Jesic stunner keeps pressure on the Premiership race
It took a piece of magic from Marconi Stallions skipper Marko Jesic as the club stalwart scored a spectacular free kick securing the three valuable points in their 1-0 win over Manly United at Cromer Park on Friday.
The difference between the two teams was the composure and experience of Jesic who put away a powerful free kick in the 63rd minute to deliver his side the win and their third clean sheet from their last four away games.
The action kicked off four minutes as Kieren Paull sent a lofty pass to Connor Rose whose header flashed wide of the goal. Two-minutes later, the Stallions were presented with their first meaningful highlight as Anton Mlinaric saw his pass inside the box headed away by a storming Paull clearance.
As the game continued to ebb and flow, the hosts did incredibly well to withstand what Marconi threw at them as James Temelkovski’s low driving shot went straight to a well-positioned Kaye.
Then as the 23rd minute hit, Jesic found himself on the end of a pinpoint accurate pass from Temelkovski and despite the space in front of him, dragged his shot wide.
Connor Rose went close in the 33rd minute but Jesic was at his best flying in with a last-ditch clearance.
Rose burst out of the floodgates in the second half as he soared past Brandon Vella but his attacking foray was met with back-to-back clearances from Nathan Millgate to keep Manly at bay.
Temelkovski saw his shot saved by the outstretched foot of Levi 60 minutes in and then the follow-up was just as unlucky with the powerful rebound effort from Franco Maya flying inches wide.
The deadlock was broken three minutes later as a sensational freekick from Jesic left Kaye defenceless and it was 1-0 to the visitors.
Moments later an incredible, low diving save from James Hilton denied Peter Kekeris the chance to level the score. Rival keeper Kaye continued to be massive for Manly as his outstretched foot denied Maya a surefire strike, with both keepers in top form in the 71st minute.
As the game reached te closing stages, Manly threatened multiple times and perhaps should have converted, but Marconi held on for the epic win.
Daniel Bouman reflected post-match about his sides huge result adding pressure to league leaders Rockdale Ilinden in their pursuit for the Premiership.
“Coming down to Cromer is difficult and we knew they’d put in a good shift.
“While they always say winning championships comes from defence and ours was great today.
“We’ve shown we can beat anybody, and we have that momentum heading into the finals, we have a great chance this season.”
*Prior to the match, a minute’s silence was observed for the great John Kaye, Levi Kaye’s Grandfather. John was actively involved within the MWFA throughout his life and was a founding member of the Pittwater RSL Football Club. From the entire Football NSW community, we send our sincere condolences to John’s extended family, friends and everyone else who had the pleasure of knowing him.
Match Stats
Manly United 0
Marconi Stallions 1 (Marko Jesic 63’)
Friday 19 July 2024
Cromer Park, Cromer
Referee: Sam Kelly
Assistant Referees: Alessandro Llana and Isaac Rigs
Fourth Official: Thomas Dale
Manly United: 1.Levi Kaye, 2.Kieren Paull, (3.Zac Sfiligoi 80’), 4.Jesse Piriz, 6.Saxon Hillyer, (7.Peter Kekeris 56’), (8.Joseph Fox 80’), 9.Benjamin Koop, 11.Connor Rose, 12.Miguel Bauza,18.Presley Oritz,19.Alen Aganovic, (22.Blake Bamgbose 80’), 25.Rocco Pelle, 39.Stefano Rossello, (45.Bilal Belkadi 71’)
Unused subs: 31.Jay Coates
Yellow cards: (Bilal Belkadi 75’, Gonzalo Naya Vaghi 90+1’)
Red cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 1.James Hilton, 2.Nathan Millgate, 4.Anton Mlinaric, 5.James Bayliss, 6.Domenic Costanzo, 7.Franco Maya, 8.Daniel Bouman, 9.James Temelkovski, 10.Marko Jesic,16.Liam Youlley, (18.George Daniel 84’), (20.Yuti Kitano 78’), 23.Brandon Vella
Unused subs: 17.Milislav Popovic , 19.Kyle Cimenti, 34.Julian Monge, 40.Patrick Williams
Yellow cards: (Nathan Millgate 65’)
Red cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Nathan Millgate (MS)
2: Levi Kaye (MU)
1: Marko Jesic (MS)
-By Tobias Canning
