The RAA NPLSA Grand Final no one expected between the youthful exuberance of Adelaide United and the fairytale journey of Modbury Jets saw a bumper 1627-strong crowd enter the gates of ServiceFM Stadium to witness Football South Australia crown a new RAA NPLSA Champion.
Adelaide United’s Grand Final day got off to a rocky start when A-League Men captain Craig Goodwin was unexpectedly transferred to the Saudi Arabian Pro-League. In every crisis, an opportunity presents itself and that came in the form of the RAA NPLSA Grand Final for the next generation of Reds who entered their encounter against Modbury Jets keen to earn their club silverware and to stake their claims for consideration once the A-League Men season kicks off.
It may have been Adelaide United’s first RAA NPLSA Grand Final, but the big story entering the decider was Maurice Natale’s Modbury. In just their first season after gaining promotion to the NPL, the Jets managed to play themselves into the competition’s Grand Final, even knocking out Premiers MetroStars in the process.
The Modbury narrative ran into its first problem on the big night after only a minute when defender Tim Henderson went down with an injury after only a minute of game time. The concern was palpable in the Modbury dominated crowd as Henderson is not a player to stay down without cause.
The defender was able to play on, but within 5 minutes of re-entering the field of play, Henderson slipped whilst attempting to meet an underhit Joseph Macheda back pass, allowing Panashe Madanha through on goal. The young winger, who has found himself playing at right back at times in 2023, made no mistake, rolling the ball past an advancing Ryan Neild to give the Young Reds an early lead.
Henderson did not remain on the pitch for much longer, being replaced by Paul Wilson in the Modbury backline due to his injury. Despite the early disappointment, the Jets were able to work their way back into the game and Hamish McCabe nearly punished the Young Reds on the counter.
As the half wore on, the game settled into its expected rhythm of Adelaide United controlling the ball and the Modbury Jets pressing their opponents while looking to hit them on the counter. Despite the Jets’ pressure, the Young Reds insisted on playing from the back, and that attacking intent nearly paid off multiple times as Airton Andrioli’s side inched closer to a second goal.
Unfortunately for Modbury, when that second goal came it was self-inflicted, with Madanha pouncing on a loose ball from the back and once again finding himself one-on-one with Neild in the Jets' goal. The winger’s attempted chip was partly saved by the goalkeeper but Luka Jovanovic made no mistake to tap home United’s second in the 37th minute.
Three minutes later, a clean Ethan Alagich ball to Jonny Yull in the box saw the midfielder effectively crown Adelaide United RAA NPLSA Champions heading into halftime.
Natale threw caution to the wind at the break by introducing forward Stefan Matteo for defensive midfielder Darsem Shaksi. After a positive start, which saw Matteo nearly set up Joshua Hernandez for Modbury’s opening goal, Madanha and Jovanovic combined, with the latter recording his brace against a Jets side which began to grow increasingly dejected.
The Young Reds threatened to blow the match out of the water two minutes later, and after Bailey O’Neil hit the crossbar from range in the 53rd minute, Jonny Yull was given far too much time and space in the box and the midfielder duly obliged to make it five.
Within the next 15 minutes the Young Reds had turned Modbury’s fairytale into a nightmare, with Luke Duzel and substitute Fabian Talladira adding insult to injury by recording their side’s sixth and seventh goals respectively.
A day to forget for Modbury ended with a silver lining after Liam McCabe capitalised on a Giuseppe Bovalina slip to deliver the ball to his brother Hamish in the box, who was able to record a consolation goal for his side. On a night where Modbury fans would have hoped the scoring started sooner, the script repeated with the brothers combining and Hamish recording Modbury’s second.
Conceding two late goals did not dampen the Young Reds’ spirits who, despite fielding multiple A-League Men players, celebrated their club’s first NPL title with evident passion. The majority of Adelaide United's players, such as Jonny Yull, Ethan Alagich, and Panashe Madanha, were involved in relegation battles as recently as two seasons ago, which made being crowned Champions in the same competition they were nearly demoted from all the more sweeter.
Modbury Jets | 2 - 7 | Adelaide United FC |
McCabe81' McCabe88' | Madanha8' Jovanovic38' Yull42' Jovanovic52' Yull62' Duzel68' Talladira73' |