Ten-man Sydney Olympic claim U18s title
Despite playing the majority of the second-half with ten men following Vandy Kanneh?s straight red card, Olympic grabbed the lead through Jason Madonis and held on for a courageous victory at their home stadium.
The final began in cagey fashion as early nerves saw neither side willing to take a chance in front of goal and kept the ball bogged down in midfield for the majority of the fixture.
Sydney Olympic looked to press forward on the counterattack while Manly aerially bombarded their opponents from the set piece only to be denied by Ian Johnson who had a fine match between the sticks.
Neither side looked overly dangerous in front of goal throughout the opening half, with Jamie Craig denying Olympic their best chance of the half with a smart tactical foul on halfway to halt his opposition?s counter at the expense of a yellow card.
The match took a sour turn early in the second-half when Kanneh?s push on Harry Sweeney saw the midfielder dismissed, leaving his side to battle out the remainder of the match with ten men.
Despite holding a man advantage, Manly was unable to break down Olympic?s stubborn backline as the hosts sat back and defended with numbers behind the ball.
Olympic broke the deadlock with a swift counterattack down the right flank on 74? minutes as substitute Daramy found Jason Madonis unmarked on the edge of the box; the attacker made no mistake, driving a low shot beyond Tonu Liiband?s reach and into the back of the net.
Manly pushed forward in search of an equaliser, and twice went close with Corey Ferguson glancing a late header wide before Jack Green?s attempted diving header failed to connect with Craig?s cross in the closing minutes as Olympic held on for victory.
Sydney Olympic coach Dean Magnall was delighted with his side?s resilience after claiming the title with ten men on the pitch:
?Manly changed their shape to play the same formation as us which made is difficult for us to find space,? said Magnall.
?I thought they settled quicker than we did, we were very nervous in the opening fifteen-twenty minutes.
?After half-time we got back to our game plan and started playing around ? obviously the send off was a big turning point in the game.
?I think the boy really lifted in the second half, we made a few good subs that made the difference to come on, give the boys a lift and sneak us home.
?I?m very proud; they?re a good bunch of lads and worked hard for their win.?
Manly United FC coach Les Macedo was understandably disappointed with the loss, conceding that the better side won on the day:
?To be honest I think they were hungrier than us even though they had ten men for the second half,? said Macedo.
?They defended well and probably deserved it.
?We didn?t create much at the top of the pitch, and while they didn?t create a lot either, they got the goal and it was as simple as that.
?When we played them throughout the season they were the toughest to beat, I?d said to them back in the second game of the season that I thought we?d both be in the final.
?I?m disappointed with the loss, but throughout the season we?ve played thirty odd games and I?ve only been disappointed three or four times.
?The boys have done well; they?re a very young side.?
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 1 (Jason Madonis 74?)
Manly United FC 0
Monday October 3rd, 2011
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: James Meechan
Assistant Referees: Timothy Turner and Brennan Sebastian
Fourth Official: Daniel Stack
Sydney Olympic: 1.Ian Johnson; 2.Nedim Basic, 4.Brendan Hooper (18.S Jowery 70?), 22.Kiefer Dotti, 3.Craig Stratton, 6.Zac Yaghi, 8.Vandy Kanneh, 20.Jason Madonis, 11.Thomas Demery (9.H Daramy 62?), 30.Luca Falcone (14.Billy Guns 72?), 16.Alec Urosevski (27.Y Spurakis 90?)
Substitutes Not Used: 17.A Bouzanis
Yellow Cards: Jason Madonis 85?, H Daramy
Red Cards: Vandy Kanneh 50?
Manly United FC: 1.Tonu Liiband; 3.Jamie Craig, 4.Harry Sweeney (2.Dylan Whitlock 70?), 6.Aaron Davis, 7.Grant Brown, 8.Max Hastings, 10.Panayoti Gotsis (5.Calum Elder 82?), 11.Tommy Morrissey (9.Jack Green 77?), 13.Matthew Agnew, 14.Jack Park, 15.Simon Yates (12.Corey Ferguson 82?)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.J-L Pilot
Yellow Cards: Jamie Craig 5?
Red Cards: nil
Man of the match: Jason Madonis (SO)
-By Michael Shoolman
