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Manly United commence 2022 signings with big inclusions

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National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s outfit Manly United have already hit the ground running announcing two quality signings for the 2022 season with two former players returning to the club in the shape of Matt Sim and Thomas Fay.

Sim recently announced his departure from Sydney United 58 where he spent five seasons while Fay returns to his junior club after playing the last few years with Sydney FC’s youth side.

“We are buzzing to have Matt Sim rejoin the club,” Manly United Coach Adam Griffiths stated in the official club press release.

“He is one of the best attacking players in the league and adds some great quality in the front third. His style of play suits the way we want to play the game and his quality is obvious for everyone to see.

“Not only will Matt improve our football team, but he will also help our young players become better players. We have a strong culture at our club and Matt’s ability, personality and winning mentality is a perfect fit for what we are creating.

“Tommy Fay is also a great addition to the squad.

“He offers us quality but also some versatility to be able to excel in a few different positions on the pitch. He’s a Manly junior and we welcome him back with the intent to help him improve as a player and play at the highest level possible.”

Both additions have signalled coach Adam Griffiths intent to really put the pressure on giving the 2022 Premiership and Championship a crack by the Northern Beaches club.

The 2021 NPL NSW Men’s season was unfortunately cut short due to Covid-19 but prior to the year finishing up, Manly United proved many pundits wrong as they ended up in fourth position on the Premiership ladder.

Manly United has also secured the bulk of the squad with the following players locked in for 2022: Sam Benton, Jimmy Oates, Kieren Paull, Jesse Piriz, Seiya Kambayashi, Alen Aganovic, Lucas Rainbird, Dom Ferguson, Jordan Devries, Tommy Fay, Luca Kmet, James Georgaklis, Finn Ashton, Matt Sim, Ben Koop and Dejan Pandurevic.

Kmet Keeping Busy During Tough Lockdown Times

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With a fighting mentality instilled in them by coach Adam Griffiths, the Northern Beaches side has been a force to be reckoned with throughout the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 2021 season, and Luca Kmet has been instrumental in their efforts.

Despite being disappointed that the stay-at-home restrictions have halted his team’s fight for finals football, Kmet is doing his best to keep a positive mindset and stay occupied during the lockdown, using the strength and conditioning plan provided by Manly United as a good chance to keep a clear mind.

“It can be a pretty difficult time, so just trying to keep busy and occupied… getting to the park and doing some running is a good start because it’s going to be hard just staying at home all day,” he said.

“We got a program from the strength and conditioning staff, and it just involves a bit of running and some ball work at the park. It doesn’t compare to match fitness, which is obviously the best type of fitness you can get, but it’s that type of running and time trial stuff that will keep us ticking over for this period.”

Touching on the importance of having a strong support system around you during tough times, Kmet emphasised the importance of keeping in touch with friends and family during the lockdown.

“I’ve got my brother back from America on his summer break, so I’ll probably get to spend a bit more time with him,” he explained.

“It’s hard to interact with people face-to-face, but technology is a pretty good thing so I’m getting calls on with my mates and there’s always that type of thing, you have text messages and can catch up with them over the phone and see how they’re all going and that type of stuff.

“I think that’s pretty important, keeping in contact with people so that’s a pretty good start.”

While he’s not able to get on to the pitch himself, he’s still filling his time with the world game, getting up early in the morning to watch the Euro 2020 tournament.

“I watched the Italy game at 5.00am, I woke up for that, so that was a good game and a good result for the Italians. Definitely getting up to watch those games now because I don’t have too many more commitments during the day.”

While the Euros are filling the football-shaped hole missing in his life, the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition can’t return soon enough.

“Hopefully it [the lockdown] doesn’t last for too long, only two weeks for now, so hopefully we can get back into football as soon as possible.”

“For us as a squad at Manly, we’ve sort of shown everyone that we’re definitely finals contenders and we can actually win the comp, so I think when we get back playing, we’re going to pick back up where we left off I guess and push for finals football.

“We’ve got a good opportunity to push higher up on the ladder and get into finals football and from the start of the season we knew we were capable of being able to do that too, so the last few games going into the finals we definitely want to push for a finals spot, and I think we can win it too.”

