Melita Stadium hoodoo haunts Manly again
Adam Foti had the first opportunity of the match for Manly United from an in-swinging corner that was headed wide in the 2? minute.
Craig Midgley?s side needed to be reshuffled due to an extended injury list meaning they played with a flat back three in a 3-5-2 formation, one that crowded the midfield but produced signs of early promise as the home side adopted a more tradition 4-4-2 system.
To add to the woes, Jordan Edwards, set to appear on the Manly United bench, injured his ankle in the Grade-20 match and would play no part in the senior game further reducing the options open to the visiting coach in what has been an awful trot for the Northern Beaches side.
Aaron Peterson scuffed a long-range effort wide for the home side moments later as the early battle for dominance raged, neither able to gain the ascendancy in the soaring temperatures.
Colin Iley dropped into the right side of midfield for Manly leaving Foti and Todd Bamber as the main target men up front but it was Akiyoshi Saito who came close for the Eagles after a weaving run through midfield before unleashing a shot that had power but lacked direction.
Dylan Mitchell was put under pressure between the sticks by Andy Matloub on the quarter hour mark as the Eagles pressed home, taking two attempts to put the ball out for a corner that resulted in little with the game beginning to open up.
The deadlock was broken with a beautiful sweeping move down the Manly right flank that saw Pat Dixon centre for the unmarked Bryan Soane to side foot home on 19? minutes.
The Eagles good work however was almost undone when Eagles? goalkeeper Matthew Nash was rightly adjudged to have handled the ball on the edge of the box. The Parramatta FC wall did its job from the resulting free-kick and the danger was averted.
Parramatta FC, buoyed by the goal, took the game to United who were forced to endure spells of pressure without being threatened too often, although the Eagles were getting themselves into good positions in a thrilling encounter.
Luke Grima played a neat one-two with Dixon on the edge of the box before shooting wide of the target in the 42? minute whilst claiming he had been fouled, but the referee pointed for a goal-kick.
Both Midgley and Eagles coach Lee Sterrey could be pleased at the break with the efforts shown in the opening 45? minutes although the latter would be slightly the happier with the score line as the second period promised to be tremendous if the work rate and determination were kept up to the high standards of the first.
The home side started the second-half with a curling Daniel Rezo free-kick that Mitchell dealt with comfortably and in tit-for-tat fashion Manly did the same at the other end seconds later. For the visitors, Marc Richards saw his shot skim narrowly over the crossbar much to the relief of the home supporters.
The Eagles continued to push for a second goal, and in the 49? minute Mitchell was forced to sprint from his line and save at full stretch before gathering at the second attempt when Soane had another fine effort at goal.
Saito picked up a soft caution for kicking the ball away after the whistle meaning the Eagles midfielder needed to be careful for the remaining 33? minutes.
Scott Balderson, under heavy pressure from Matloub, attempted to lob Nash when falling backwards only to see his effort nestle on top of the netting as Manly looked for the equaliser, however play was held up after a nasty clash of heads saw visiting captain Marc Richards receive treatment for a badly gashed head after colliding with Aaron Peterson. Both players were forced off for a few moments to get cleaned up.
Richards was able to return after being patched up on the sideline when changing shirts, and looking like a 70?s tennis player sporting a rather natty head band of bandages, and you knew it would not change his approach to the game nor his no-nonsense style of play.
Luke Grima out-foxed Richards and sent in the perfect centre for the unmarked Dixon in the middle of the box yet with only Mitchell to beat he spooned the ball over the bar in the 67? minute.
Although not in desperation, Manly threw everything at Parramatta in search of parity as the two equally matched sides slugged it out blow for blow yet it seemed another occasion when luck simply wasn?t on their side when it came to the final ball option. Nothing should be taken away from the stout defending of the home side that has shown signs of a marked improvement in recent weeks.
Mitchell again came sprinting off his line in the 81? minute to break up an Eagles attack just inside his own half as Manly pushed forward and had claims for a Colin Iley penalty waved away leading to the home side breakaway.
