Manly were good value and deserved the three points.
Manly coach Craig Midgley was a content man at full-time:
?Our attitude was great, once again the lads produced a solid performance,? he said.
?We have proved we are not a bottom of the league squad.
?Guys like David Dodd and Scott Balderson have been immense for us, they are ball winners and it is no coincidence we have been a better team since those guys started playing in the middle of the park.?
His opposite Robbie Stanton conceded Sutherland?s depth has been their achilles heel this winter:
?The (state of the) pitch also determined the way we had to play, which wasn?t ideal, but in the end we also made some mistakes in the final third and got punished,? he said.
?We picked ourselves up after a poor start, but in the end we were lacking a few bodies.
?It is disappointing, but we just have to get on with things.?
In the Grade-20 encounter, Manly United FC ran out 2-1 victors over Sutherland Sharks, the side now remains an outside chance of qualifying for the finals series heading into next Sunday?s tussle with Sydney United.
Match stats
Manly United FC 2 (Robbie Cattanach 11?, David Dodd 60?)
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Ben Spruce 48?)
Sunday, July 25th, 2010
Cromer Park, South Creek Rd, Cromer
Referee: Chris Kerr
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes, Thomas Lee
Fourth Official: Jonathan Price
Crowd: 300 Approx.
Manly United FC: 1.Brad SWANCOTT; 4.Matt SIM, 5.Pascal JULLIARD, 6.Luke CASSERLY, 7.Andrew MAILER, 9.Robbie CATTANACH, 11.Adam FOTI (13.Jimmy OATES 25?), 12.Scott BALDERSON, 16.Joey SCHIRRIPA, 23.David DODD, 24.Beau BUSCH (8.KeithSHEVLIN 69?)
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Roberto HAMAD, 14.Chad COWLEY, 20,Rhyss KEANE
Yellow Cards: Dodd 22, Mailer 27?, Cattanach 83?
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan DENHAM; 2.George SOURIS, 4.Michael ROBINSON, 6.Chris PRICE, 8.Blake POWELL (15.Michael KATZ 75?), 9.Ben VIDAIC (40.Todd HALLORAN 67?), 11.Ben SPRUCE, 12.Neil JABLONSKI, 14.Nick STAVROULAKIS, 20.Paul KOHLER, 22.Yianni FRAGOGIANIS
Substitutes Not Used: 16.James LAWRENCE, 24.Jack DUNCAN, 31.Huseyin JASLI
Yellow Cards: Stavroulakis 44?, Katz 84?
Red Cards: Nil