Sutherland Sharks made to battle hard for points

With eight minutes gone, a sweeping move down the left flank for Manly finished when Matt Bailey fired way over from the edge of the box in one of the few early half-chances to eventuate in a hotly contested opening period.
Jordan Edwards replied in kind when firing wide for the visitors from a similar distance in the 14^th minute.
United started the match with a fast paced high tempo style of football allowing Sutherland no time to settle on the ball nor to dictate proceedings although it remained to be seen whether they would be able to maintain this throughout the match.
The pace remained relentless and cried out for someone to put their foot on the ball and slow things down in midfield but with neither side ready to concede the ascendancy to the other it didn?t happen and with twenty-six minutes on the clock, Manly fashioned the best chance of the half. Joe Gibbs sent over a cross that was met by Adam Foti who?s thunderous header beat the despairing full length stretch of Sharks ?keeper Nathan Denham but thudded off the bar and down onto the line before being cleared to safety.
Manly didn?t let this deter them from the task at hand and continued to raid down the flanks with some degree of success but putting the ball in the net eluded them, not for their lack of trying but with the combination of wrong final ball options, wayward finishing and last ditch defending.
The home side had their opportunities but the same can be as for Manly and as another United effort diminished so Sutherland replied in kind in the 43^rd minute when Panni Nikas put Sam Awad through but his deflected shot was comfortably dealt with by Dylan Mitchell between the sticks.
Scott Balderson was on target for Manly on the resumption but fine positioning from Denham, reportedly being watched by scouts from Melbourne Heart in the stands, thwarted the opportunity.
Sutherland on the counter then went straight up the other end with Bakis feeding Mike Katz, overlapping on the right, to centre for Bailey to fire home and although Mitchell got a hand to the ball when diving to the right he was unable to stop the goal and the home side took the lead.
Manly didn?t lay down and responded with a move down their left culminating with Balderson forcing Denham into a fine save from a Matthew Simm cross and moments later it was Foti who was kept out by the bar.
The home side then took a 2-0 lead in the 57^th minute when Nick Tsattalios powered into the box, turned his defender and laid on the perfect ball for Bailey to double his and Sutherland?s score on the night ? it brought his tally to 9 goals for the NSW Premier League season.
Tsattalios then added a third for Sutherland in the 64^th minute and the contest was effectively over but Manly dug deep and attempted to stem the wave of Shark attacks and were certainly unlucky not to be on the scoresheet themselves but eventually they were when substitute Justin Hayward crossed for Balderson to fire home.
As Manly pushed hard to get something from the match they left the proverbial gaps at the back although overall Sutherland were not able to completely exploit them to the fullest as they slowly but surely defended what lead they had and hit more and more on the break. It was the visitors who created the better opportunities but in keeping with their night were unable to convert them.
Manly United coach Craig  Midgley was fairly upbeat after the game and stated to Football NSW.
?In the first half I thought our guys were a different class to be fair but you always think when you miss chances it?s going to come back to hurt you and tonight it did.
?I?ve got a young bunch of lads and to play like that in the first half against the side that is second in the league is a huge achievement and they deserve credit but it?s still a 3-1 loss. I have to take the positives from the game and for the first 50 minutes we were as good as them and the major difference is they have a couple of older heads in the side which in tight matches like this always seem to come to the front. I?ve said to the guys after the game we know we are a young squad but eventually we have to tighten up a bit and not concede a couple of goals like we did here.
?We have a quarter-final game in the Waratah Cup on Tuesday (against Hills Brumbies) and I?m walking away from here disappointed, we?ve got a good young squad of guys at the club and on this pitch we were able to play some of the football we want to and I look forward to getting this surface at Cromer Park.
?Take nothing away from Sutherland because they are a good side and have been together for a while now but had Adam Foti?s header off the bar gone in we would have been one up at the break but football isn?t 45 minutes and that?s the problem. We switched off in the second half and got punished and sides like Sutherland will do that to you with a combination of bad defending by us and good finishing by them.?
It?s fair to say a relieved Robbie Stanton for the Sharks was one relieved coach afterwards.
?We probably had the better of the opening 15-20 minutes of the match, got in behind them but the final ball in and the execution was poor but we created the better chances. But give Manly their due credit – you are right in saying they came back at us and finished the stronger even though we produced some good football until we stopped playing football and started playing the long ball. I asked the guys at the break if they knew their jobs as we lost our shape and were not sticking to the game plan.
?Once again it took the half time break to readdress that and when we did, the goals came, but was it a 3-0 game? Probably not, but we executed better and attained the lead by taking our chances but we let them back in with a silly goal when overplaying our hand when we could have taken the simple option and invited them into the game. To be honest, the last 15 minutes or so of the game it became a bit nervy because they had nothing to lose and pushed on and had they got a second goal it could have got a bit ugly for us.
?At the end of the day to be a little lucky and win is better than being a little lucky and losing in that sense but we know we?ve got work to do and we?re nowhere near where we should be but I have to be happy – the guys are back on the winning trail and I think we?ve recovered well after last week?s result and I cannot complain about the effort put in tonight. We know the areas we need to change and we?re working toward that so three points from a very tough Manly United side, make no mistake Craig (Midgley) has a fantastic crop of young players, they are similar to Sutherland Shire in producing quality youngsters, and if they continue to grow and battle like this they will produce results soon and give the competition a good shake?
?You have to give them respect because Mossy (Phil Moss) laid the foundations and Midge has added his own touch and in time he will find his feet and start getting the results just like Mossy did when they were nearly always in the play-offs and the signs are there they are not that far off.?
In the U/20 Grade match Sutherland Sharks were defeated 2-nil by a resurgent Manly United. As a footnote, our best wishes for a speedy recovery go to Roberto Hamad who left the field injured with a broken rib and needed to be taken to Sutherland Hospital for treatment.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 3 (M Bailey 50, 57, N Tsattalios 64)
Manly United 1 (S Balderson 70)
Saturday, 18^th June, 2011
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Gerard Parsons
Assistant Referees: Christian Mehl & Brett Woodford
Fourth Official: Leigh Pilgrim
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris (c), 6.Sam Awad (20.Paul Kohler 75), 7.Jimmy Bakis, 8.Chris Price,10.Matt Bailey, 12.Hayden Morton, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 15.Michael Katz (Yianni Fragogiannis 58), 23.Panni Nikas, 33.Nick Tsattalios (19.Huseyin Jasli 91)
Substitutes Not Used: 5.Lachlan Cahill, 36.Andrew Depta
Yellow Cards: Bakis 32
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United: 1.Dylan Mitchell, 2.Jimmy Oates, 4.Graham Forbes, 5.Marc Richards (c), 6.Mick Daly, 7.Scott Balderson, 9.Robbie Cattanach (18.Colin Iley 69),10.Adam Foti (26.Daniel Grant 81), 17.Matthew Simm, 21.Joseph Gibbs, 25.Jordan Edwards (11.Justin Hayward 61)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Kang Ho Lee, 23.Craig Midgley
Yellow Cards: Balderson 12,
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock