Manly United made the most of their chances to down Sydney Olympic in a 5-2 thriller on Sunday evening at Valentine Sports Park.
It was a frenetic start from both clubs in the first half of this clash that was relocated from Belmore due to the weather, with three goals scored inside the opening 13 minutes of play.
Olympic went ahead early in the third minute after a smart long ball from Jack Armson released Cyrus Dehmie, with the forward driving the ball into the box and then burying it into the bottom left corner.
Manly managed to bring it back soon after in the ninth minute courtesy of a beautiful long shot by Harry Van Der Saag that sailed into the top right corner and deflected into the net off the post.
The visitors then took the lead themselves in the 13th minute after Van Der Saag delivered a good cross on his weaker left foot towards Taiga Kawano, who controlled the ball and then buried it into the back of the goal.
Van Der Saag nearly grabbed himself a second with another long-range effort in the 16th minute, though Olympic goalkeeper Jack Gibson committed strongly to his right to keep it out.
The Blues came very close to drawing level in the 30th minute after a great long throw from Zac Zoricich was controlled by Teng Kuol inside the six yard box, leading to a shot from Dehmie that was blocked by Manly’s defence.
The trio would combine again two minutes later in the 32nd minute wherein Zoricich delivered another long throw in from inside their half which was chested by Kuol into Dehmie, with the striker then dribbling the ball again into the box and calmly depositing it into the bottom right to make it 2-2.
Armson was inches away from restoring Olympic’s advantage in the 36th minute after releasing an excellent low strike from range that was just knocked away by Manly’s outstretched goalkeeper, Levi Kaye.
The scoring continued into the second period with former Olympic player Darcy Burgess unleashing a strong finish into the top left in the 52nd minute.
A calamitous back pass from Doni Grdic towards Gibson was intercepted by Kawano in the box, but he squandered the golden chance to grab their fourth in the 61st minute as his tame shot went just wide of the right post.
The Blues nearly found their third in the 75th minute after a lovely cross by Adam Parkhouse was met by Kuol in the box, with his looping header smacking onto the crossbar.
The travellers then put the game to bed in the 85th minute when Stefano Rossello delivered a great ball into the box for Lucas Meek to tap in from close range.
Manly popped up with one more goal in the 93rd minute via Farah Koko, who scored with an excellent first-time curling finish into the right side of the net.
Manly United assistant coach Jimmy Snedden acknowledged that the game was far more difficult than the scoreline suggested, praising the players for their execution of the game plan.
“It was tough. Both teams worked really hard and it was a battle,” Snedden told Football NSW.
“We had a plan, and we tried to stick to it, but they were really strong on the counter-attack with their front four tough to deal with, so we had to deal with them first.
“We were lucky that the hard work paid off and we got a couple of good goals, but it was a really tough game.”
Snedden added that it was encouraging they won after debuting a new shape, both in defence and in attack, during the game, which they will likely further continue to work on.
Sydney Olympic coach Labinot Haliti noted the strong performance from the opposition, while highlighting that his side were unable to grab a stronghold in the key moments of the contest.
“We started well and then we dropped off. Credit to them, they scored two quick goals.
“After we scored, for whatever reason, we dropped and then again we got another goal to come back into the game. It didn’t fall our way after that,” Haliti told Football NSW.
“At 2-2 there was a decision in the penalty box that didn’t go our way … but that is football.”
Sydney Olympic 2 (Cyrus Dehmie 3’, 32’)
Manly United 5 (Harry Van Der Saag 9’, Taiga Kawano 13’, Darcy Burgess 52’, Lucas Meek 85’, Farah Koko 90+3’)
Match Stats
Sunday 27 April
Valentine Sports Park
Referee: Mujtaba Ebrahimi
Assistant Referees: Charbel Geha and Amber Morris
Fourth Official: Matt Staples
Sydney Olympic: 1. Jack Gibson, 5. Ziggy Gordon, 7. Michael Vakis (22. Dylan Ruiz-Diaz 55’), 9. Cyrus Dehmie, 10. Jack Armson, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 12. Zac Zoricich, 14. Seth Clark, 17. Joshua Hong (19. Gianni Di Pizio 84’), 18. Teng Kuol, 28. Doni Grdic
Substitutes Not Used: 6. Thomas Wiffen, 13. Monty Partington, 16. Bailey Callaghan, 23. Jackson Fowler
Yellow Cards: Jack Armson 40’, Doni Grdic 87’
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United: 1. Levi Kaye, 3. Matthew O’Donoghue (4. Jesse Piriz 65’), 6. Bilal Belkadi (14. Maxwell Pengelly 80’), 10. Harry McCarthy (38. Farah Koko 76’), 11. Lucas Meek, 12. Rocco Pelle (37. Ryan Devine 80’), 15. Taiga Kawano, 19. Alen Aganovic, 23. Darcy Burgess (8. Stefano Rossello 76’), 26. Harry Van Der Saag, 33. Aaron O’Driscoll
Substitutes Not Used: 21. Anthony Carreras
Yellow Cards: Bilal Belkadi 45+2’, Matthew O’Donoghue 59’, Darcy Burgess 73’, Ryan Devine 90’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Harry Van Der Saag (Manly)
2: Cyrus Dehmie (Olympic)
1: Taiga Kawano (Manly)
-By Dimitri Kallos for Football NSW
