Captain Piriz inspires Manly United past St George FC
Manly United snapped their month-long winless streak in style with a convincing 2-0 victory over St George FC at Cromer Park, securing their first win in their last five meetings against the Saints.
The result was underpinned by a perfectly placed header from captain Jesse Piriz, who led from the front to guide his side to a crucial three points. The win also moves Manly five points clear of the relegation zone.
It was a dominant first-half display from the hosts, with Darcy Burgess and Stephan De Robillard combining in the 2nd minute through slick link-up play, though Burgess’ final pass was cleared by Kaidyn Wright.
De Robillard again threatened in the 5th minute, bursting past Nicholas Kalogerou and Mark Rodic before finding Cai Evans, whose effort could not find the target.
Manly captain Jesse Piriz also went close in the 26th minute, but his delivery into the box was powerfully headed away by Patrick O’Shea.
With sustained pressure building, the breakthrough felt inevitable, and in the 32nd minute Luke Nieuwenhof opened the scoring. He finished a well-worked move involving Evans and Kakeru Ono, striking cleanly down the middle to give Manly a deserved lead.
St George goalkeeper Nicholas Sorras was kept busy and produced a strong save moments later, getting down low to deny Aaron O’Driscoll. In the 38th minute, he again stood firm, stopping Evans at the far post as Manly pushed for a second.
Sorras continued his strong form in the 43rd minute, producing consecutive saves to deny both De Robillard and Evans as Manly went into half-time with a slender advantage.
The first major chance of the second half fell to Ono in the 53rd minute, with his effort rattling the side netting.
St George attempted to respond after the hour mark, with Poon nearly unlocking the Manly defence, but his final pass was miscued with space opening up ahead.
In the 66th minute, Manly doubled their lead through Piriz, whose header slipped through the gloves of Sorras and into the net for a true captain’s goal.
The Saints continued to press in search of a comeback, with Rodic seeing a header cleared by Piriz in the 76th minute, while at the other end Sorras produced another strong save to deny Burgess.
After the match, Darcy Burgess reflected on the performance that delivered a valuable clean sheet and return to winning form.
“We needed to respond after last round and tonight we did exactly that. After our first goal we managed to free ourselves up a bit more. Our game plan stayed the same, we just executed it better,” Burgess said.
“Having the Cromer Park crowd behind us helps massively. It’s the best place to play in the league.
“It’s also been great to see the club promoting young boys into the first team. That was on show tonight and every week. They play great football and it’s awesome to be part of.”
Match Stats
Manly United 2 (Luke Nieuwenhof 32’, Jesse Piriz 66’)
St George FC 0
Saturday 20 June, 2026
Cromer Park
Referee: Rowan Fisher
Assistant Referees: Daniel Cornofsky and James Chan
Fourth Official: Blake Sanchez-Cruz
Manly United: (3.Matthew O’Donoghue 82’), 4.Jesse Piriz, 5.Aaron O’Driscoll, 6.Saxon Hillyer, 7.Stephan De Robillard, 8.Kakeru Ono, (9.Benjamin Koop 78’), 10.Darcy Burgess, 17.Samuel Griffiths, 18.Luke Nieuwenhof, 19.Cai Evans, (29.Douglas John 37’), 33.Jasper Chipman, 99.Mackenzie Syron
Substitutes not used: 2.Luka Krizan, 12.Mitchell Seaman, 20.George Russell, 24.Toby Bakewell
Yellow cards: Jesse Piriz 55’, Stephan De Robillard 83’
Red cards: None
St George FC: 1.Nicholas Sorras, 2.Rocco Smith, 5.Nicholas Kalogerou, 6.Patrick O’Shea, 7.Justin Poon, 8.Evangelo Souris, 10.Jaden Casella, 12.Jayden Seeto, 15.Mark Rodic, 16.Kaidyn Wright, (20.Kota Toyooka 84’), (25.Harrison Farrow 67’), (35.Jayden Dorevski 84’), (38.Rafael Costa 45’), (39.Ali Muzaffer 67’), 88.Christopher McStay
Substitutes not used: 13.Vedran Janjetovic, 37.George Kotronakis, 39.Ali Muzaffer
Yellow Cards: None
Red cards: None
Player ratings
3 – Jesse Piriz (MU)
2 – Stephan De Robillard (MU)
1 – Nicholas Sorras (SGFC)
-By Tobias Canning
