Manly United hand Bankstown City further relegation fears
A goal to Justin Hayward in the 71? minute was enough to separate the two teams in this NSW Premier League clash.
Early on and it was Bankstown who threatened with Steve Liavas firing a warning shot from the right within the opening minute, something he would do regularly throughout the match.
In the 7? minute Liavas and Chris Bedzo combined down the right wing before setting up Nathan Ristevski, but the Bankstown number 14 could only scoop the ball goalwards and his shot failed to test Manly United goalkeeper Dylan Mitchell.
The home side did not have total dominance in the good football stakes though. In the 10? minute Manly United players Scott Balderson, Roberto Hamad, Colin Iley and Daniel Grant combined with some great possession play, though the move did not see an effective shot on target at its sharp end.
In the 18? minute Balderson played the ball to Iley who peeled right but his shot was soft and easily covered by Zlatko Joseski in the Bankstown goal.
Then 4? minutes later, David Dodd, a strong presence at the back of the midfield, put the ball into Justin Hayward on the edge of the area. Hayward demonstrated his talent by chesting the ball down to Grant who snapped into action with a half-volley that sent the ball in the direction of the goal, but he was unable to keep the ball down and thus it flew over the target.
A minute later there was more great passing on the edge of the area from Bankstown, this time the play including Bedzo, Liavas, Sean Mitchell and Peter Peralta. This play created space for Chris Petrovski on the left, and he put in a dangerous floating cross across the goal mouth that keeper Dylan Mitchell took, despite the close attention of Mitchell.
A few minutes later Mitchell headed the ball to Salameh who shot the ball strongly, but only at the chest of the Manly shot-stopper.
Petrovski then fired in another cross from the left but Bedzo was just unable to reach it and it was punched clear by Mitchell.
In the 27? minute Joseph Gibbs played Hayward into the attacking area but the Manly striker had to turn on the ball and Steve Krsteski was able to marshal him away from the target as the chance went begging.
For Manly there were a few more chances before half-time, including a claim for a penalty which was turned down by the referee.
Bankstown too had their chances but none could be turned into strong shots on target. With seconds left Grant capped off a strong half of football for himself with the strongest shot on target, with Joseski having to pull off one of his great dives to deflect the ball off target.
The second-half saw Salameh and Liavas combine down the right once more and the cross beat the Manly goalkeeper, though Bedzo was unable to pounce on the loose ball at the far post. The ball went down the other end with Jimmy Oates though his great cross missed Hayward?s head by millimetres.
Salameh then combined with Sean Mitchell but the play broke down when David Dodd tracked back and won possession back for Manly.
In the 54? minute a Liavas corner saw the ball deflect across the face of goal after Salameh had tried an overhead kick. At the far post Blaz Dejanovic tried to redirect the ball on target but it still went the wrong side of the far post.
Then on the hour Nathan Ristesvki saw his shot come the closest of all that had gone before him. Sean Mitchell had set up his teammate on the left of the target and Ristesvki?s first-time shot initially went towards goal, beating Dylan Mitchell, but then the ball swerved outwards and just the wrong side of the far post.
2? minutes later the ball broke for Manly through Grant but it broke down where Manly were fouled 30-metres from goal. The free-kick from Balderson was turned goalwards at the near post by Matthew Simon but not enough to go on target.
3? minutes later Dodd tried to chip the ball over Joseski but he also chipped it over the crossbar. Bankstown kept trying to respond, more often than not from the right flank, but Mitchell in goals for Manly was cutting out the crosses well.
Manly still tried to push forward but the backline led by Dejanovic, and so well aided by Petrovski, Gardener and Krsteski, seemingly had the measure of them.
However, in the 71? minute, Justin Hayward put his team in front. This was not through a lack of defensive efforts from his opponents, as Dejanovic and Joseski had actually combined to see Hayward lose the ball as he honed in on the target. However, with all three on the ground Hayward was the first to get up and he then had the simple task of running the ball into the back of the net.
4? minutes later Balderson had a free header from a Simon free-kick but he could not keep the ball down and it ballooned over the crossbar. Then Joseski was on hand to deny Manly twice before Simon had his run on goal stopped by a great tackle from Gardiner.
Manly were doing more than enough to hold on and the likes of Oates, Graeme Forbes, Dodd and Grant were powerful influences on the park, not only winning the ball but also playing the ball back into attacking positions for their team.
The visitors however had to be careful and Frederick Graham almost showed them why in the 86? minute when he took a shot from nothing and Mitchell had to touch it around his far post.
Bankstown was desperate for any points and Liavas, Sean Mitchell and Bedzo never gave up, though the referee?s whistle following injury-time brought an end to an entertaining encounter.
Young Manly star Jimmy Oates reflected upon the match and his side?s season to this point after the game:
?It is always hard to get motivated for a game when you are not chasing a semi-final spot but we did well tonight.
?This season has seen us mould into a great unit, winning the Cup was a great boost for the club and the morale around the club is superb.?
George Nohra was philosophical after the match about his Bankstown City side:
?Manly is a physical team and they held their shape really well tonight. We lost our shape for one minute and they took full advantage.
?It is disappointing for a young team to have this occur but we have to keep working at it and stay positive.?
The Grade-20 match saw Manly United FC come from behind to record a 4-2 victory.
Match Stats
Bankstown City FC 0
Manly United FC 1 (Justin Hayward 71?)
Sunday 21st August, 2011
Jensen Park, Sefton
Referee: Kevin Peddie
Assistant Referees: Lance Morton and Bachar Allam
Fourth Official: Roland Hunt
Bankstown City FC: 1.Zlatko JOSESKI; 5.David GARDINER, 7.Stefanos LIAVAS, 8.Peter PERALTA, 10.Hussein SALAMEH, 14.Nathan RISTEVSKI, 19.Steve KRSTESKI, 3.Chris PETROVSKI (20.Frederick GRAHAM 77?), 4.Blaz DEJANOVIC, 32.Sean MITCHELL, 31.Chris BEDZO.
Substitutes Not Used: 18.Lennox TWENEBOA, 6.Daniel SLAVESKI, 41.Sam DAGHERI, GK.Anthony ANIC
Yellow Cards: Peter Peralta 6?, Blaz Dejanovic 53?
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Dylan MITCHELL; 2.Jimmy OATES, 3.Roberto HAMAD, 4.Graeme FORBES, 5.Marc RICHARDS (11.Justin HAYWARD 16?), 7.Scott BALDERSON, 8.David DODD, 14.Sean BOWDEN, 18.Colin ILEY, 21.Joseph GIBBS (17.Matthew SIMON 58?), 26.Daniel GRANT
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Tony LIIBAND, 12.Mitchel MACEDO, 29.Nicholas SWART
Yellow Cards: Roberto Hamad 12?, David Dodd 72?, Justin Hayward 85?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Stuart Jones
