Manly maintain form with narrow win against Sutherland
Manly United snatched a 1-0 victory over Sutherland Sharks on Saturday night at Cromer Park to continue their strong late-season form.
After monumental wins against Mount Druitt Town Rangers and APIA Leichhardt in successive weeks, the Northern Beaches outfit made it three in a row in round 26.
Manly United defender James Oates scored the decisive goal in the 59th minute in a meaningful return to action for the captain.
The Sharks had a chance within five minutes when a quickly-taken free-kick saw Jordan Roberts’ effort from the left edge of the box swerve over the bar.
Manly returned fire 15 minutes in with Connor Rose’s shot from the top of the box forcing Sutherland goalkeeper Marko Bulic into a sharp save down to his right.
From there, the match adopted a scrappier tone with lots of end-to-end football, but neither side was able to create anything of substance in the coming minutes.
The scoreboard remained as it started heading into the sheds, with the deadlock still to be broken.
Sutherland nearly opened the scoring just three minutes after the break when Jay McGowan got on the end of a right-sided cross but scooped the ball over the bar.
Just after the hour mark, the first goal of the game finally arrived as the hosts hit the front.
Some nifty skill from Harry McCarthy on the right allowed the attacker to stand a ball up for captain Oates in the middle who superbly steered his header home.
Buoyed by taking the lead, Manly started to get a stronger hold on possession looking to find the second goal to finish the game off.
In the 68th minute, Bruno Mendes tried a curler from the edge of the box, the ball floating just over the bar.
Substitute Matthew Sim turned well on the left flank six minutes later, unleashing a bouncing shot that Bulic comfortably held on to.
However, with six minutes to play United survived a scare when Sutherland substitute Hamish Lamberton’s left-footed strike from outside the area cannoned back off the crossbar.
Three minutes later, Manly’s Seiya Kambayashi successively wriggled his way into the box although it was a weak effort in the end that went straight at Bulic.
The home side remained resolute at the back in the closing stages and saw out their 10th win of the 2023 campaign.
Match Stats
Manly United FC 1 (James Oates 59’)
Sutherland Sharks FC 0
Cromer Park, Cromer
Saturday 29 July 2023
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistant Referees: Dion Bradley and Jackson Mackie
Fourth Official: Rebecca Mackie
Manly United FC: 20. Levi Kaye (GK), 4. James Oates (C), 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 9. Benjamin Koop (2. Kieren Paull 60’), 10. Bruno Mendes, 14. Connor Rose (12. Kristian Santich 80’), 19, Alen Aganovic, 22. Bilal Belkadi (8. Dominic Ferguson 60’), 23. Harry McCarthy (11. Matthew Sim 68’), 29. Hunter Elliott, 32. Saxon Hillyer
Substitutes Not Used: 18. Lucas Rainbird, 93. Montgomery Partington (GK)
Yellow Cards: Kieren Paull 74’
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Marko Bulic (GK), 2. Takahide Umebachi, 3. Jordan Roberts (C) (11. Fumoto Kamada 57’), 5. Jesse Photi (9. Hamish Lamberton 71’), 6. Brodie Clarkson, 7. Jay McGowan, 8. Alexander Brown, 14. Chris Lindsay, 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 21. Luke Sauer (25. Oliver Randazzo 64’), 91. Jonty Busch
Substitutes Not Used: 10. Antonis Martis, 29. Samuel Smith (GK)
Yellow Cards: Jonty Busch 90+1’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Hunter Elliot (MU)
2 – James Oates (MU)
1 – Nathan Grimaldi (SS)
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
