The 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Grand Final rematch between Blacktown City and Manly United did not disappoint as the ‘Match of the Round’ had it all, but the points were shared with the game ending 1-1 on a hot Sydney summer Sunday afternoon at Landen Stadium.
It took a special goal from City’s Jak O’Brien to open the scoring in the first half before Manly United substitute Harry McCarthy made his mark when he equalised after coming on for Ashton to restore parity – but with no further addition to the scoreboard, it remained a tight and tense battle against two quality sides.
Kristian Santich had the first meaningful effort for Manly in the seventh minute but didn’t connect cleanly with his header to tamely put the ball into ‘keeper Tristan Prendergast’s path.
Travis Major replied in kind when a Danny Choi cross found him at the back stick with Jimmy Oates able to clear the ball of the line two minutes later in what was proving to be an end-to-end start to the game.
O’Brien opened the scoring somewhat fortuitously when lobbing Levi Kaye in the Manly net only for the ball to ricochet off the bar and back into the gloveman who bundled it over the line without in the twelfth minute. It was a young head with an experienced effort.
The visitors rallied and applied plenty of pressure in attempting to restore parity, but the final ball option was found wanting.
Manly’s Japanese star Seiya Kambayashi flashed one wide midway through the half but Blacktown went straight up the other end with Kaye needing to make a fine save from Mario Shabow to prevent the score being doubled – Shabow came close again toward the end of the half when hammering a shot just wide of the post.
Halt-time arrived without troubling the scoreboard further with Blacktown’s season up and running as both sides battled in the sweltering heat.
Twice on the restart Prendergast was forced to save from Santich with Choi, having switched wings after the break, blasting another wide of the mark at the other end in quick succession.
But it was the substitute McCarthy who levelled the scores with some aplomb just after the hour mark as he side-footed his shot beyond a despairing Prendergast.
The tempo slowed as the temperature soared, taking its toll on the players, as a flurry of substitutions took place from both camps as each sought to find the winner.
There was plenty of bluff and bluster as the match entered added time but with neither side able to register another strike, the points were shared in a high quality game of football leaving City coach, Mark Crittenden to comment at the whistle.
“Jak (O’Brien) saw the ‘keeper off his line and obviously would have preferred the ball go straight into the net,” he said.
“We probably could have scored two or three others in the first-half but we didn’t take our chances.
“Our first-half was pretty solid, but the second-half was really poor from us..
“With the season starting so early this year, we are like most teams, about two to three weeks away from where we would normally be for the opening round, but Manly are a good footballing side and the draw was probably a fair result in the end, but we move on to the next game now and start preparing for that one.”
Manly’s new boss in charge Patrick Zwaanswijk echoed the point in regard to the early start and added.
“We don’t have a problem with 30-games this season but there should be some midweek games to shorten its length,” he stated.
“A draw was probably the right result in the end, and I think in the first-half we did everything tactically well but we made some individual errors which is where they got their chances from – particularly the goal, where there was a miscommunication between two central defenders allowing them to get the header in and we found ourselves behind after twelve minutes.
“We adjusted a little bit and after twenty minutes, we got into the game and created some chances but we just couldn’t finish them.
“We were the better side after the break playing wise and it wasn’t until the last 10-15 minutes when they made changes and switched to a back five and then it became a battle for both sides after that.
“I think it’s a very fair comment to say we are a little short on where we would expect to be for the opening round of the season.”
Match Stats
Blacktown City 1 (Jak O’Brien 12’)
Manly United 1 (Harry McCarthy 61’)
Landen Stadium, Blacktown
Sunday 4th February 2023
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistants: Matt Staples and Lindsay Edmonds
Fourth Official: Nick Gela
Blacktown City: 1. Tristan Prendergast, 3. Daniel Collins, 4. Lachlan Campbell, 5. Grant Lynch, 7. Travis Major, 8. Jak O’Brien, 10. Mario Shabow, 45. Danny Choi, 14. Caleb Jackson-Brown (21. Charles Mendy 83’), 18. Nicholas O’Brien (16. Ben Berry 67’), 19. Adam Berry (22. Carlos De Oliveira 67’)
Subs not used: 12. Tyren Burnie, 17. Tatsuya Kato, 30. Jacob Fernandez
Yellow Cards: Lachlan Campbell 28’, Mario Shabow 90+1’
Red Cards:
Manly United: 20. Levi Kaye, 2. Kieran Paull (15. Nick Rainbird 46’), 3. Jesse Piriz (18. Lucas Rainbird 83’), 4. Jimmy Oates, 5. Tom Fay, 6. Finn Ashton (23. Harry McCarthy 57’), 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 16. Dom Ferguson, 12. Kristian Santich, 19. Alen Aganovic, 31. Marcus Lal (9. Ben Koop 67’)
Subs not used: 1. Jack Greenwood, 49. Saxon Hillyer
Yellow Cards: Jimmy Oates 45+1’
Red Cards:
Player Ratings
3 – Jak O’Brien (BC)
2 – Danny Choi (BC)
1 – Harry McCarthy (MU)
By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock
