Manly United 1-2 Illawarra Stingrays
A closely-fought match played out between Manly United and Illawarra Stingrays at Cromer Park, with the Stingrays taking home the three points in a 2-1 win.
After successfully holding out for ninety minutes in a 1-0 win away at Premiers APIA Leichardt, Manly returned to Cromer Park determined to keep the three points away from the visiting Stingrays.
The Stingrays, having fallen just short against Champions Macarthur Rams in Round 1, were readied for a tough away match against a Manly side buoyed by their opening round win.
However, it was the visitors who took the lead early on in the 4th minute following a brilliant counterattack that ended with Siobhan Edwards rounding Manly stalwart Nicole Simonsen and tucking the ball away for a 1-0 lead.
A turnover from Manly whilst attempting to play out from the back gave the Stingrays a perfect chance to capitalise and extend their lead, with Simonsen resolutely saving the initial effort from Chloe Middleton before Edwards pounced onto the ball and placed the ball into the goal. 2-0 to the Stingrays in the 13th minute.
Manly’s Tegan Biasi would put her side back into the game in the 58th minute from a corner, but it proved to be not enough for the home side to successfully follow-up on their win last week.
By Football NSW
