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Big Grand Final day planned for Manly United star Matty Sim

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When Manly United’s Matt Sim arrives at CommBank Stadium on August 27th, for the 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Grand Final day, he’ll be entering rarefied air.

Not only will he be kitting up for his third consecutive Men’s Grand Final, this time with Manly United, he’ll also be aiming to guide his Sydney FC side to success in the U20’s decider prior.

Even for a player of Sim’s stature, an opportunity to both coach and play in a Grand Final, on the same day, is something that doesn’t happen often.

“It’s very unique.” Sim said, speaking to Football NSW.

“Throughout the course of the year I was never really thinking about it until the last week or two when it was like oh, this could actually happen now!”

From the perspective of the player within, it’s hard to argue with Sim. Especially when you take into account the past two fixtures he’s been a part of with Manly United that have seen them qualify for Saturday weeks’ final.

Although both encounters have oozed late drama, along with a penalty shootout that sealed the clubs’ path to CommBank Stadium, Sim believes they deserve to be there after a season that hasn’t always gone their way.

“We’ve had to dig deep (at times). We’ve had a few challenging results, especially towards the back end of the season.

“But we stuck it out to the end and continuously tried to apply the way the coaching staff wanted us to play which put us in good stead in these one off finals games.

“We never say die, we keep going until the final whistle which we’ve shown now in back-to-back games.”

For Sim, he has enjoyed a career spanning twelve years that has taken him to both the A-League Men’s and abroad.

But it’s Manly United, the club where it all started for him over a decade ago that holds a special place in his heart.

He himself will admit that at 34, his playing days are numbered. It’s because of this, that Grand Final days, like the one drawing closer mean just that bit more, especially if he can take out both the U20 & Mens crowns.

“I’m very grateful to Manly for everything they did to get me going on the journey over a decade ago.

“There’s a lot of people still involved in the club that were there when I was there originally.

“So to be able to come back and lift a trophy with them would be something pretty special to be a part of, especially as my career kind of winds down as a player.

Early bird tickets are now available for the NPLNSW Men’s Grand Final.

Secure your spot at CommBank Stadium on August 27 to watch the state’s best go head-to-head for the coveted prize.

 

 

 

 

 

Round 3 Finals Series Preview – NPL NSW Men’s

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In the fight to secure the final spot in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Grand Final, Sydney Olympic will take on Blacktown City FC at Belmore Sports Ground this Sunday at 3pm with CommBank Stadium in their sights as well as facing Manly United in the big dance.

In a rematch of the final match of the season that saw Sydney Olympic crowned Premiers after defeating Blacktown City, who would have secured the premiership if they held on for a draw or a win, the two heavyweights will come face to face as they look to join Manly United FC in the Grand Final.

After taking out the silverware, Olympic enjoyed a week off before matching up with Manly United last weekend, where they suffered a loss in a tight penalty shootout.

They will surely be fired up and looking for redemption in front of their home fans as they hunt down the double glory in the 2022 competition.

Having already secured the win over the Western Sydney side in Round 11 and the victory in Round 22, Olympic will be confident they can tackle Blacktown as they have already proved twice this year.

Golden boot winner Roy O’Donovan will be one to watch as he leads the attacking force of Olympic, alongside their other talented attackers, with the likes of Oliver Pufflet, Adam Parkhouse and Darcy Burgess all posing big threats.

Sam McIllhatton secured the only goal within the match last week and will be looking to make it two from two, while the defensive duo of Michael Glassock and Ben Van Meurs will be hoping to hold out Blacktown.

Travis Major has been a force to be reckoned with since rejoining Blacktown late in the season, while Mitchell Mallia and Jordan Smylie were the goal scorers in last week’s win.

The Blacktown defence has been an impressive source of strength throughout the whole season, with Grant Lynch the standout in the back line and Tyren Burnie stepping up in the absence of Daniel Collins in recent weeks.

Blacktown, who lost to Manly in their first finals match before taking down APIA Leichhardt in their second, will be hoping their third is the lucky match that gives them a shot at the Championship after the Premiership fell away from them.

