Manly United FC handed new coach Paul Dee a winning start following a 3-1 win against Blacktown City FC on Sunday afternoon at Cromer Park.

After taking over midweek from Craig Midgley, Dee stated it would be more of the same with him at the helm.

4' minutes in the home side had a dream start when midfielder Dom Ferguson opened the scoring.

Collecting the ball from 25 yards, the Central Coast Mariners National Youth League utility smashed an effort in off the crossbar which Nenad Vekic was never going to stop.

8' minutes later Blacktown City FC striker Danny Choi showed good feet inside the box to beat his marker.

He hit an effort with his left foot which looked goal bound, only to see it flash past the far post.

After 32' minutes Yianni Fragogiannis rattled the crossbar with a free kick and you sensed Mark Crittenden's men were warming to the contest.

Moments later they were back in the game when Kearyn Baccus slotted home a penalty.

The decision appeared harsh after United skipper Graeme Forbes got plenty of ball in the challenge which led to the spot kick, but referee Michael Weiner was adamant Ryuji Miyazawa was fouled in the area.

It didn't prove to be costly as Chris Payne restored Manly's one goal buffer on 40' minutes.

The striker gambled on a nervous backpass to Vekic, and much to the delight of his teammates, stabbed home an effort from the edge of the box.

5' minutes after the break Blacktown City should have equalised after some comical defending from Josh Lawson.

The usually rock solid defender was the luckiest man at Cromer Park when Miyazawa couldn't beat Dylan Mitchell from point blank range after being handed the simplest of chances.

15' minutes later Brendan Cholakian showed blinding acceleration down the left flank after being played into space.

He picked out Payne but he planted his header wide of the target from six yards.

80' minutes in Payne played provider and Cholakian secured the three points with a well taken goal to send the fans in the Lucas Neill Stand into a state of delirium.

Dee was understandably happy with what his team dished up.

"I asked the boys to elevate the level of performance from last week (against Sydney United 58 FC) and they did so, which was great,'' he said,

"At halftime we had to adjust a few things which we also did well.

"We have (Blacktown) Spartans next week so we will look to keep doing what is working well for us."

His opposite Mark Crittenden conceded his team was off the pace.

"You know what you are going to get each time you play Manly,'' he said.

"They are very physical and full credit to them – their first goal was a bomb and they took their chances."

Match stats

Manly United FC 3 (Dom Ferguson 4', Chris Payne 41', Brendan Cholakian 80')

Blacktown City FC 1 (Kearyn Baccus 35' [PEN])

Sunday April 13th, 2014

Cromer Park, Cromer

Referee: Michael Weiner

Assistant referees: Lance Greenshields and Scott Edeing

Fourth official: Daniel Stack

Manly United FC: 1.Dylan Mitchell; 7.Scott Balderson, (22.Jack Green 76') 10.Brendan Cholakian, 12.Dom Ferguson, (13.Masakatsu Tanaka 55') 4.Graeme Forbes, 8. Danny Grant, 5.Josh Lawson, 9.Chris Payne, 16.Jed Prater, (17.Nathan Sim 82') 11. Roberto Speranza, 6.Josh Ward

Substitutes not used: 20.Tonu Liiband (GK), 19,Daniel Saric

Yellow cards: Josh Ward 24', Scott Balderson 74'

Red cards: Nil

Blacktown City FC: 1.Nenad Vekic; 16.Kearyn Baccus, 19.Zach Cairncross, 11.Danny Seung-Joo Choi, (20.Giuseppe Camera 85') 4.Yianni Fragogiannis, 6.Mat Lewis, (8.Sasa Macura 60') 7.Travis Major, 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 5.Jacob Poscoliero, (12.Joel Hardwick 69') 3.Giorgio Speranza, 15.Marco Travaglini

Substitutes not used: 13.Blake Tuxford, 14.Lewis Beumie

Yellow cards: Matt Lewis 45'

Red cards: Nil

Player ratings:

3 – Dylan Mitchell (MU)

2 – Brendan Cholakian (MU)

1 - Kearyn Baccus (BC)

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