Ono and Kimura Strike as Manly United Edge St George City in Thriller
Manly United FC claimed a tight 2-1 victory over St George City in Round 16 of NPL Men’s NSW at Penshurst Park, with both sides battling in a closely contested encounter that remained in the balance until stoppage time.
Goals from Kakeru Ono and substitute Ayumu Kimura secured the win for the visitors, while St George City FA struck early in the second half through Jesse Photi in a match defined by fine margins and late drama.
The hosts for this fixture were looking for their third home victory in a row after knocking APIA Leichhardt off the top of the ladder last weekend, but it wasn’t to be as a determined and spirited Manly United side had other ideas.
In the first minute, Samuel Griffiths went up for a header and fell heavily on the artificial turf and, after a pause of nearly five minutes, he unfortunately had to be stretchered off in what was an early blow for Manly United.
The first chance of the game arrived in the 10th minute when a strike from Will Faulder for the visitors was deflected and hit the side netting. The match didn’t offer many clear-cut chances after that, with both sides locked in a tight midfield battle.
The next opportunity came on the half-hour mark. A tremendous free kick from Kakeru Ono just shaved the crossbar in what was a very close call as the home side breathed a sigh of relief.
In the 40th minute, a nice ball forward from Saxon Hillyer reached Darcy Burgess, who was perfectly positioned in the middle but failed to control the ball properly and fired just wide of the mark.
On the stroke of half time, a foul by Solomon Monahan-Vaiika on Faulder on the edge of the box resulted in a perilous free kick to the northern beaches visitors. Ono, Manly’s Japanese sensei, majestically took the free kick along the ground and, despite a player lying on the ground behind the wall, the ball went straight into the goal. Manly United thus marched into the halftime break with a narrow lead.
St George City FA, however, came out of the sheds for the second stanza with great determination and equalised in the 49th minute. Stefano Rossello played a lovely ball to Jesse Photi, who rounded out-coming goalkeeper Harry Turner to score.
In the 58th minute, a nice move by St George City ended with Monahan-Vaiika passing to Ahmed Taleb, who knocked the ball into the net, only to be adjudged offside by the assistant referee who raised his flag.
A dangerous corner in the 72nd minute by St George City floated into the box and created all sorts of trouble for the Manly United defence, which scrambled to clear as the home side desperately tried to double their lead in the light rain which made conditions slippery for both sides.
In the 90th minute, a cross by Burgess from the right reached Faulder at full stretch, who headed onto the post and Manly almost scored the winner there and then.
However, in stoppage time Manly United did score the winner, and it was a beautiful finish from substitute Ayumu Kimura. A long ball from the back reached Kimura, who with a dipping finish put the ball into the back of the net and over the goalkeeper.
After the encounter in the Manly United dressing room, their coach Vladimir Knezevic was most praiseworthy of his young side.
“It was a good win for us because we expected a tough game as we respected St George City who have good players and a very good coach,” he said.
“We know that this field is a little bit short and we always try to play good football, so I am happy because the boys were disciplined and followed the principles of our game plan.
“I am happy at the end of the day because we deserved the points due to our possession. I told the boys to believe in themselves and the results will come.
“Tonight we had a big heart and the boys in this team are good friends with a lot of team spirit, which is important for me because we have such a young team.”
In the home side’s dressing room, on behalf of St George City FA, assistant coach James Spanoudakis summed up the mood to Football NSW.
“Of course we are disappointed but we have a good bunch of players and we just need to put our best foot forward again next week,” he said.
“The boys came out in the second half and deservedly scored. We could have had a second but it was called offside and, in the end, a late goal cost us.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY: 1 (Photi 49’)
MANLY UNITED FC: 2 (Ono 45’, Kimura 93’)
Saturday 23rd May
Penshurst Park
Referee: Jake Rose
Assistant referees: Matthew Harris, Daniel Cornofsky
Fourth Official: Marco Venturino
St GEORGE CITY: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Matthew Wahby, 3. Benjamin Berry, 4. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika, 8. Stefano Rossello (10. Paolo Mitry 78’), 11. Jesse Photi (7. Oscar Gultekin 89’), 16. Yohn Pederson (30. Ahmad Taleb 46’), 17. Mason Tatafu, 19. Roman Culina (33. Louis Khoury 46’), 23. Hiroto Dohmoto, 25. Brodie Clarkson.
Substitutes not used: 13. Franklin Jan, 20. Theph Theph, 46. Luke Orsina.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
MANLY UNITED FC: 21. Harry Turner, 4. Jesse Piriz, 5. Aaron O’Driscoll, 6. Saxon Hillyer, 7. Stephan De Robillard, 8. Kakeru Ono, 10. Darcy Burgess, 16. Will Faulder, 17. Samuel Griffith (9. Benjamin Koop 4’, 11. Ayumu Kimura 68’), 18. Luke Nieuwenhof, 33. Jasper Chipman
Substitutes not used: 3. Matthew O’Donoghue, 20. George Russell, 32. Jared Muir, 39. Max Martinello.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Kakeru Ono (Manly)
2 – Jesse Photi (St George)
1 – Will Faulder (Manly)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