-By Madeline Riley

Sydney FC fall to late Manly United equaliser

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Manly United have kept its Finals Series hopes alive and kicking thanks to a 94th minute equaliser via experienced campaigner Scott Balderson as Adam Griffiths’ side secured a point in its dramatic 2-2 draw against a resilient Sydney FC outfit at the Ilinden Sports Centre to close off round 17 of the NPL NSW Men’s competition.

Manly United, a side flying high in third position on the ladder, were hoping for three wins in a row but were thwarted by Sydney FC in an exciting 2-2 draw.

The first real shot in anger arrived in the 26th minute after both sides knocked the ball around from side-to-side but without any real penetration. It was Finn Ashton who found Richie Cardozo in the box but he fluffed his lines and the ball went wide.

Sydney FC replied almost immediately when a poor clearance by goalkeeper Jacob Madden was intercepted by Jake Girdwood-Reich who beautifully fed the ball to Adrian Segecic, but his powerful shot was then well saved by goalkeeper Madden who atoned for his action. Madden made his first official start for Manly United after coming on for Sam Benton who went off injured last week.

In the 30th minute Luca Kmet shot powerfully for the visitors, but the ball was deflected, and a corner followed.

After surviving that close call at their own end, it was Sydney FC that took the lead a minute later.

The ball moved up field and a shot from the left by Clayton Taylor towards goal was deflected straight into the path of Corey Hollman who, from close range and unmarked, slotted the ball home.

The home side almost made two shortly afterwards in the 37th minute when a long drifting ball from the left reached Cameron Fong on the right, but he shot straight at the visiting ‘keeper when really he should have done a lot better with his chance.

Just prior to the break, Manly United almost equalised when Kmet showed some dazzling skill on the edge of the box before firing straight at keeper Levi Kaye.

The second half started at a lively pace with both teams playing some exciting attacking football and it was only a matter of time before a successful breakthrough would arrive.

And that breakthrough belonged to Sydney FC in the 54th minute when a true thunderbolt from over 25 metres by Girdwood-Reich was driven with such vigour that it was never going to miss the intended target of the back of the net from the moment it left his boot. A goal that will almost certainly enter the end of season highlights reel, Girdwood-Reich proved to be one tricky customers as Manly failed to handle the talented youngster.

Manly United struck back though with a goal to experienced marksman Dejan Pandurevic in the 61st minute. A corner seemed to avoid all and sundry except the captain of the visitors who met the ball with a diving header from close range to score.

In the 68th minute a volley from outside the box by Dom Ferguson for the visitors brought out a world-class save from Levi Kaye who somehow miraculously turned the ball around the post for a corner with an outstretched hand. It could have been 2-2 there and then.

In the 78th minute Ferguson was again dangerous for the visitors when he drilled a loose ball towards goal, only to see Kaye once again rise to the occasion and make a great save.

Well into stoppage time though Manly United did equalise. A Kieren Paull shot somehow was cleared off the line and deflected for a corner. From the ensuing corner a spectacular volley by Balderson equalised the ledger for the visitors.

After the game Sydney FC coach Jim Van Weeren was unhappy to have been thwarted two weeks in arrow well into stoppage time as his young Sky Blues failed to capitalise on the three points.

“It’s just not good enough to be honest.

“At 2-1 up we need to be able to see that game out.

“We can say it every week that it is learning moments but at some stage we do need to learn. It’s about the fifth or sixth time this year that we have thrown maximum points away.”

His counterpart Adam Griffiths was pleased that side fought back from a 0-2 deficit.

“Sydney FC are very good in transition, and we played into their hands initially,” he said. “We had a really strong week with the FFA Cup in the middle and the type of work rate that I expect from my team is quite high, so we made some changes at halftime to get some more energy back into the team.

“We kept pushing for a result.

“We were never defeated in that game because we kept the pressure up and we put our players in a position to score.”

