Peterson riding the waves at Manly

After a stint with Western Sydney Wanderers, Marley Peterson has returned to Manly United and is eager to build on an exciting cameo which won his side their first three points of the season on Saturday night albeit after the temporary football lockout due to COVID-19.

The 21-year-old led the line for Paul Dee’s men during their first two outings this season, but his most decisive impact to date arrived as a super-sub against Sydney United 58 last weekend.

Shortly after being introduced, Peterson found himself in the right place at the right time to power home a header which broke the deadlock with five minutes to play.

The young attacker said the 2-0 win was well deserved following two unfortunate defeats to kick off 2020.

“I think we’ve been really unlucky in our past two games and should have got something out of them,” Peterson said.

“Obviously I played a few more minutes in those but I was just really happy to help the team win.

“Starting on the bench was more of a tactical thing, not exactly based on performance, but I am obviously still very happy that I was able to show I would still like to play as much as possible.”

Peterson broke into the Manly first grade side as a teenager back in early 2018 and impressed enough to earn a move out west, linking up with the Wanderers’ A-League academy.

There he had no troubles finding the back of the net for their National Premier Leagues 2 NSW side, but unfortunately did not quite manage to secure an A-League contract.

“I had a good two-year stint at the Wanderers but it didn’t work out in progressing into the A-League team,” he reflected.

“The Wanderers helped me develop so much, playing and training full time with the professional squad during the last four months I was there.”

Peterson barely had to think twice when a return to the Northern Beaches came calling ahead of the 2020 campaign.

“I saw it as a great opportunity to come back to my home club and play well this year with the first team,” he said.

“Coming back to semi-pro level it’s still a serious, great environment to continue progressing as a player.

“As a forward player I always want to score and hopefully I can replicate my form from last year to help the team win.”

Manly United’s 2019 campaign was highlighted by a run to the FFA Cup round of 16 that Peterson believes must act as inspiration for a tilt at finals football this season.

“I think we have to build on our success last year in the FFA Cup and bring that more into the league,” he enforced.

“Even though we haven’t had the best start we believe we can definitely push up there to challenge for finals and the championship.”

– By Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli)