Shoalhaven Football
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Manyana 4
Shoalhaven Heads 3
MANYANA scored in the dying minutes of the game to give themselves a 4-3 win over Shoalhaven Heads in a scrappy affair at Manyana Sports Field on Saturday.
Heads coach and player Brad Page said the uneven Manyana ground made it difficult and all seven goals scored were scrappy.
“With the ground the way it was it was almost impossible to play any reasonable football, so we were a bit unenthused in the first half,” he said.
In the 24th minute, Manyana drew first blood and despite plenty of attempts, the score at half-time stayed 1-nil.
Page said his half-time team talk was about building enthusiasm so his team could out-enthuse the home side.
“That was what it was really all about, because what we had worked on all year wouldn’t have worked there because the ground was so poor,” he said.
It wasn’t until the 75th minute that Heads got on the scoreboard, when Connor Edenden evened the scores.
However Manyana hit back in the 80th and 81st minute with two consecutive goals to make it 3-1.
But Heads were far from done, and four minutes later Jye Findlay made it 3-2, and three minutes after that Edenden evened the score again to make it 3-all.
In the 89th minute Manyana put the final boot in to score and claim the match.
However there was a nail-biting moment in injury time when Roy Miller had a promising shot on goal, but the Manyana keeper made the save to secure full points for the round.
Page said although Ian Martin worked hard all game, there were no standouts for his team.
However he did say he takes his hat off to the referee, who had a tough job on Saturday.
“We disagreed on a lot of things, but he was always approachable, which you don’t always find,” he said.
Heads will play Basin at Vic Zealand Oval on Saturday, with Page happy to be back at home.
“Home games we love, so we are really looking forward to playing at home. We have had a tough couple of games in the last few weeks so we are looking forward to getting back on track,” he said.
Manyana will come up against Illaroo.