In a high-stakes match there is sure to be plenty of fire and fight as both sides give their all in their last shot at the Grand Final.

It will be just as intriguing on the bench as Ante Juric faces Mark Crittenden. In what could be Juric’s last match as coach of Olympic following the club’s announcement that he won’t be back in 2023, you can be sure that he will hype his chargers up and will leave no stone unturned in the fight of getting them to next Saturday’s final.

Who will join Manly United in the big dance next week?

Blacktown City prove too strong for APIA and book clash against Olympic

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Blacktown City have booked a clash with Sydney Olympic in a Preliminary Final showdown after securing a 2-0 victory over APIA Leichhardt in the Minor Semi-Final at Blacktown City Sports Centre on Sunday evening.

Goals to Mitchell Mallia and Jordan Smylie were enough for the hosts to take the victory, with APIA Leichhardt unable to make an impact in the match despite continued attacking pressure through the 90 minutes.

The win will see Blacktown City face up against Sydney Olympic next weekend as they fight for a place in the Grand Final against Manly United, while APIA Leichhardt’s 2022 season has officially come to a close.

Travis Major came close to an opener in the 16th minute as he curled a shot in from the left side of goal, but it went just wide of the target.

The hosts came close again in the 25th minute but as the ball fumbled around in front of goal they couldn’t let off a clean shot.

The opener finally came for Blacktown in the 27th minute as some quality combination play culminated in a shot from Mallia.

Major played Hirokai Aoyama on the edge of the 18-yard box, who then found the feet of Mario Shabow.

Shabow then passed to Mallia as he ran forward and the attacker was able to send his shot past the diving APIA defence.

APIA came close to restoring parity in the 32nd minute as a forward run from Themba Muata-Marlow found Jason Romero on the left flank. Romero took a shot from a tight angle but was just off target.

Muata-Marlow was among the action again in the 45th minute as he found a free kick from range in front of the goal and attempted a shot, but goalkeeper Dylan Niski was well prepared to block the shot

Mark Crittenden made a change just before the half-time break, bringing on Smylie for Mallia and the change paid off as they returned to the field after the break.

Tyren Burnie crossed a ball to Smylie who was positioned to the left of the goalmouth and pulled off an impressive acrobatic volley to take his side’s lead to two in the 49th minute.

Shabow came close to another just moments later as he let off a shot in the 51st minute, but his effort collided with the goalpost.

Jack Armson had a chance for APIA in the 53rd minute, receiving the ball from Romero at the edge of the 18-yard box and taking a shot that travelled past a diving Niski but rebounded off the bar.

Substitute Sean Symons fired a powerful strike from range in the 62nd minute, but it was slightly off target and flew wide of the goal.

Diego Celis skied an opportunity for the visitors as Romero’s forward run set him up perfectly in front of the goal in the 71st minute, leaving APIA without a goal heading into the final stage of the match.

Smylie hit the back of the net again in the 77th minute but was quickly called offside for the second time in a five minute window.

APIA continued to ask questions, but the sturdy Blacktown defence was proving too strong for the visitors.

APIA Leichhardt came agonisingly close in the first minute of injury time as Michael Kouta’s shot looked like it was going to reach the goal, but went just wide.

The composed home side managed to keep out APIA Leichhardt to keep a clean sheet and take the crucial victory in the Minor Semi-Final.

Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden reflected on the learnings from last week’s late loss to Manly in preparation for the battle with APIA.

“The message was every second counts and every moment counts,” he explained.

“We did so well last week and I think we were very good last week and then in the space of 60 seconds we threw it away.

“At the end of the day, it was always gonna be a tough one, they’re a really good experienced team of footballers and we knew it’d be a tough battle, which it pretty much was, I think it was pretty much a battle the whole way through

“We had a couple of nice finishes, I thought our first goal was a nice one and obviously, Smiley’s finish was a cracker, so I think we just worked hard and got the results we wanted.

