MEN’S PREVIEW: MANLY UNITED v MARCONI STALLIONS
On Saturday night, the Manly United Men’s 1st Grade team will host Marconi Stallions at Cromer Park. With only six points separating Manly from the top half of the table, this game is a great opportunity to climb the NPL NSW Men’s ladder.
There are no illusions about how tough this game will be – not only are Marconi in second place, but their attacking quartet of Jordi Swibel, Dom Costanzo, Marko Jesic and Kyle Cimenti have scored 33 goals between them this season. However, the Stallions haven’t won in their last three games, so there is definitely a chance for Manly to get a result on Saturday.
As Manly look for a return to winning ways, the reliable central defensive pair of Alen Aganovic and Jimmy Oates will be important, especially given the attacking firepower at Marconi’s disposal. In attack, Harry McCarthy was a real livewire after coming off the bench during last weekend’s game against NWS Spirit, and midseason signing Connor Rose adds a lot of trickery to our side.
Our U20 team are coming off a resounding 6-0 win over Spirit, a game in which Marcus Lal and Stefan Visscher scored twice, while Rocco Pelle and Adam Shaheen also found the back of the net. Jasper Chipman deserves praise for his performance after stepping up from the U18s to play in his first U20 game of the season.
The Manly U20s are in great form: they’ve won their last three games (scoring 13 goals and conceding none in the process), and they haven’t suffered defeat in almost two months. Marconi’s U20 side lead the competition but are only three points ahead of Manly, so victory on Saturday will put Manly at or near the top of the U20 ladder.
If you can’t get to the ground for our Men’s 1st Grade clash, tune in on NPL.TV .
Manly United v Marconi Stallions
Saturday 8 July, 7:15pm (U20s kickoff at 5pm)
Cromer Park