Manly United score three pointer at Melita Stadium
Manly United started the brightest when in the 3? minute Jordan Edwards strode down the right wing and was able to centre for Colin Iley, who slipped his marker in the six-yard box to side-foot home and give the visitors the lead.
It was a sweet move by Manly but not the start the bottom-placed Eagles were looking for, however with 87? minutes remaining there was more than enough time to compose and retaliate and the early set back didn?t hamper their confidence as they took it to United and pressed hard.
United were getting caught offside with alarming regularity as they tried to take the initiative but were caught themselves when Kwabena Appiah-Kubi stole the ball and went one-on-one with Dylan Mitchell in the Manly goal and slotted home with consummate ease to restore parity in the 12? minute.
Iley broke through down the left in the 20? minute but was unable to pull the ball back across goal for the onrushing Edwards. From the resulting corner Scott Balderson was cautioned before putting over the inswinger that was met by Graeme Forbes, later to be swathed in bandages after a head clash, peeling away to the back stick to net and restore Manly?s lead.
The lead was almost extended after Iley stole the ball and headed toward goal only to be thwarted by goalkeeper Matthew Nash when one-on-one, but United?s star was in the ascendency.
Bryan Soane had a deflected effort well saved by Mitchell as the chances became fewer and further between for the hapless Eagles who were battling well but couldn?t turn a trick it seemed, although Marc Richards was called into action with a diving headed clearance soon after.
Appiah-Kubi turned and twisted the Manly defence in the 40? minute and pulled the ball back for Akiyoshi Saito whose first shot was blocked and the second cleared as Parramatta surged forward once more which, considering the dumping the pitch received prior to kick-off, the footwork was nimble for both with neat passing on the slippery surface.
However, Parramatta went into the half-time break a goal down and with everything to play for in the second stanza.
Shouts of a penalty fell on deaf ears on the resumption when the home support felt Marc Richards had brought down Soane inside the box in the 47? minute but referee Alex Glasgow pointed for a goal-kick and the game continued.
Manly began to try their luck from distance but nobody in the side appeared to have packed their shooting boots as the wire mesh behind the Eagles goal started to take a pounding with the drizzle making life tricky outside the box.
Balderson tried his luck for Manly from fully 30-yards out that had Nash diving at full stretch but the ball continued to arc wide of the net with 57? minutes on the clock.
Iley pulled the ball back from the right after a tricky run for Justin Haywood whose shot on the turn crashed back into play off the crossbar but no Manly player was able to capitalise and Parramatta cleared their lines in the closest thing to a goal shortly after.
A succession of corners for the home side saw spirited defence from Manly to clear their lines as the Eagles desperately sought to regain parity but the combination of stout defence and ill luck was to prove their final downfall minutes later.
Lee Sterrey, Eagles coach, made a double substitution when bringing on Daniel Rezo and Bruno Pivato for Domenic Trimboli and Soane respectively as the home side strove to take advantage of the tired Manly legs on the heavy pitch.
It all came undone in the 79? minute when Haywood squared the ball to Iley who slid in for his second and Manly?s third of the evening to effectively wrap up the points.
The lead should have been extended further when Tinashe Mugabe was put through by Iley but a heavy touch enabled Nash to bravely snatch the ball from the feet of the Manly striker.
On 87? minutes Haywood was at it again down the left and his shot-turn-cross hit the back of Nash and bounced out for a corner in the only bit of luck Parramatta enjoyed this evening at Melita Stadium.
With no further addition to the score, at the final whistle a disgruntled Eagles coach Lee Sterrey commented:
?We went into the game knowing we had to lift our intensity, against Bonnyrigg we slipped off the pace with intensity and passion but we had some enormous performances here in the Cup and against Marconi and we were really on the upward scale and going really well.
?We dropped 20 or 30-percent against Bonnyrigg and knew we had to lift and to take a goal like we did in the first 2? minutes when there is two against one at the corner flag and Edwards manages to get a cross in and the blokes in the box still don?t mark their players and allow them an easy tap in is suicidal.
??The second goal was just as bad when from a corner the player is allowed to peel off to the far post because we are not showing enough aggression in getting to the ball inside the box.
?And two goals let in from crossing situations where the defenders are not picking up their players at any level is asking for trouble.?
Left to chase the game it looked different after the equaliser:
?When we got back to one-all I thought we were a chance, we?re back in the game.
?I thought we competed reasonably well although at about 75% of what we can be in passion and desire but the schoolboy errors on the goals are just shocking and it cost us tonight.?
Although a young squad has been assembled at the Eagles, does it mean changes in the future: ?The front third in execution is lacking, the final ball option is the wrong one on many occasions and you know how young and naive your team is in this league overall but it?s that time year with the window of registration open and if I have to give a few handshakes then so be it.
?I don?t want to as I really believe in what we?ve assembled here at the club, some good young kids and experienced players but everything comes into question.
?I?ve shown my support for them right through, given them the opportunity but they have to take that and rise to the challenge and senior standards set so we may have to look at bringing new faces into the club.?
Marc Richards was delighted out of the Manly United dressing sheds:
?Part of the motivational speech from Midge (Midgley) before the game was to remember how it felt losing 5-1 here last season so the boys were well up for it and motivated for the game especially considering our predicament at the present time.
?We?re chuffed to bits with the three points as we were sitting 11th and 12th on the table so it was a real 6-pointer at this stage of the season.
?However, you have to look at our run-in to the end of the campaign as this was our ninth away game of the term and now we go into ten straight home games where hopefully we can achieve our full potential and pick-up the points by making Cromer Park a bit of a fortress for visiting sides.
?The second-half of the season has to be taken into consideration but the boys have done extremely well tonight and have been working hard on the training pitch and that paid off here this evening.?
Match Stats
Parramatta Eagles 1 (Kwabena Appiah-Kubi 12?)
Manly United 3 (Colin Iley 3?,79?, Graeme Forbes 20?)
Saturday 2nd June, 2012
Melita Stadium, Chester Hill
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Assistant Referees: Leigh Coorey and Craig Fisher
Fourth Official: Nathan Roberts
Parramatta FC: 1.Matthew Nash; 2.Nick McInerney, 3.Andy Matloub, 15.Masaki Nomoto, 4.Domenic Trimboli (13.Daniel Rezo 71?), 5.Mark O?Reilly, 16.Daniel Gullo, 8.Bryan Soane (11.Bruno Pivato 71?), 9.Aaron Peterson (7.Patrick Dixon 90?+4?), 14.Kwabena Appiah-Kubi, 10.Akiyoshi Saito,
Substitutes Not Used: 6.Graziano Trimboli, 23.Michael Sakowicz
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Dylan Mitchell; 2.Sean Bowden, 3.Roberto Hamad, 4.Graeme Forbes, 5.Marc Richards, 6.Michael Daly, 7.Scott Balderson (19.Tinashe Mugabe 76?), 8.Daniel Grant, 12.Colin Iley, 15.Jordan Edwards, 17.Todd Bamber (9.Justin Haywood 44?)
Substitutes Not Used: 18.Mitchell Lensink, 21.Leigh Egger, 25.Tony Liiband,
Yellow Cards: Scott Balderson 20?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Colin Iley (MUFC)
2 ? Graeme Forbes (MUFC)
1 ? Kwabena Appiah-Kubi (PFC)
-By Micky Brock
