Manly avoid wooden spoon with Saintly victory
MANLY United avoided any chance of "winning" the wooden spoon after hammering St George 4-0 on Saturday night at Cromer Park.
Heading into the clash on the Northern Beaches, the loser knew they would almost certainly finish bottom of the league in 2014.
The home side had desire in spades, and were rewarded on 7′ minutes.
Man of the match Chris Payne took a quick free kick, playing the ball out to Dylan Whitlock on the left.
He in turn delivered a useful cross to the near post which Brendan Cholakian slotted home to ease nerves in the Lucas Neill Grandstand.
10′ minutes later Cholakian almost doubled his account, but his drive from distance sailed just wide.
As the game progressed, Manly’s attacking intent was there for all to see.
Payne, Cholakian and Scott Balderson were running riot, while youngster Nathan Sim was an assured figure in midfield.
St George almost equalised on 33′ minutes, only to see Graeme Forbes brilliantly block a goal bound effort from Bruno Pivato from six yards out.
Skipper Juan Carlos Chavez went even closer moments later when his free kick hit the crossbar and it proved to be pivotal with Payne doubling Manly’s lead on 43′ minutes.
The striker skipped past two defenders with ease before unleashing an unstoppable effort from 18 yards.
Saints went close again after 50′ minutes when Aleks Jovovic planted his header wide of the target and moments later Cholakian stung the palms of Dion Shaw after he was played in by Whitlock.
Payne then intercepted a casual back pass and looked certain to score.
With only Shaw to beat, he hit the post after a poor first touch.
Daniel Saric sealed the result on 74′ minutes with an impressive strike from distance.
With seemingly nothing doing, the Kiwi looked up and belted an effort which never looked liked missing.
Shaw denied Payne with a great stop on 86′ minutes, but the former A-League journeyman had the last laugh, eventually grabbing a brace and Manly’s fourth after 88′ minutes via a tap in.
Manly boss Paul Dee was a content man outside the sheds at full-time.
"Credit to the boys, they knew what was on the line and they delivered,” he said.
"We didn’t have a bad player, our front guys caused plenty of problems and our midfield and defence looked assured all night.
"It is a performance to build on."
His opposite Manny Spanoudakis, who watched the dying stages of the clash outside the change rooms after he was sent from the field, conceded his team were off the pace.
"We all knew the end prize and still went missing,” he said.
"We gifted them a soft first goal and after that we were chasing the game.
"Credit to Manly, they were up for it and took their chances."
Match Stats
Manly United 4 (Brendan Cholakian 7′, Chris Payne 43′, Daniel Saric 74′, Chris Payne 88′)
St George 0
Cromer Park, Saturday August 9
Referee: Jerry Bitas
Assistant referees: Leigh Pigram, Thomas Lee
Fourth official: Samuel Grasso
Manly United: 1.Dylan Mitchell, 7.Scott Balderson, (8.Danny Grant 54′) 10.Brendan Cholakian, 3.Leigh Egger, 4.Graeme Forbes, 9.Chris Payne, 19.Daniel Saric,(22.Jack Green 81′) 17.Nathan Sim, 6.Josh Ward, 15.Rhys Williams, 31.Dylan Whitlock (29.Tommy Morrissey 75′)
Substitutes not used: 20.Tonu Liiband, 35.Hamish Galbraith
Yellow cards: Cholakian 32′, Forbes 34′, Mitchell 39′, Saric 72′
Red cards: Nil
St George: 1.Dion Shaw, 2.Costa Andricopoulos, 16.Jon Castano-Acero, (27.Andreas Vais 61′) 11.Juan Chavez, 7.Chris Gomez, (23.George Codrea 46′) (36.Marton Vass 79′) 12.Alex Jovovic, 6.Daniel Mitwali, 8.Nick Napoli, 10.Bruno Pivato, 5.Bill Tsanidis, 13.Lenox Tweneboa
Substitutes not used: 26.Adriano Negri
Yellow cards: Gomez 31′, Mitwali 36′, Napoli 89′
Red cards: Nil