Match Stats

Sydney FC 2 (Hollman 31’, Girdwood-Reich 54’)

Manly United 2 (Pandurevic 61’, Balderson 94’)

Sunday 20th June 2021

Illinden Sports Centre, Rockdale

Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistant Referees: A. Giev and M. Allum

Fourth Official: L. Jones

SYDNEY FC: 1.Levi Kaye, 2.Cameron Fong, 3.Aaron Gurd, 5.Thomas Fay, 11.Adrian Segecic (7.Aidan Simmons 84’), 12.Jake Girdwood-Reich, 13.Clayton Taylor (10.Jaiden Kucharski 62’), 17.Jayden Trenkoski (32.Kai Kamikura 46’), 18.Oscar Priestman (8.Patrick Yazbek 62’), 19.Joseph Calusic, 33.Corey Hollman.

Substitutes not used: 60.Max Vartuli.

Yellow Cards: Trenkoski 41’, Hollman 93’

Red Card: Nil

MANLY UNITED FC: 1.Jacob Madden, 2.Kieren Paull, 3.James Georgaklis (5.Sam Gallagher 46’), 10.Richie Cardozo (8.Dave Ferguson 61’), 12.Luca Kmet (13.Scott Balderson), 14.Dejan Pandurevic, 15.Jesse Piriz, 16.Seiya Kambayashi, 18.Lucas Rainbird, 24.Finn Ashton (9.Benjamin Koop), 31.Ben Gibson (7.Jack Fulton 84’).

Substitutes not used: 25.Harry Aquilina

Yellow Cards: Trenkoski 41’ Hollman 93’

Red Card: Nil

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo

 

Devries breaks APIA’s hearts with late winner

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A last-gasp header from young gun Jordan Devries snatched all three points for Manly United in a hotly-contested 2-1 victory over fellow finals aspirants APIA Leichhardt at Cromer Park on Friday night.

The young attacker’s late heroics ensured Paul Dee’s return to Cromer Park was not a positive one and prevented APIA from climbing into the top five for the first time this season.

In a tit-for-tat battle, the sides were level at the interval as Blake Powell’s fourth goal of the season cancelled out Luca Kmet’s opener.

The away side started the brighter, creating the first chance of the game nine minutes in through the returning Josh Symons.

Manly then began to work their way into the game and less than 23 minutes in broke the deadlock off the back of a deadly counter-attack.

Adam Griffiths’ side broke with purpose as Seiya Kambayashi played in Richie Cardozo, who squared his touch for Kmet to slam home his second goal of the season into the bottom corner.

There was an extended stoppage of play mid-way through the first half as in-form Manly goalkeeper Sam Benton suffered a knee injury.

It was the away side who responded to the stoppage in style, as Symons lofted a precise long ball into the path of Powell, who could poke home a cool finish past substitute shot-stopper Jacob Madden.

Manly looked dangerous early in the second half as chances for Kmet and Kambayashi went begging.

On the hour mark James Georgaklis so nearly registered his side’s second with a thunderous effort from range, but it was spectacularly palmed away by Ivan Necevski.

Moments later, APIA substitute Corey Biczo so nearly scored his second against Manly this season, flashing a shot across the face of goal.

He went close again with a curled effort in the 76th minute, but to APIA’s dismay, it floated inches past the wrong side of the post.

With both sides setting off in fierce pursuit in search of a winner, the stage was set for late drama.

It would be Manly’s youngster Devries – who famously broke onto the NPL NSW scene with a late winner on debut during Paul Dee’s final match in charge of Manly last year – who would replicate the dose to this time break the hearts of his former mentor’s side.

It was a result of an unnecessary foul that APIA substitute Corey Gameiro gave away in what was a dangerous position for the hosts to hit up a winner.

The goal came off a string of Kambayashi set pieces, with the final effort seeing Devries glance home a threatening ball into the area to send Cromer Park into raptures.

The win saw Manly United momentarily leapfrog Rockdale Illinden FC into third spot on the ladder, and coach Adam Griffiths is eager for his side’s winning mentality to continue driving them forward.

“All in all, I felt that we deserved it,” he said.

“It’s a positive win, I ask the boys to change their mentality and have a winning mentality where they push for the number one spot, to focus on what is ahead not behind.

“It was a good performance today to keep proving to people that we are a decent team.”

APIA boss Paul Dee was left to reflect on what could have been in what was a ‘strange’ return to Cromer Park.

“Every time you concede in the last minute of a game it’s always going to be disappointing,” he said.

“It was a hard-fought game, both teams were looking for the win which was the good part about it.