“It’s been a pretty big two weeks, but we’ll go to a really good footy team [Sydney Olympic] on a pretty average field.

“I guess we’ll probably chat through the week about maybe changing things up against them and see what happens.”

Match Stats

Blacktown City FC 2 (Mitchell Mallia 27’, Jordan Smylie 49’)

APIA Leichhardt FC 0 

Sunday, 14th August, 2022

Blacktown City Sports Centre, Seven Hills

Referee: Craig Fisher

Assistant Referees: Maddy Allum & Matt Staples

Fourth Official: Ivica Covic

Blacktown City FC: 4. Lachlan Campbell, 5. Grant Lynch, 7. Travis Major, 10. Mario Shabow, 11. Mitchell Mallia (89. Jordan Smylie 45+2’), 12. Tyren Burnie (6. Matthew Lewis 88’), 16. Ben Berry, 19. Adam Berry, 24. Jackson Bandiera, 32. Hirokai Aoyama (8. Jak O’Brien 73’), 40. Dylan Niski

Substitutes Not Used: 17. Dakota Askew, 30. Alexander Robinson, 45. Danny Choi

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

APIA Leichhardt FC: 1. Ivan Necevski, 5. Nicholas Azzone (16. Sean Symons 45’), 6. Simon Nicholas (23. Walter Scott 56’), 8. Diego Celis (7. Matthew Cahill 73’), 9. Jason Romero, 14. Jack Armson, 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 18. Adrian Ucchino, 19. Fabian Monge (10. Franco Parisi 79’), 21. Michael Kouta, 38. Yianni Nicolaou

Substitutes Not Used: 4. Joshua Symons, 22. Luke Turnbull

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

 

Manly United book its tickets for the 2022 NPL NSW Men’s Grand Final

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Manly United FC have booked their place in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Grand Final, with a sensational victory over Sydney Olympic FC that finished 4-3 in penalties after regular time concluded 1-1.

Olympic’s Sam McIllhatton scored the first goal of the match in the 107th minute, giving the hosts the lead, but Manly secured another last minute goal to even the score just before the final whistle, this time through Bruno Mendes in the 122nd minute.

The penalty shoot out provided plenty of excitement as Manly secured a 4-3 victory, sending them and their loyal fans into raptures as they celebrated their incredible feat.

While the victory sees Manly United with a place in the Grand Final at Commbank Stadium on Saturday 27th August, Sydney Olympic will have to take on the winner of tomorrow’s battle between Blacktown City and APIA Leichhardt for their chance at the big show.

The match was typical of the playing style of these two teams; defensively strong and tactically impressive, although neither team was able to break ahead during regulation time.

The best chances of the match came after a hard fought 90 minutes, in injury time.

Manly came close through Matt Sim from a free kick just outside the 18-yard box – a shot he has made many times in his career.

Sim’s shot looked poised to meet the target, but connected with Olympic’s defensive line.

As the game went into the second minute of injury time, McIllhatton made a pass to substitute Fabio Ferreira to start a string of play that saw them come close to an opening goal.

Ferreira crossed to golden boot winner Roy O’Donovan, who let off an impressive header that was sensationally cleared off the line by Manly’s Alen Aganovic.

As neither side could break the deadlock, the game went to extra time.

The hosts were the first to secure a goal in the 107th minute through McIllhatton.

Nikola Udjur sent a throw-in to McIllhatton in a central position, who hit a brilliant left-footed strike at the target and out of reach of Manly ‘keeper Jack Greenwood.

Substitute Hagi Gligor came close to another for the hosts in the 114th minute as he let off a powerful shot from range, but couldn’t get his side ahead.

As the extra time period came to a close, the Northern Beaches outfit equalised in the last moments of the game for the second time in two weeks.

The opportunity came from a corner and after a Piriz header flew towards the target, it bounced out and Mendes tapped the ball in from close range.

Referee Michael Weiner blew the whistle for penalties and both teams amped themselves up for the high-pressure shootout

O’Donovan fired the first penalty into the netting against a hapless Greenwood, with Mendes following, sending Parsons the wrong way and slowly tapping his penalty into the netting.

