Manly United were defeated 6-0 by Sydney FC in the Sunday evening NPL Men’s NSW game at a rainy Cromer Park.
It was a match to remember for Sydney FC’s Mathias Macallister, who scored five times in a memorable performance.
Early on, Manly flyer Peter Kekeris couldn’t quite grip the ball with the goal beckoning as the hosts looked to open up the match. Rocco Pelle then came close for Manly as he was unable to sneak his header past Alexander Zaverdinos from close range.
After that, the Sky Blues tore the game wide open with two blistering strikes in the 6th and 9th minute.
First, Taye Hedley made no mistake with his finish, courtesy of a brilliant ball inside the box, laid on by Corey Cronin. Macallister then continued to shake the game up when his pinpoint header found the top corner.
Kekeris continued to be a force for Manly, despite the scoreline, when his lively run down the sidelines in the 17th minute almost resulted in something, only for Ethan Dyer to clear his pass out of play.
It continued to be a largely Sydney FC dominated half, and they perhaps should have had a one man advantage in the 32nd minute when Bilal Belkadi caught Joseph Calusic’s feet.
Manly started the second half far better than they ended the first, as Harry Van Der Saag went inches away from curling his shot into the bottom corner.
However, it didn’t take long for the young Sydney FC boys to flex their attacking muscle, and in the 50th minute Hedley forced a diving two-handed save from Levi Kaye.
Four minutes later, Sydney FC lit up once again with some quality attacking play. Lachlan Middleton placed a pinpoint through ball to Macallister, who beat several Manly players before scoring.
Macallister incredibly completed his hat trick in the 58th minute from the edge of the box, after he ran between Aaron O’Driscoll and Alen Aganovic before blasting his shot past Kaye.
The hat trick didn’t stop Macallister from continuing to cause havoc and in the 65th minute he had four for the evening, after his fancy footwork in the box saw him evade multiple Manly players before he unfurled a shot into the far corner.
Sensationally, in the 75th minute Macallister locked down his fifth goal of the game when he breezed past O’Driscoll and Aganovic, leaving Kaye unable to reach the ball in time.
Post-game, Macallister was quick to praise his teammates and was delighted with Sydney’s performance, especially after the game was delayed by two hours due to lightning in the area.
“For us this is the standard. This is what we’re working on in training and the boys brought it.
“The weather delay didn’t impact us. The long wait time in the locker rooms didn’t change anything. Our game plan was to get them early and that’s what we did.
“While for me, personally, I’m happy with how we played, and I want to score goals. We’re putting something special together and we are aiming to be finals bound for sure.”
Manly United 0
Sydney FC 6 (Taye Hedley 6’, Mathias Macallister 9’, 54’, 58’, 65’, 75’)
Match Stats
Sunday 15 June 2025
Cromer Park
Referee: Logan Jones
Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki and Charbel Geha
Fourth Official: Ivica Covic
Manly United: 1.Levi Kaye, 2.Aaron O’Driscoll, (4.Jesse Piriz 62’), 6.Bilal Belkadi, 7.Peter Kekeris, (8.Stefano Rossello 62’), 9.Benjamin Koop, (10.Harry McCarthy 62’), (11.Lucas Meek 62’), 12.Rocco Pelle, 13.Taiga Kawano, (17.Farah Koko 62’), 19.Alen Aganovic, 23.Darcy Burgess, 26.Harry Van Der Saag, 28.Jasper Chipman
Unused subs: 18.Jay Coates
Yellow cards: Harry Van Der Saag 84’, Aaron O’Driscoll 89’
Red cards: None
Sydney FC: 4.Joseph Calusic, 5.Ethan Dyer, 6.Tyler Williams, 9.Mathias Macallister, 10.Taye Hedley, 12.Alexander Zaverdinos, 14.Jared Middleton, (15.Samuel Lancaster 69’), (17.Jacob Mclachlan 65’), (22.Zac Fowler 69’), 27.Lachlan Middleton, 29.Joe Lacey, (33.Marin France 65’), 39.Dylan Rose, 47.Corey Cronin
Unused subs: 1.Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 3.Kyle Shaw
Yellow cards: Lachlan Middleton 64’
Red cards: None
Player Ratings:
3: Mathias Macallister (Sydney)
2: Alexander Zaverdinos (Sydney)
1: Corey Cronin (Sydney)
By Football NSW
