Manly United late show stuns Sydney United 58
In what was an entertaining round 18 NSW Premier League clash from start to finish, the home side deserved the three points for their never say die attitude.
Both teams kept the ball well inside the first 10? minutes, feeling one another out.
17? minutes in Mirjan Pavlovic gave the Reds the lead with an audacious strike from 35-yards. Controlling a loose clearance from Manly United goalkeeper Dylan Mitchell, the former Wellington Phoenix FC striker ?dinked? the ball into an empty net to open the scoring.
He had two more chances in the 38? and 41? minute, but struck the woodwork and hurried an effort over the bar.
On another outing he could have bagged five goals, it just wasn?t Pavlovic?s day, despite looking a class above whenever he had the ball.
After the break Manly came out in a determined mood and began to overshadow the former NSL giants going forward.
Michael Daly was once again brilliant bossing the midfield, winning headers as if his life depended on it. His crisp passing and relentless tackling also spurred on his teammates.
Striker Colin Iley had a half chance on the hour mark he should have buried, and seconds later Jordy Edwards fluffed a free header at the far post.
Just as it appeared it wasn?t going to work out for Manly, they were given a lifeline from the penalty spot following a handball in the 88? minute.
Striker Adam Foti, who has been ice cool from 12-yards in recent weeks, once again stood tall, beating Robert Kolak to square things up.
With injury time approaching, Craig Midgley?s boys went for the jugular. They were rewarded when stopper Marc Richards headed home a loose ball in the area to steal three points at the death.
It sparked wild celebrations from home supporters in the Lucas Neill Grandstand, who had a great afternoon of entertainment from two teams who won?t feature in the semi-finals.
Midgley and his team will savour the result for some time given the cavalry they had out.
Regular starters Scott Balderson, Graeme Forbes and Danny Grant all were missing through injury and illness, with Manly sending out a thread-bare team.
Under-20 players Jack Green, Josh Ward and Michael McGinley all came off the bench and didn?t look out of place, an encouraging sign for the club?s future.
Sydney United?s Mike Gibson was a stunned figure at the final whistle.
?We had plenty of chances in the first-half to put the game to bed and didn?t take them,?? he said.
?It always leaves the door open for opposition teams when you do that ? obviously we are disappointed.
?These sort of games have come back to bite us ? it is the story of our season.
?Over the next few weeks we will blood a few young boys and start building for next year.?
Midgley understandably was in a better mood, unable to wipe the smile off his face.
?I thought we played well across the 90 minutes,?? he said.
?The boys showed lots of character, they never gave up.
?Even though we scored late, they (Sydney United 58 FC) weren?t better than us, I felt we were the better side.
?It was a mighty effort given we had to back up from Wednesday night (against Sydney Olympic).?
Match Stats
Manly United FC 2 (Adam Foti 89? (pen), Marc Richards 90?+1?)
Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Mirjan Pavlovic 17?)
Sunday August 5, 2012
Cromer Park, Cromer
Manly United FC: 1.Dylan Mitchell; 3.Roberto Hamad, 5.Marc Richards, 6.Michael Daly, 10.Adam Foti, 11.Matt Sim, 15.Jordy Edwards, (18.Josh Ward 45?) 17.Todd Bamber, (19.Michael McGinley 72?) 21.Leigh Egger, 36.James Cullingworth (Jack Green 82?)
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Sean Bowden, 24.Tonu Liiband
Yellow Cards: Bamber 28?
Red cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 30.Robert Kolak; 34. Steven Drewery; 2.Mitchell Speer, 4.Michael Cindric, 6.Mitchell Stamatellis, 7.Mirjan Pavlovic, 8.Jared Lum, 10.Stephen Hayes (12. Daniel Barac 79?), 16.Stjepan Paric, 18.Mario Simic, (11.Luka Glavas 81?) 23.Ivo Bosnar
Substitutes Not Used: N/A
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
