Powell powers APIA to victory

MANLY United’s players and coaching staff were left pondering what may have been following a contentious 2-1 defeat against APIA Leichhardt Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Cromer Park.

The home side came out of the blocks well and were the better side in the early exchanges.
They were given a scare after nine minutes when a lazy back pass from Rhys Williams was intercepted by Tigers striker Blake Powell.
Thankfully for Manly, Travis Oughtred was on hand to spare Williams’ blushes, hacking the ball to safety.
On 12′ minutes United opened the scoring.
A through ball found its way to Chris Payne, whose first touch set up the goal.
It allowed him a yard on the retreating APIA defence, and he calmly side footed home past Ryan Norval.
United should have doubled their lead after 23′ minutes.
A neat flick from Payne saw the ball played into the path of Brendan Cholakian.
On another day the attacking ace would have rifled an effort in the top corner, but he lacked composure, skewing the ball wide of the target.
Teammate Daniel Bragg followed suit moments later.
With 26′ minutes on the clock, a loose ball fell to his feet at the edge of the area, but his effort finished closer to the corner flag.
APIA took a while to get going, but should have equalised after 28′ minutes.
One time Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC Hyundai A-League utility Adam Griffiths connected with a half volley from eight yards, but it flashed wide of the target with United keeper Dylan Mitchell beaten.
With 38′ minutes played came the first major talking point of the contest.
APIA’s Nick Olsen appeared to be fouled outside the area, but referee Benjamin Abraham saw it differently.
He awarded a penalty and Powell didn’t need a second invitation, comfortably beating Mitchell from 12 yards to make it 1-1.
Manly almost hit back on 42′ minutes.
Right back Kieren Paull, who was brilliant all game, elected to unselfishly square a ball when inside the area.
If he dinked Norval at the near post, United who have been deservedly in front at the break.
Early in the second half, Griffiths was lucky to stay on the field.
He clipped Williams in front of the United bench, who rose in unison to voice their disapproval.
Referee Abraham chose not to caution Griffiths, but the APIA coaches knew he was lucky to stay on the field, and he was replaced after an hour.
Powell should have grabbed his second when he was fed by Olsen, but with the ball behind him, his effort ballooned over the crossbar after 50 minutes.
A Payne rocket on 54′ minutes was ruled offside, and it was then you got the feeling it wasn’t going to be United’s day.
Bragg was sent off with 67′ minutes played.
It was his second yellow and the challenge warranted a caution, but it must be said it was no different to Griffiths’ earlier cynical challenge on Williams.
Given Griffiths was brandished a card after just three minutes and managed to escape an early shower, APIA’s numerical advantage in the last 22 minutes was tough on the hosts.
You sensed APIA would finish the better, and a wonder goal from Powell with 77′ minutes played proved the difference.
Substitute Corey Bizco delivered a telling cross from the left which Powell connected with first time on the volley, sending it top corner past Mitchell.
It showed why Powell has scored 18 goals this campaign; it truly was a top shelf strike.
United had late chances via Dejan Pandurevic and Paull, but it proved to be APIA’s day on the northern beaches.
Tigers coach Rod Williams conceded his team rode their luck.
"I said the boys pre kick-off it had the potential to be a banana skin type game,” he said.
"We turned the ball over far too often and Manly put in a decent shift.
"Against Rockdale we showed last week we can come from behind, so when they went 1-0 up I wasn’t overly concerned.
"We weren’t at our best, but that is a sign of a good team, you dig deep and get the job done."
Williams was much happier about the performance of Powell.
"Once again Blake showed his class,” he said.
"He is in form and you would hope some A-League clubs will be in contact with him soon."
His opposite Paul Dee didn’t want to dwell on the negatives, but stressed the need for consistency.
"I understand people make mistakes, we are all human,” he said.
"I felt we were the better team, but the scoreboard says 2-1 to them.
"We have a few boys who used to play for APIA, so I was hoping to get a win for them, but it wasn’t to be."
Match Stats

Manly United 1 (Payne 12′)
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 2 (Powell 38, 77′)
Sunday June 7, 2015
Cromer Park, Cromer
Referee: Bemjamin Abraham
Assistant referees: Andrej Giev and Kearney Robinson
Fourth official: Adam Naylor
Manly United FC: Mitchell, Bragg, Cholakian, Lobb, McDonald, Parkhouse, Paull, Saric, Payne, (Pandurevic 79′) Williams, Oughtred
Substitutes not used: Liiband, Forbes, Ferguson, Castelnuovo
Yellow cards: Bragg 55′, Cholakian 85′
Red cards: Bragg 67′
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: Norval, Elasi, Griffiths, (D’Apuzzo 60′) Olsen, Parisi, (Biczo 75′) Powell, Studman, Symons, Ucchino, (Petkovski 86′) West, Millgate
Substitutes not used: Bazi, Kayes
Yellow cards: Griffiths 3′, Studman 65′, D’Apuzzo 69′
Player Ratings

3 – Blake Powell (ALT)
2 – Kieren Paull (MU)
1 – Franco Parisi (ALT)