Strong second half showing sees United 58 down Manly United
Sydney United 58 have secured three massive points defeating last season’s Grand Finalist Manly United 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Sydney United Sports Centre, catapulting them into equal first place on the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder.
In a rather uneventful first half, it was United 58 who looked the most promising in the attacking third heading into the break.
After a bucket load of chances in front of goal it was United 58’s skipper who stepped up and netted the opener in the 78th minute, after a perfectly placed cross from Yianni Fragogiannis picked out an unmarked Adrian Vlastelica at the back post.
Patrick Antelmi sealed the result with one of the final kicks of the game after a brilliant setup from Matthew Bilic gave the striker an open net from close range, where he made no mistakes.
It was a very even start to the game, with both sides trying to conserve their energy with the heat playing its part from the very early stages.
United 58 began to control the flow of the game after the opening sector with Tasei Kaneko stringing together his side’s attack, testing the strength of the Manly defence in the process.
Jason Madonis gave the hosts their first genuine chance of the game at the 20-minute mark, making his way through the box and sending a dangerous pass into the middle that was calmly defused by the Manly defenders.
Manly had one of the best chances to open the scoring when Harry McCarthy found some space at the edge of the box, with his shot being desperately denied by Adrian Vlastelica
Going against his former side, Leroy Jennings looked eager to get his new team ahead and was given a golden opportunity when a deflected cross from Chris Payne fell into his path, with his shot being denied by a barrage of Manly defenders.
In a first half affected by the heat, it was little surprise that the scores were level heading into the break.
The visitors got off to a stronger start in the second half as Bruno Mendes put Ben Koop through on goal with his curling effort just going wide of the front stick.
Chris Payne turned the momentum of the game back into his side’s favour, forcing Jack Greenwood into a stellar save to deny his powerful effort, before getting another chance from close range that took a heavy deflection on its way to the goal.
United 58 began to dominate the middle stages of the second half and agonisingly remained without a goal after Jennings missed his queue on two promising chances.
The host continued to put on the pressure and was denied on a consistent basis by the ever-strong unit of Manly defenders.
Alen Aganovic put his body on the line in a desperate attempt to clear a dangerous cross but came off worse for wear, suffering a nasty head knock and going off for treatment.
With Manly’s best aerial threat off the field for the time being, United 58 pounced as Fragogiannis picked out an oncoming Vlastelica at the back post where he headed home the opener.
The frustrated Manly side surged forward off the following kick-off, with Bruno Mendes leading a promising attack but the goal scorer Vlastelica denied him the chance to get anything off and happily watched the ball go out for a corner.
With Aganovic back on the pitch, Seiya Kembayashi picked out the centre half from the following corner, as his header whistled past the crossbar.
United 58 had a golden chance to seal the result in the final minutes of the game as Bailey Rule found himself with plenty of space down the right flank, before cutting into the box and sending a ball to an open Patrick Antelmi which was easily defused by Greenwood.
The hosts found a well-deserved second in the final seconds of the game as Matthew Bilic’s cross riffled into the Manly defence and bounced up perfectly for Antelmi who placed the ball into an open net.
It was a disappointing outing for Manly who let the game get away from them in the second half and will have to go back to the drawing board after suffering its third loss of the campaign before next week’s clash with a high-flying St George City.
United 58 coach Miro Vlastelica noted his pride in his side’s valiant performance.
“It’s always great to get a win, especially at home, brilliant crowd today, we deserved it and I thought we dominated the game,” Vlastelica said.
“It wasn’t easy, Manly was a well-organised side and we worked hard to break them down we had multiple chances, and, in the end, we took the two goals and take the two points.”
While Manly United coach Patrick Zwaanswijk vented his frustration following his side’s loss.
“You’re a man down and that’s where they score from at the back post, that’s his position, you’re 1-0 down and you try to get an equaliser and they score in the 90th minute,” Zwaanswijk said.
“Second half we started really well and had a few chances, they got a bit more comfortable with the ball, they had a few shots deflected but Jack Greenwood didn’t have to save much, it was a game of few chances (but) when you go down 1-0 here you know it’s going to be tough.”
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 FC 2 (Vlastelica 78’, Antelmi 90+4)
Manly United FC 0
Sunday 5th March, 2023
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees: Matt Staples and Justin Pantich
Fourth Official: Joel Crawford
Sydney United 58 FC: 1. Danijel Nizic, 3. Bailey Rule, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 5. Anthony Tomelic (10. Devante Clut 72’), 6. Christopher Payne (9. Patrick Antelmi 60’), 7. Taisei Kaneko (16. Ante Bakmaz 72’), 8. Jason Madonis (11. Yianni Perkatis 52’), 15. Tariq Maia (18. Glen Trifiro 52’), 17. Matthew Bilic, 21. Yianni Fragogiannis, 22. Leroy Jennings
Substitutes Not Used: 50. Ryan Warner
Yellow Cards: Perkatis 90’
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United: 1. Jack Greenwood, 3. Jesse Piriz, 4. Jimmy Oates (8. Dominic Ferguson 45’), 5. Tom Fay (18. Lucas Rainbird 71’), 6. Finn Ashton (12. Kristian Santich 45’), 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 9. Ben Koop (31. Marcus Lal 59’), 10. Bruno Mendes, 15. Nick Rainbird, 19. Alen Aganovic (29. Hunter Elliott 88’), 23. Harry McCarthy
Substitutes Not Used: 30. Jay Coates-Westerink
Yellow Cards: Oates 15’, Ferguson 63’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Adrian Vlastelica (SU)
2 – Anthony Tomelic (SU)
1 – Yianni Fragogiannis (SU)
Written By NPL NSW Men’s reporter Dominic Criniti, @DominicCriniti
