Manly United return to the winners circle with victory over St George City
A goal in each half saw Manly United return to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over St George City FA at Cromer Park on Saturday night.
A Dom Ferguson stunner half an hour in opened the scoring for the side from the Northern Beaches, before veteran Matt Sim put the result beyond doubt with a late spot kick.
The experienced attacker’s penalty was scored at the second attempt following a re-take – ensuring Patrick Zwaanswijk’s men would rise to the top half of the table for the first time this season.
In a high-intensity opening to the contest, there was goalmouth action at both ends.
Dominic Cox popped up with the first clear chance of the game for the visitors, as he bounced his effort wide of the post.
Eight minutes in Manly went even closer, as Marcus Lal was picked out precisely by Tom Fay, only to see the youngster’s header deflect away off the inside of the post.
Two minutes later the ball fell to Bruno Mendes in the area, with the Brazilian showing superb footwork to get the shot away – but St George got enough in the way to steer it wide.
The chances kept coming as Seiya Kambayashi sprung the offside trap 15 minutes in and looked to have slotted it home, only to be denied by an impressive Matthew Keremelevski goal-line clearance.
The 29th minute saw a powerful effort from Dom Ferguson deflected wide for a corner; the venomous strike from the midfielder was a sign of what was to come.
Kambayashi’s delivery was punched into the path of Manly’s number eight on the edge of the area, who took a touch and cannoned in a wonderful strike from range to open the scoring on the half-hour mark.
The away side looked to strike back as Franco Maya created their best opportunity of the half, but the Uruguayan was denied by a strong Kaye save.
St George City created the bulk of goalscoring opportunities in the second half; first up, a clear sight on goal for Kosta Petratos that saw Kaye pull out an impressive one-on-one stop.
His brother Maki was the next to find himself through on goal, getting on the end of a slick team move but curling his effort over the bar.
The St George City pressure continued to build, as they hit the crossbar twice in quick succession; first a Dean Pelekanos header grazed the woodwork, before a sweet Mostofi strike so nearly found the mark.
However inside the final ten minutes Mirko Jurilj’s men were hit with a sucker-punch, as Bruno Mendes was adjudged to have been tripped by Daniel Alessi in the area.
Matt Sim took up penalty duties, only to be denied by a great save by Burke.
It appeared to be a late let-off for St George until referee Ivica Covic indicated that a re-take was necessary for Burke encroaching off his line.
Sim made no mistake at the second attempt, slamming his penalty into the top right corner and putting the result beyond doubt for Manly.
There were chances at either end in the closing stages, but the result would remain 2-0 to the hosts – a second-straight win on home soil for Manly as they rise to the top half of the table for the first time this season.
While it was St George City’s first loss in four matches as they’ve proved to be one tough team to beat since gaining promotion this year.
Post-game, Patrick Zwaanswijk was pleased with how his side managed to get the job done.
“I think it was a game where two teams tried to play really well and tried to command the game by pressing forward,” he said.
“I think in the first half we were unlucky not to be up by two or three – we had good chances, especially where we won and broke on the counter.
“The second half they changed their formation and came out firing, but we weathered the storm and I think Levi Kaye was fantastic, making some great saves.
“In the end 2-0 is a fantastic result for us at home, we’ve had a few injuries and it’s great to see that everyone comes back in and is now up for selection.”
Match Stats
Manly United FC: 2 (Ferguson 30’, Sim 82’)
St. George City FA: 0
Cromer Park, Cromer
Saturday 11th March 2023
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistants: Alessandro Llana and Aaron Bloch
Fourth Official: Jackson Mackie
Manly United: 20. Levi Kaye, 3. Jesse Piriz, 4. Jimmy Oates (C), 5. Tom Fay (2. Kieren Paull 68’), 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 8. Dom Ferguson (6. Finn Ashton 63’), 10. Bruno Mendes, 18. Lucas Rainbird (12. Kristian Santich 77’), 19. Alen Aganovic, 23. Harry McCarthy (11. Matthew Sim 76’), 31. Marcus Lal (9. Ben Koop 68’)
Subs not used: 1. Jack Greenwood
Yellow Cards: Lal 41’, Rainbird 61’
Red Cards: Nil
St George City FA: 1. Nicholas Burke, 2. Pedro Ferrari, 3. Daniel Alessi, 6. Tarik Ercan (C), 8. Dominic Cox, 9. Marley Peterson (30. Presley Ortiz 45’), 11. Kosta Petratos (10. Paolo Mitry 67’), 14. Dean Pelekanos (24. Alex Kyriacou 67’), 23. Franco Maya (20. Aiden Mostofi 45’), 70. Maki Petratos (7. Nathan Roberts 73’), 99. Matthew Keremelevski
Substitutes not used: 12. Jack Kenny
Yellow Cards: Cox 53’, Keremelevski 79’, Kyriacou 82’, Ferrari 90+5’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Alen Aganovic (MUN)
2 – Levi Kaye (MUN)
1 – Dom Ferguson (MUN)
By Football NSW Reporter and Commentator Chris Curulli (@ChrisCurulli on Twitter)
