Maximum points secured as Manly United down Mt Druitt Town Rangers
Manly United picked up an important 2-0 win over Mount Druitt Town Rangers on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Cromer Park.
It was a worthy spectacle for the ‘Back to Manly Day’ with former members of Manly United as well as the local association gathering to celebrate the club on the day.
After a bright start from the Rangers in the opening minutes, Manly worked their way into the game with Benjamin Koop scoring the opening goal in the 35th minute.
In a dominant second half from United, it took until the 81st minute for the team to score their second as substitute Kristian Santich fired in a stunner to ensure the three points.
Mount Druitt held possession well in the opening quarter of the game and had the first meaningful opportunity eight minutes in.
Creative attacker Kotaro Katsuta lined up a shot from range that bounced awkwardly in front of Manly goalkeeper Levi Kaye, spilling the ball before it was cleared away.
However, Manly showed a threat on the counter during this period with Bruno Mendes and Seiya Kambayashi helping the team transition quickly.
The hosts began to kick into gear around half an hour in with Kambayashi and Dominic Ferguson seeing efforts blocked.
Despite United’s building pressure, the Rangers nearly took the lead in the 31st minute when Solomon-Johnn Monahan-Vaiika attempted an audacious over-head kick that went just over the bar.
United made good on their positive spell finding the opening goal with 10 minutes to play in the first half.
A left-sided free-kick bounced around inside the Mount Druitt box before dropping to Koop centrally who turned sharply and placed an accurate finish into the bottom right corner.
Manly carried on their attacking pursuit through to halftime but couldn’t nick the second goal to make it a more comfortable scoreline heading into the sheds.
The home side continued with their slick football in the second period, holding possession comfortably in the opening 10 minutes.
A well-worked move down the right from Manly in the 51st minute presented Ferguson with a shooting chance from the edge of the box, but the midfielder skied it.
The side had another opportunity a couple of minutes later as a determined Harry McCarthy drove into the box evading challenges on the way, seeing his effort roll past the left post.
McCarthy went close again just after the hour mark as Kambayashi drifted inside from the left and found the attacker who curled his shot over the top.
After a slow start to the second period for the away side, they almost equalised in the 65th minute as Rhett De Silva’s long-range strike flew just over.
The chances continued to flow for Manly, however, with Ferguson’s shot from inside the box only three minutes later held onto by Dylan Niski in the Rangers’ goal.
In the 72nd minute, a hopeful ball lobbed forward by James Oates found Mendes in behind, but he scuffed his left-footed effort wide of the right post.
For all Manly’s chances in the second half, they still only led the game by a single goal.
Mount Druitt remained a sporadic threat and they had opportunities to nick a point in the final portion of the match.
De Silva’s effort from the edge of the box 78 minutes in forced Kaye to tip the ball around the left post, before defender Nikola Djordjevic fired narrowly over the bar seconds later.
However, Santich put the result beyond all doubt for United with nine minutes to play.
The substitute sweetly striking a superb shot from the right edge of the box that flew into the top left corner.
The Rangers went close to picking up a consolation in stoppage time when a right-sided cross dropped to De Silva in the box, whose low strike was cleared off the line.
A convincing second half from Manly United secured the points in a 2-0 win for the home side against Mount Druitt.
Match Stats
Manly United FC 2 (Benjamin Koop 35’, Kristian Santich 81’)
Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC 0
Sunday 2 April 2023
Cromer Park, Manly
Referee: Sam Kelly
Assistant Referees: Nick Gela and Arinath Gobinath
Fourth Official: Lucy Nothrop
Manly United FC: 20. Levi Kaye (GK), 22. Bilad Belkadi (6. Finn Ashton 73’), 2. Kieren Paull (18. Lucas Rainbird 81’), 4. James Oates (C), 5. Thomas Fay, 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 8. Dominic Ferguson (12. Kristian Santich 81’), 9. Benjamin Koop (31. Marcus Lal 73’), 10. Bruno Mendes, 19. Alen Aganovic, 23. Harry McCarthy (11. Matthew Sim 69’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Jack Greenwood (GK)
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC: 20. Dylan Niski (GK), 2. Solomon-Johnn Monahan-Vaiika, 3. Nikola Djordjevic, 4. Cooper Coskerie, 7. Nikola Skataric (41. Abdelelah Faisal 86’), 10. Kotaro Katsuta, 11. Jackson Bandiera, 21. Tarek Elrich (C), 22. Rhett De Silva, 23. Daniel Dias (5. Jacob Esposito 79’), 27. Stefan Nikolic (44. Anthony Frangie 55’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Robert Fanella (GK), 6. Jared Macerola, 15. Anthony Gallo
Yellow Cards: Nikola Skataric 20’, Solomon-Johnn Monahan-Vaiika 54’, Anthony Frangie 76’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Dominic Ferguson (MU)
2 – James Oates (MU)
1 – Kristian Santich (MU)
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
