Manly United were unstoppable in front of their home fans on Easter Monday and delivered a mammoth 5-0 win over Spirit FC at Cromer Park.
Heading into the Easter weekend, Manly were one of the undefeated teams in NPL Women’s NSW, while Spirit were coming off two consectutive victories.
Manly’s Emily Minett had the first attempt at goal in the 6th minute, an effort from outside the area which Spirit shot stopper Grace Smith saved comfortably. Smith was called on again five minutes later, bravely diving at Tegan Biasi’s feet to keep the United flyer from scoring.
On 22 minutes, a Spirit passing move which started with the goalkeeper resulted in Madison Gabila threading a ball through for Mikaela Gavranic, but Manly’s Nicole Simonsen made an excellent one-on-one save to keep the scores level. The visitors were having a good period and on the half hour, Simonsen was at full stretch to stop Cristina Auñon’s long-range shot.
Just before half-time, Manly broke the deadlock when Emily Minett beat three defenders and set up Anita Zordan for a shot that flew into the top corner from the edge of the area.
The hosts went through the gears in the second half and the contest was soon out of Spirit’s reach. On 56 minutes, Manly won possession high up the field, with Zordan, Daisy Arrowsmith and Minett combining to set up Biasi for their second goal of the afternoon.
Spirit went agonisigly close a minute later and Manly had Grace Arnold to thank for protecting their two goal cushion. Skye Halmarick tried to catch Simonsen off her line and as Victoria Martin charged towards the open net, Arnold lunged at the last possible moment to keep her out.
Arnold was involved at the other end on 61 minutes for Manly’s third goal, breaking play open with a strong run down the left flank and finding Biasi, who in turn set up Minett for a close range finish.
Manly had all the momentum by this stage and the fourth goal arrived two minutes later. Minett held the ball up expertly and passed the ball to Arrowsmith, who played in Arnold for a rare goal.
To their credit, Spirit didn’t give up and there was a quick response, as Halmarick turned past a challenge and stung Simonsen’s palms with a fierce effort. Halmarick was at it again five minutes from time, trying for goal from 35 yards out and forcing Simonsen into a flying save.
The final word went to the hosts in stoppage time. Biasi laid the ball off for substitute Leah Burton and when her shot was parried, Minett was in the right place for the simplest of finishes.
The 5-0 triumph extends Manly’s unbeaten start to 2025, while Spirit’s momentum from recent positive results has been stalled for now.
