Manly United secure valuable victory over Mariners
Manly United claimed a vital 2-0 win against Central Coast Mariners at Cromer Park on Tuesday evening in a game marred by a terrible injury to United youngster Max Martinello in Round 14 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition.
The first 43 minutes were played out without score back in early May with the rest of the match finished 17 days later at Cromer Park.
Matthew Sim opened the scoring quickly after the prolonged restart before Marcus Lal came off the bench to confirm the victory.
The match adopted a fast-paced tone early on with some end-to-end football as the teams looked to get a quick advantage.
In the 17th minute, Manly’s Seiya Kambayashi fired a shot from the left of the box that deflected towards Dominic Ferguson who attempted an over-head kick that cleared the crossbar.
The Mariners started to dominate the ball after this Manly opportunity and created a couple of chances to score.
In the 26th minute, a clearance from a corner rolled out to Sasha Kuzevski who lashed a first-time strike just over the bar.
Just after the half-hour mark, Mariners’ left fullback Zac Zoricich set off on a foray forward finding himself on the right edge of the box where he powered a shot over.
A nasty collision in the final two minutes of regular time left Manly midfielder Martinello on the ground in a bad way and in need of significant attention.
Referee Ivica Covic sent the teams into the break slightly earlier than anticipated with the scores level after an intense opening at Cromer Park.
With Martinello still receiving treatment on the pitch well after halftime as an ambulance arrived, the decision was made to postpone the rest of the fixture until a later date.
The match kicked off again from the 43rd minute 17 days later with both teams having to make a few substitutions.
Manly got off to the best possible start opening the scoring just before halftime through one of their subs.
Sim curling a right-sided corner all the way into the far side of the goal in another freak moment in the match.
The halftime whistle signalled a straight swap over of ends for the teams with the game quickly getting under way for the second period.
In-swinging corners continued to prove a problem for the visitors early in the second half as Mariners’ keeper Patrick Beach was forced to palm the ball away on a couple of occasions.
Central Coast responded to this pressure in the 55th minute with Lachlan Bayliss pinching the ball outside the box before firing a left-footed shot off the crossbar.
United immediately went down the other end with Hunter Elliot motoring down the right and cutting it back for Ferguson whose effort forced Beach to parry it over.
Manly created another chance 72 minutes when Jesse Piriz’s long-range strike bounced just past the left post.
The side had a great chance to seal the points with eight minutes to play.
Kambayashi bursting in behind on the right going in one-on-one with Beach, but he could only find the outside of the side netting.
However, the hosts found their second four minutes later to ensure a crucial victory.
Kambayashi drilling a right-sided ball into the middle for substitute Marcus Lal who tapped home from close range, scoring only two minutes after coming on.
Central Coast had a chance to halve the deficit in second-half stoppage time with Jordan Segreto’s powerful shot from inside the box batted away by Manly goalkeeper Levi Kaye.
Manly saw out the final few minutes to pick up a win that pushes them further away from the relegation places.
Match Stats
Manly United FC 2 (Matthew Sim 45+1’, Marcus Lal 86’)
Central Coast Mariners FC 0
Saturday 6 & Tuesday 23 May 2023
Cromer Park, Manly
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistant Referees: Amber Morris and Charbel Geha
Fourth Official: Sophie Allum
Manly United FC: 20. Levi Kaye, 3. Jesse Piriz, 4. James Oates, 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 8. Dominic Ferguson, 10. Bruno Mendes (11. Matthew Sim 43’) (31. Marcus Lal 84’), 19. Alen Aganovic, 23. Harry McCarthy (12. Kristian Santich 43’), 29. Hunter Elliott, 35. Max Martinello (32. Saxon Hillyer 43’), 41. Stefan Visscher (18. Lucas Rainbird 78’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Jack Greenwood
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Central Coast Mariners FC: 30. Patrick Beach, 2. Sasha Kuzevski (23. Aidan Milicevic 43’), 4. Dean Larson, 5. Cameron Windust, 6. James Bayliss (7. Aydan Hammond 43’), 8. Lachlan Bayliss, 9. Miguel Di Pizio, 12. Olayinka Sunmola, 16. William Arnold,15. Jordan Segreto, 24. Zac Zoricich (3. Max Middleby 87’)
Substitutes Not Used: 3. Joshua Hong, 18. George Daniel, 40. Anthony Pavlesic, 21. Maksim Kasalovic
Yellow Cards: Dean Larson 66’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Matthew Sim (MU)
2 – James Oates (MU)
1 – Seiya Kambayashi (MU)
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
