Manly United Prepare for Preliminary Semi-Final
3 August , 2022 By Football NSW
Preliminary Semi-Final: Manly United FC v Blacktown City FC
3:00pm, Sunday 7th August, Cromer Park
The boys from Blacktown will make the trip to the Northern Beaches to take on Manly United in the Preliminary Semi-Final on Sunday afternoon.
In what will be an exciting day of NSW football, with the Waratah Cup Final to be played beforehand, the match will see one team go through to take on Sydney Olympic for a chance in the Grand Final.
The last time the two came up against each other, Blacktown thumped Manly with a 6-1 victory, a result Manly will be hoping to repay in this clash. Blacktown also won their first clash of the 2022 season with a 3-1 victory and they will be hoping to make it three from three.
Blacktown’s Daniel Collins was sent from the field in their Round 21 loss to Olympic and will miss this match and their next, leaving Mark Crittenden to adjust his squad, although their formation of three defenders at the back gives them a bit more flexibility to adjust their defensive line.
Travis Major and Danny Choi are back in action for Blacktown City, having returned to the club in recent weeks and will add some valuable attacking prowess to an already talented squad.
Manly Captain James Oates has been a shining star for the Northern Beaches outfit this season, alongside Brazilian striker Bruno Mendes and Seiya Kambayashi, giving Adam Griffiths plenty of talent to work with.
Both teams have won the Championship without winning the Premiership in recent years so the fight will not be out of their depth and luckily they’ll get two shots to progress either way.