WPL – Manly United vs Blacktown Spartans review
By Tobias Canning
Manly United continues its early pre season campaign with a 2-2 draw against Blacktown Spartans last Sunday afternoon at Cromer Park.
With Manly still having nine players on W-League duties, they played a hybrid first grade/reserve grade match, playing a Reserve Grade side for the first half and their First Grade team for the second. It allowed a lot of players to get some further game time under their belts ahead of the new season.
Tegan Biasi scored MUFC’s initial goal in the 17th minute, her first goal since coming back from an ACL injury. Biasi started her run from just outside the box before she easily put it past the keeper to not only open the scoring but provide a moment for everyone to remember after her long road back from her knee injury.
As well as her goal, Biasi was a constant threat in attack proving a series of perfect long passes for her team mates. She was equally as impressive with her defensive duties.
Manly looked cohesive as a unit in the first half and showed there will be a few girls pressing for first team opportunities in the near future.
It was only minutes after the whistle blew for the start of the second half that Manly United’s second goal of the game. The move was started by Sophie Nenadovic, who beat two defenders to whip in a perfect cross that found Emily Minett., who beat a defender and the goalkeeper to slot the ball into the back of the net.
Minnett was also a standout for Manly United in the second half. She was crafty with the ball at her feet and the opposition struggles to deal with her.
The game continued to offer some positive headaches for Coach Tom Hopley as he works towards selecting a team for Round 1 on 4 April.
The girls are next in action this Sunday at Cromer Park against the Central Coast Mariners. Kick-off is 3pm.
