Manly and Sydney United 58 Locked in Entertaining Stalemate

Manly United have taken valuable points off NPL Men’s NSW Premiership aspirants Sydney United 58 following their thrilling 1-1 draw at Cromer Park on Friday. 

It was Kyle Cimenti who opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time for Sydney United 58, before a moment of quality from Stephan De Robillard in the second half saw Manly United claw their way back to share the points.

Manly started brightly, with Jesse Piriz driving through the Sydney United 58 defence in the 6th minute. Darcy Burgess and De Robillard both had back-to-back efforts, but were unable to capitalise.

Two minutes later, Kakeru Ono fired a low strike toward the bottom corner, forcing Adam Pavlesic into a sharp save to deny the opener as Manly began the match with strong attacking intent.

Burgess again looked dangerous shortly after, only for his effort to deflect off Sydney defender Michael Glassock.

Sydney United 58 responded through Koya Nakano in the 19th minute, weaving through several challenges before his final pass went unconverted. At the other end, Saxon Hillyer came close for Manly, with a header that rattled the crossbar in the 26th minute.

The visitors continued to threaten, with Gabriel Tilo forcing a deflection in the 33rd minute, while another attempt moments later flashed narrowly across goal.

Sydney United struck first just before the break, with Kyle Cimenti reacting quickest to a loose ball from Aaron O’Driscoll and firing home in the 43rd minute to give the ladder leaders a 1-0 advantage at half-time.

After the restart, Nakano once again impressed, setting up Ayumu Kimura in the 49th minute, though the effort drifted wide of the post.

In the 53rd minute, Tomislav Ozanic created space for Tilo, but Ono produced a crucial block to keep Manly in the contest.

The home side eventually found their equaliser in the 66th minute through De Robillard. After initially hitting the ground moments earlier, he recovered to strike confidently, with his shot deflecting through bodies and into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

Sydney nearly snatched it late when a defensive mix-up from O’Driscoll gifted Michael Krslovic a chance in the 76th minute, but he fired narrowly wide from close range.

In the closing stages, Piriz came close again in the 84th minute, while Burgess forced a sensational one-handed save from Pavlesic in the 95th minute.

After full-time, Sydney United 58 goalkeeper Adam Pavlesic reflected on the draw.

“In the final moments I just wanted to stay composed and do what I needed to do. I wanted to play my part for the team. Manly admittedly played well in the back end of the second half, but we’re disappointed to go home with only a point.”

“The individual efforts don’t matter as I go home with the same amount of points as my teammates. But ultimately we’re still capable of challenging for silverware come the end of the season.

“We’re lacking a little bit of consistency at the moment, but once we find it the rest of the competition will know we’re back.”

Match Stats

Manly United 1 (Stephan De Robillard 66’)

Sydney United 58 1 (Kyle Cimenti 43’)

Friday 12 June, 2026

Cromer Park 

Referee: Rebecca Mackie

Assistant Referees: Alessandro Llana and Thomas Aalders

Fourth Official: Charlie Hollings

Manly United: 4.Jesse Piriz, 5.Aaron O’Driscoll, 6.Saxon Hillyer, 7.Stephan De Robillard, 8.Kakeru Ono, (9.Benjamin Koop 72’), 10.Darcy Burgess, 11.Ayumu Kimura, (16.Will Faulder 55’), 17.Samuel Griffiths, 18.Luke Nieuwenhof, (24.Toby Bakewell 90+4’), 29.Douglas John, 99.Mackenzie Syron

Substitutes not used: 3.Matthew O’Donoghue, 15.Max Martinello, 19.Cai Evans, 21.Harry Turner

Yellow cards: Darcy Burgess 67’

Red cards: None

Sydney United 58: 1.Adam Pavlesic, 3.Bailey Rule, 4.Adrian Vlastelica, (5.Anthony Tomelic 69’), 6.Dylan Rose, 9.Kyle Cimenti, 10.Carlos De Oliveira, 12.Gabriel Tilo, 17.Michael Glassock, (19.Michael Krslovic 69’), 21.Koya Nakano, (22.Nicholas Pratezina 79’), (23.Mason Wells 69’), 35.Tomislav Ozanic, 44.Farah Koko

Substitutes not used: 14.Liam McGing, 16.Anthony Krilic, 41.Adrian-Jamie Bazina

Yellow Cards: Tomislav Ozanic 14’, Anthony Tomelic 73, Adrian Vlastelica 90’

Red cards: None

Player ratings

3 – Adam Pavlesic (SU58)

2 – Farah Koko (SU58)

1 – Jesse Piriz (MU)

-By Tobias Canning