APIA’s Premiership run halted by clinical Manly
Manly United halted APIA Leichhardt FC’s run to the Premiership albeit temporarily following an enthralling 1-0 victory at Cromer Park thanks to a cheeky goal by Connor Rose.
The hosts handed their much fancied opponents littered with NPL stars their first loss on the road in seven games and in the process continued their own rich vein of form.
It took three minutes to see the game’s first meaningful action as Kieren Paull won the race to clear his lines as he slightly edged out Alex Denmead.
The proceeding Manly United movement only a minute later witnessed some great link-up play between Bilal Belkadi, Paull and Blake Bamgbose. With Bamgbose’s attempt at goals stretching just wide.
Multiple moments of individual brilliance continued to ensue as Manly hot-shot and former APIA player Peter Kekeris went raring down the sidelines twice, albeit to no avail as his teammates couldn’t quite keep up with him.
APIA’s Luigi Ditroia had two attempts in the 18th and 20th minute thwarted, his first firing straight at Levi Kaye while the second attempt saw him sky his effort well over the bar.
Manly slowly grew dangerously into the game once more and Connor Rose found himself in a dangerous position only to miss-kick his shot against Josh Symons in the 30th minute, but the warning signs were there that Manly meant business.
For all of APIA’s dominant moments early in the piece, Franco Parisi’s troops were undone minutes into the start of the second half via a smartly placed corner from Kekeris as Rose latched onto it beating everybody with his cheeky back heel to open the scoring for Manly United.
In the 60th minute APIA forged their first concrete opportunity of the second half as Denmead ran around the opposition inside the box only to cut his chance straight into the defence.
Spoiled for choice APIA rang in the changes as they bought on some attacking guns with Ben Gibson, Rory Jordan, Edward Caspers, Sean Symons and Adrian Ucchino all hoping to rescue the visitors blushes.
With the tensions heightening significantly it was Jack Stewart who nearly broke through for APIA in the 69th minute as he looked certain to score only for an incredible goal line clearance from Belkadi ensuring that his Manly United still had the upper hand.
APIA dominated the final stages of the game only to see Manly United thwart them at every twist and turn. Another former Manly player, Ben Gibson’s brilliant chance was stifled away in the 87th minute by a brave Zac Sfiligoi.
The full time whistle blew much to the delight of the home crowd who witnessed their heroes knock off one of the hottest clubs in the competition.
It was a disappointing result for APIA who only days ago celebrated its Round of 32 Australia Cup passage beating rivals Marconi 2-1 after extra-time. The loss has opened the door for current league leaders Rockdale Ilinden to increase their lead by four points should they defeat the Wanderers this Sunday.
The man of the hour Connor Rose was nothing short of jubilant post-match.
“It feels really good to get the win and a clean sheet because as a team we’ve been working really hard lately. That’s also been highlighted through our last few results, in addition to the tight block defensively that we’ve implemented against our opposition.
“The lads put in a great shift overall and we’re pushing hard to qualify for the finals.
“While for my goal, I was making a run to the front stick and the ball just fell to me, my instinct took over and I put a cheeky flick on it. There’s nothing more to it.”
Match Stats
Manly United 1 (Connor Rose 47’)
APIA Leichhardt 0
Friday 07 June 2024
Cromer Park
Referee: Sam Kelly
Assistant Referees: Lindsay Edmonds and Thomas Aalders
Fourth Official: Thomas Dale
Manly United: 1.Levi Kaye, 2.Kieren Paull, (3.Zac Sfiligoi 74’), 4.Jesse Piriz, 6.Saxon Hillyer, 7.Peter Kekeris, (8.Joseph Fox 84’) (9.Benjamin Koop 63’), 11.Connor Rose, (12.Miguel Bauza 74’), 19.Alen Aganovic, 22.Blake Bamgbose, 25.Rocco Pelle, 29.William Faulder, (39.Stefano Rossello 84’), 45.Bilal Belkadi
Unused subs: 31.Jay Coates
Yellow cards: (Connor Rose 50’, Saxon Hillyer 60’)
Red cards: Nil
APIA Leichhardt: 1.Anthony Bouzanis, 2.Seiya Kambayashi, 4.Josh Symons, 7.Jack Stewart, (9.Ben Gibson 65’), (11.Rory Jordan 65’), 14.Jack Armson, 15.Themba Muata-Marlow, 17.Jordan Segreto, (18.Adrian Ucchino 70’), 19.Luigi Ditroia, 21.Michael Kouta, (22.Edward Caspers 77’), (25.Sean Symons 70’), 30.Alex Denmead, 41.Nicholas Azzone
Unused subs: 20.Alexander Parkes
Yellow cards: (Jordan Segreto 50’, Josh Symons 77’)
Red cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Connor Rose (MU)
2: Luigi Ditroia (APIA)
1: Kieren Paull (MU)
-By Tobias Canning
