Manly were leading the National Premier Leagues clash by a goal and with time running out, the Blues’ Brendan Cholakian fired the ball in from the corner but it was pushed just wide by Peterson.
Olympic’s big off-season arrival Roy O’Donovan endured a quiet evening as his teammates struggled, although the ex-Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners frontman did find the net with a sensational looping header in the second half which was adjudged to be offside.
Olympic mustered a couple of good chances from set-pieces, such as when Ben Van Meurs met Adam Parkhouse’s corner only for his header to be headed off the line by Jimmy Oates.
However it proved to be a crucial intervention from the Manly stalwart, as Matt Sim broke the deadlock with a classy finish just moments later.
Olympic improved in the second half but never quite managed to mount sustained spells of pressure on the Norther Beaches side.
“This was a true Round 1 game,” Juric said.
“I wasn’t happy with the first half – we weren’t intense as we should’ve been. It’s a frustrating result.”
Blues miss by a goal
SYDNEY Olympic have gone down by a goal to Manly United after a Marley Peterson header almost gave them the equaliser during stoppage time at Belmore Sportsground last Saturday evening.