“We gave away a few silly free kicks in the last few minutes and then invited a couple of dangerous opportunities.

“It did feel strange (returning to Cromer). But I have a lot of good memories here, there’s a lot of good people, the team’s playing well this season so I’m happy for them.”

As the race for the coveted top five heats up, next week sees Manly United travel to face Sydney FC while APIA return to Leichhardt to host Rockdale.

Prior to these fixtures Manly do have a crucial FFA Cup Round 7 match to attend to as they face Sydney Olympic at Cromer Park next Wednesday with kick off set for 7:30pm.

Match Stats

Manly United FC: 2 (Kmet 23’, Devries 92’)

APIA Leichhardt: 1 (Powell 40’)

Friday, 11 June 2021

Cromer Park, Dee Why

Referee: Adrian Arndt

Assistant Referees: Hugh Fenton-White, Maddie Allum

Fourth official: Ivica Covic

Manly United FC: 19. Sam Benton (1. Jacob Madden 35’), 2. Kieren Paull, 15. Jesse Piriz, 4. Jimmy Oates, 16. Seiya Kambayashi, 24. Finn Ashton, 3. James Georgaklis, 31. Ben Gibson (7. Jack Fulton 61’), 12. Luca Kmet, 10. Richie Cardozo (13. Scott Balderson 90’), 14. Dejan Pandurevic (23. Jordan Devries 61’)

Substitutes not used: 20. Alen Aganovic, 18. Lucas Rainbird

Yellow cards: Oates 18’, Ashton 70’

Red cards: Nil

APIA Leichhardt: 1. Ivan Necevski, 2. William Mutch, 6. Harry Callahan (10. Franco Parisi 70’), 7. Tynan Diaz, 9. Blake Powell, 11. Mattieu Cordier, 18. Adrian Ucchino (27. Corey Gameiro 90’), 19. Peter Kekeris (8. Corey Biczo 71’), 20. Sam Mcillhatton, 21. Michael Kouta

Unused subs: 5. Nicholas Azzone, 22. Luke Turnbull, 23. Gian Fiorese, 26. Vincent Fedele

Yellow cards: Mutch 52’, Biczo 88’, Kouta 90’

Red cards: Nil

–  By Football NSW reporter and commentator Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli)

 

 

 

 

Manly United Unite in fight against MND

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The Manly United players and community will unite on the weekend of June 19th and 20th when teams will take to the pitch wearing Sockit2MND socks to raise money and awareness to finding a cure for Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

There are diseases and then there are horrid diseases. Motor Neurone Disease easily sits into the latter category.

MND attacks the nerve cells (neurones) that control our muscles. It’s a horrible and debilitating disease which gradually takes away a patient’s use of their arms and legs, their ability to eat and swallow, their speech and ultimately their ability to breathe. All in an average timeframe of just 27 months.

There is currently no truly effective treatment and no known cure.

So no argument – it’s a horrid disease, MND.

But as we do with all horrid diseases, we fight. And we care and we love and we hope. We do our best – and we stand together.

And know this: the fight against MND is on for young and old.

Manly United has been touched a number of times in recent years and will play its part on the weekend of June 19 and 20 by taking part in the Sockti2MND fundraiser. Players will turn out in socks they’ve purchased for $15 from the FightMND website.

Through the purchase of the socks alone, Manly United players and families have raised $6,200 for FightMND, the Australian charity that channels funds directly to research.

“It’s a terrible disease that has directly affected our club twice in consecutive years and every little bit we can contribute will help,” said Manly United CEO David Mason.

“When it strikes close to home as it did last year and has again, it makes you reflect on the strength of our club and the sense of community that everyone feels. Our players and teams will take to the field wearing the Sockit2MND socks as a sign of unity for our families struggling but also to raise awareness for what is a horrid disease.”

Last year, it struck close to home when 12-year-old Sebastian Jolly, a member of the Manly United SAP team, sadly lost his dad Graeme to the disease.

The community rallied and Manly United organised a dedicated game day at Cromer Park to support Sebastian, brother Conrad, sister Genevieve and mum Isabella, who ran a half-marathon with a goal to raise $5000 for MND NSW. She would raise $25,000 as the community wrapped its arms the Jolly family because of care, love and hope – and fight.

-Manly United Press Release