Manly United power home over Parramatta FC
An inspired second half performance has lifted Manly United FC to a dominant 5-2 victory in its PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s clash against Parramatta FC on Sunday.
Manly’s ferocious attacking style was too much for the home side despite an evenly contested first half.
A volatile challenge from Ibrahim Haydar began a downward slide for Parramatta as Manly scored four straight to secure the win.
Manly were quick off the blocks at Melita stadium and set the pace with their blistering attack.
The ferocious tempo paid dividends for Paul Dee’s side with the visitors taking a 1-0 lead after only three minutes when Adam Parkhouse looped a header over the outstretched arms of Parramatta goal keeper Luke Turnbull.
Parramatta clung on for dear life as the onslaught of Manly’s attack created chance after chance.
In the 13th minute The visitors should’ve doubled their lead if it wasn’t for the determined defending of Josh Symons who cleared a stunning shot off the line.
Luke Giverin was the next Manly player to challenge the goal when the midfielder was teed up at the edge of the 18 yard box. However, Giverin could only send his shot wide.
Missed opportunities from Manly helped Parramatta fight its way back into the match.
After 32 minutes the home side struck back when, after a tussle in the box, Andreas Vais managed to tap home to level the scores.
The home side began to gain momentum in the dying seconds of the half with Marco and Gosue Sama leading the attack.
Daniel Rezo had one of the final chances of the half but the Parramatta midfielder could only pilot his free-kick marginally wide.
While Manly were on the back foot at the end of the first half, It was a very different story at the start of the second.
The visitors were fired up and through Cardozo, Brendan Cholakian and Giverin, Manly once again had the upper hand.
Parramatta were holding on until a moment of madness from captain Ibrahim Haydar changed the flow of the game.
After blocking a Manly shot, Haydar tangled with Cholakian in the penalty area taking the Manly player down when the attack was seemingly diffused.
Cholakian stepped up and converted the penalty from the spot in the 62nd minute to give Manly a 2-1 lead.
Only five minutes later Manly had a 3-1 lead when Giverin chipped the keeper after a cheeky 1-2 with Cardozo.
The day got worse for Haydar in the 80th minute when an off target Dominic Ferguson shot deflected off the Parramatta defender and into the back of the net to make it 4-1.
Cardozo iced the win in the 83rd minute when the prolific striker beat his man to a long ball and fired home to extend the lead to 5-1.
Determination and persistence from Marco Sama helped him score a consolation goal for Parramatta but the dye had already been set.
After the match Cholakian praised the structure and work ethic of his Manly team mates.
“We stuck to the game plan and it came through for us in the end,” he said.
“It’s a credit to the boys the way they kept digging in even when Parramatta had us on the back foot.
“We have had a good season so far and there is a lot of talent in our squad so we will just keep working hard towards getting maximum points from each of our games.”
Parramatta’s Luke Grima was in a sombre mood following the match.
“It wasn’t our best performance today and we paid the price,” he said.
“Manly were able to capitalise on our mistakes and the harder we fought the worse the situation got for us.
“We aren’t out of the finals picture just yet.”
Match Stats
Parramatta FC 2 (Vais 32’, M Sama 82’)
Manly United FC 5 (Parkhouse 3’, Cholakian 62’, Pandurevic 67’, Ferguson 80’, Cardozo 81’)
Round 14
Sunday, June 11 2016
Melita Stadium, Sefton.
Referee: Alex King
Assistant Referees: J. Cleal & D. Horstead
Fourth Official: J. McFarlane
Parramatta FC:1. TURNBULL Luke, 3. RICHARDS Blade, 4. SYMONS Joshua, 6. GULLO Daniel, 8. REZO Daniel, 9. SAMA Gosue, 10. SAMA Marco, 14. GRIMA Luke (13. VAIS Andreas 30’), 17. GERSBACH Joshua, 20. HAYDAR Ibrahim, 23. TAYEBI DERAZKALA Aram,
Substitutes not used: 2. JOHNSTONE Ryan, 12. KETSITIS Paul, 18. MALLET Tom, 40. DIACONO Jayden.
Yellow Cards: Gullo
Red Cards: N/A
Manly United FC: 1. MITCHELL Dylan, 2. PAULL Kieren, 3. LOBB Jamie, 4. OUGHTRED Travis, 6. GALLAGHER Sam, 8. FERGUSON Dominic (21. FOX Joseph), 9. CARDOZO Richard, 10. CHOLAKIAN Brendan (18. BRAGG Daniel), 11. PARKHOUSE Adam, 14. PANDUREVIC Dejan, 22. GIVERIN Luke (23. GALBRAITH Hamish)
Substitutes not used:, 20. GATLIN Shawn, 24. HANCOCK Aidan
Yellow Cards: Oughtred, Pandurevic
Red Card: N/A