Michael Glassock powered the next penalty into the netting to take his team’s tally to two, then James Oates fired his penalty above the crossbar, giving Olympic the advantage.

McIllhatton followed suit and skied his effort, bringing the opportunity back to Manly, but Marcus Lal’s penalty was saved by Parsons.

Udjur converted his penalty then Benjamin Koop stepped up to the spot and kept Manly in the match.

Ferreira stepped up with a chance to win the match but his shot went wide of the goal and Sim then converted to even the penalties to 3-3.

Daniel Dias rocketed his shot high for Olympic, leaving the visitors open to secure the victory, which they did through Luka Kmet.

Manly United captain James Oates was elated with his team’s grit to take the win in the long battle.

“We didn’t want to do it that way, we definitely did it the hard way but it just shows the group we have that two weeks in a row we’ve scored in the last minute with a never say die attitude,” he explained.

“We were up against it big time this week, we had two or three injuries, a suspension last weekend, and we already had injuries there so we had a shallow squad.

“For the boys to put in that effort to take it to pens, and then me to sky one and for them to do their job and bury it and take the win is unbelievable and I think we deserve to be in the final.

“It’s just a credit to the boys who are all working hard and everyone is doing their job.”

 Match Stats

Sydney Olympic FC 1 (3) (Sam McIllhatton 107)’

Manly United FC 1 (4) (Bruno Mendes 122’) 

Saturday, 13th August, 2022

Belmore Sportsground, Belmore

Referee: Michael Weiner

Assistant Referees: Bradley Wright & Patrick Teleki

Fourth Official: Kelly Jones

Sydney Olympic FC: 3. Nikola Udjur, 4. Ben Van Meurs, 5. Michael Glassock, 6. Mathieu Cordier, 8. Sam Mcillhatton, 9. Oliver Puflett (22. Fabio Ferreira 64’), 11. Adam Parkhouse (36. Peter Politis 120’), 19. Darcy Burgess (24. Hagi Gligor 81’), 20. Christopher Parsons, 23. Daniel Dias, 99. Roy O’Donovan

Substitutes Not Used: 2. Thomas Whiteside, 17. Marley Peterson, 90. Evan Hamele

Yellow Cards: Puflett 19’, Glassock 90’

Red Cards: Nil

Manly United FC: 3. Jesse Piriz, 4. James Oates, 5. Thomas Fay (29. Marcus Lal 115’), 8. Dominic Ferguson (9. Benjamin Koop 77’), 11. Matthew Sim, 14. Dejan Pandurevic (27. Hunter Elliot 100’), 17. Daniel Fabrizio (10. Luka Kmet 112’), 18. Lucas Rainbird, 19. Alen Aganovic, 20. Jack Greenwood, 22. Bruno Mendes

Substitutes Not Used: 31. Max Martinello, 41. Jack Obern

Yellow Cards: Ferguson 39’, Rainbird 90’, Fay 101’

Red Cards: Nil

Ante Juric to depart Olympic at the end of the season

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Ante Juric has announced that he will be departing his head coaching post at Sydney Olympic FC at the conclusion of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Finals Series after six solid seasons.

Citing personal reasons, the former defender and the club have mutually agreed to not renewing Juric’s contract for the 2023 season.

Sydney Olympic Club President Damon Hanlin paid tribute to Juric for his nine years as a footballer at the club that led him to the induction in the Hall of Fame as well as six seasons as a coach and Technical Director, showcasing his massive contribution to the former NSL club.

“I wish Ante all the best in his future coaching roles, and it would be great if he can leave on a bigger high with Sydney Olympic lifting the NPL NSW Men’s Championship trophy in a few weeks time.”

Juric, who led the Blues to the 2022 NPL NSW Men’s Premiership, are one win away from reaching the Grand Final but have to beat Manly United this Saturday at Belmore Sports Ground to take them to the big dance with the chance of clinching the double piece of silverware this season.