Manly United were left to rue a cruel stoppage-time goal on Friday night, falling 1–0 to St George FC in a tightly contested NPL NSW clash at Barton Park.
In a match played at a relentless tempo, the Manly First Grade side produced a spirited performance and created several opportunities, only to see the hosts snatch all three points at the death.
The game burst into life early, with goalkeeper Mackenzie Syron producing a superb save in the 13th minute to deny Justin Poon and keep the scores level. From there, the Manly players took their chances, with shots from Kakeru Ono, Ayumu Kimura and Stephan De Robillard all testing the opposition. St George also came close on a couple of occasions before the break, yet despite the relentless attacking intent at both ends, the teams went into halftime locked at 0–0.
The second half continued in similar fashion, with Manly showing strong defensive resolve. Syron again proved crucial with a pair of excellent one-on-one saves – including a powerful drive by St George’s Troy Danaskos – while Aaron O’Driscoll produced numerous interventions to repel the hosts’ attacking pressure.
Shared points would have been a fair end to the fixture, and almost was, until late substitute Harrison Farrow converted a through ball in stoppage time to edge the match in the home side’s favour.
Despite the narrow defeat, Manly showed plenty of character and intensity throughout the ninety-plus minutes, with head coach Vladimir Knezevic saying after the game how the team played impressive football with minimal errors.
Disappointment for U20s
In the evening’s earlier fixture, Rhys Webster continued his strong start to the U20s season by finding the net once again, with Monty Peppel also getting on the scoresheet in a fast-paced and competitive 4–2 game.
The squad now shifts its focus to the next challenge, returning to Cromer Park next weekend for an important home fixture against Western Sydney Wanderers. KO: 5.30pm U20s and 7.30pm First Grade.
See full match stats here.
Image credit: Football NSW
