MANLY UNITED SUFFER UNLUCKY LOSS TO MARCONI

Manly United lost 1-0 to Marconi Stallions at Cromer Park on Friday night, after Marconi skipper Marko Jesic scored from a free kick.

The action kicked off four minutes in as Kieren Paull sent a lofty pass to Connor Rose, whose header flashed wide of the goal. Two minutes later, the Stallions were presented with their first meaningful highlight as Anton Mlinaric saw his pass inside the box headed away by a storming Paull clearance.

As the game continued to ebb and flow, Manly did incredibly well to withstand what Marconi threw at them, with James Temelkovski’s low driving shot going straight to a well-positioned Kaye.

Then as the 23rd minute hit, Jesic found himself on the end of a pinpoint pass from Temelkovski and despite the space in front of him, dragged his shot wide.

Connor Rose went close in the 33rd minute but Jesic was at his best, flying in with a last-ditch clearance.

Rose burst out of the floodgates in the second half as he soared past Brandon Vella, but his attacking foray was met with back-to-back clearances from Nathan Millgate to keep Manly at bay.

Temelkovski saw his shot saved by the outstretched foot of Kaye 60 minutes in, and then the follow-up was just as unlucky, with the powerful rebound effort from Franco Maya flying inches wide.

The deadlock was broken three minutes later as a sensational freekick from Jesic left Kaye defenceless and it was 1-0 to the visitors.

Moments later an incredible, low diving save from James Hilton denied Peter Kekeris an equaliser. Rival keeper Kaye continued to be massive for Manly as his outstretched foot denied Maya a surefire strike, with both keepers in top form in the 71st minute.

As the game reached the closing stages, Manly threatened multiple times but Marconi held on.

Daniel Bouman reflected post-match about his side’s huge result, adding pressure to league leaders Rockdale Ilinden in their pursuit for the Premiership.

“Coming down to Cromer is difficult and we knew they’d put in a good shift.

“While they always say winning championships comes from defence and ours was great today.

“We’ve shown we can beat anybody, and we have that momentum heading into the finals, we have a great chance this season.”

*Prior to the match, a minute’s silence was observed for the great John Kaye, Levi Kaye’s Grandfather. John was actively involved within the MWFA throughout his life and was a founding member of the Pittwater RSL Football Club. From the entire Football NSW community, we send our sincere condolences to John’s extended family, friends and everyone else who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Manly United 0

Marconi Stallions 1 (Marko Jesic 63’)

Match Stats

Friday 19 July 2024

Cromer Park, Cromer

Referee: Sam Kelly

Assistant Referees: Alessandro Llana and Isaac Riggs

Fourth Official: Thomas Dale

Manly United: 1.Levi Kaye, 2.Kieren Paull, (3.Zac Sfiligoi 80’), 4.Jesse Piriz, 6.Saxon Hillyer, (7.Peter Kekeris 56’), (8.Joseph Fox 80’), 9.Benjamin Koop, 11.Connor Rose, 12.Miguel Bauza,18.Presley Ortiz,19.Alen Aganovic, (22.Blake Bamgbose 80’), 25.Rocco Pelle, 39.Stefano Rossello, (45.Bilal Belkadi 71’)

Unused subs: 31.Jay Coates

Yellow cards: Bilal Belkadi 75’, Gonzalo Naya Vaghi 90+1’

Red cards: Nil

Marconi Stallions: 1.James Hilton, 2.Nathan Millgate, 4.Anton Mlinaric, 5.James Bayliss, 6.Domenic Costanzo, 7.Franco Maya, 8.Daniel Bouman, 9.James Temelkovski, 10.Marko Jesic,16.Liam Youlley, (18.George Daniel 84’), (20.Yuki Kitano 78’), 23.Brandon Vella

Unused subs: 17.Milislav Popovic , 19.Kyle Cimenti, 34.Julian Monge, 40.Patrick Williams

Yellow cards: Nathan Millgate 65’

Red cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3: Nathan Millgate (MS)

2: Levi Kaye (MU)

1: Marko Jesic (MS)

-By Tobias Canning for Football NSW