Crunch game for United
Manly United takes on arch rivals APIA Leichhardt in a crunch NSW National Premier League fixture at Cromer Park on Friday night. Lick off is 7pm.
The match will see former Manly coach Paul Dee return to Cromer Park for the first time but Manly’s focus will be squarely on getting the job done as the race for a place in the finals series moves into the final straight.
United, which today sits in outright 4th position on the NSW NPL ladder, will head into the round 16 fixture high on confidence after a bang-up 3-0 win over Rockdale-Ilenden last weekend.
In-form stars for Manly include attackers Dejan Pandurevic and 17-year-old Ben Gibson, while Luca Kmet scored a candidate for goal of the year with a cracking strike just on the 18-yard box.
Yet Manly’s best in the 3-0 win was goalkeeper Sam Benton who made several crucial saves that kept Rockdale out of the game while his distribution and decision making was spot on for 90 minutes, according to defender Jimmy Oates.
Benton, Oates and the rest of the United back division will have to be on guard fo the threat of APIA striker Peter Kekeris. Quick and skilful, Kekeris is a fan favourite of the APIA faithful and has scored three goals across his last three starts.
Feeding Kekeris through-balls will be right back Will Mutch, another key player for APIA.
APIA Leichhardt sits just two points below Manly in 6th position and after a patchy start to the season are on something of a roll. They beat Sutherland 2-0 last week following a 1-1 draw with Sydney Olympic and 4-1 win over Mt Druitt Town Rangers.
Yet Manly United perhaps goes into the match as last start winners over their opponents given they were 2-1 victors in the round 5 fixture at Lambert Park in March.
The match looms a clutch fixture for Adam Griffiths’ side given there are just five points separating third (Rockdale-Ilenden) and eighth (Wollongong Wolves) on the NPL ladder.
Dee coached Manly for six seasons 2015-2020 and today holds the clipboard for APIA Leichhardt.