Inevitably, as Manly pushed on, they were susceptible to the ball over the top which the Eagles were quick to exploit against the three-man visiting defence.
Nash was called into a fine save late on when Matt Simm opened up the Eagles and then Saito cleared from the line with 2? minutes remaining amid howls of handball that was again waved away.
Matloub was forced into a full stretch block when Foti was clear through on goal in stoppage time as Manly threw everyone, including custodian Dylan Mitchell, forward but it came to nought as the Melita Stadium hoodoo continues to haunt the visitors.
Manly coach Craig Midgley stated afterwards:
?To be honest it was a horrible game of football from my point of view, it was ugly and I?ve just told my boys in there that I thought we were the team trying to play football today.
?At our level it is always points that matter but the way the game was played, the pitch didn?t help, we still tried to play the game but again we get nothing for it and maybe we should have just lumped the ball forward like they did.
?In saying that, I am looking to the future for this team as we have a lot of youngsters who will gain experience from matches like this after playing the last few weeks on our pitch and they need to learn how to win on grounds like this down the track.
?A bit of slack marking allowed them the early goal and we are short on numbers and short on defenders at the moment but still the boys in general played well today and did enough to win any game but didn?t have that cut throat edge to finish.
?Parramatta are playing for their lives so it?s a massive result for them as they go for the club championship but as I said, it?s one for our lads to remember and learn they have to come to places like this and get results as we look to progress.?
Lee Sterrey was slightly more positive when adding:
?It was always going to be scrappy, it?s scrappy to play on here at the best of times but particularly at the back end of the season as it?s had a lot of wear and tear and I?m really proud of the boys because they could have caved in weeks ago but they?ve shown some great character and we?ve got some great kids in the side.
?We had a 16-yearold out of our 18?s on the park today so I?m really proud of them and the way the senior guys have stuck together, and although 17-points doesn?t seem much to many, to come to a club that had 6-players left out of three grades (60 players) it always had to be a rebuild year and we knew that.
?These kids coming through have some really good talent and have earned their opportunity and I really couldn?t be more proud of the way they?ve stuck together to win three of our last four and coming within a whisper of getting a point from Bonnyrigg last week.
?We?ve shown some great character in recent weeks and when you consider we lost Kwabena (Appiah) to Western Sydney, a team we have supported from the start, we wouldn?t be anywhere near the bottom of the League.
?If you were to take a big player out of most clubs they would struggle too.
?All in all, we?re happy with the progress, happy with the three-points and look to the future as we have some outstanding young talent at the club.?
Match Stats
Parramatta FC 1 (Bryan Soane 19?)
Manly United FC 0
Saturday 2nd June, 2012
Melita Stadium, Chester Hill
Parramatta FC: 1.Matthew Nash (C); 3.Andy Matloub, 4.Domenic Trimboli, 5.Mark O?Reilly, 10.Akiyoshi Saito, 15.Masaki Nomoto, 7.Patrick Dixon (18.Nicholas Napoli 90?+1?), 17.Luke Grima (6.Graziano Trimboli 87?), 8.Bryan Soane (12.Dean Holz 79?), 9.Aaron Peterson, 19.Daniel Rezo
Substitutes Not Used: 14.Wandi Jajaw, 40.Michael Sakowicz
Yellow Cards: Nash 22?, Saito 57?, O?Reilly 88?
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Dylan Mitchell; 3.Roberto Hamad, 5.Marc Richards (C), 6.Michael Daly, 7.Scott Balderson, 8.Daniel Grant, 23.Adam Foti, 11.Matthew Simm, 12.Colin Iley, 17.Tod Bamber (14.Jack Green 71?) (28.Josh Ward 87?) , 21.Leigh Egger
Substitutes Not Used: 16.Mitchell Lensink, 24.Tom Manos, 9 Michael McKinley
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock
