Adelaide City were crowned RAANPLSA Champions on Friday night, defeating Adelaide Comets 2-1 on a wet, pulsating night at ServiceFM Stadium in Gepps Cross.
On commentary, Lucas Rinaldo called it, “a Grand Final so nice, it had to happen twice,” and it was an apt description if you were to ask anyone wearing the Black and White.
In the past decade, both Adelaide City and the Adelaide Comets have been regular fixtures of Grand Final day, but have shared a tendency for calamity under the bright lights. Coming into the 2021 Grand Final, the first between the two sides, Adelaide City had lost five Grand Finals since winning the NPL last in 2010, meanwhile the Comets had fallen shirt in both their attempts in 2019 and 2020 to the all-conquering Campbelltown City.
On that day, Paul Pezos’ Adelaide City overcame the Comets in a penalty shootout to claim its first RAANPLSA title in a decade and it turned out to be a watershed moment for the club. 2022 was a famous year for the Black and White, winning the Federation Cup and the Premiership, both eluding them in 2021, before making the Grand Final after only suffering one league defeat all year.
In the way of City’s treble pursuit stood Barney Smith’s Adelaide Comets who were adamant on putting their own threepeat of disappointing Grand Finals behind them. In the past four seasons, the Comets have pieced together the most consistent results in the league, but have not been able to replicate it when it’s mattered most.
Fortune has not been a privilege the Comets have enjoyed on the big stage, and unfortunately for Barney Smith’s men it was not long until their series of unfortunate events reared its ugly head in yet another Grand Final.
Majok did not let his earlier miss deter him and only 15 minutes into the game his pace saw him through on goals. Young defender Tom Giannakopoulos was beaten for pace and brought the forward down before being shown a straight red card by referee Daniel Cook.
Barney Smith was enraged by the decision, later getting booked himself, but the pain was far from over for the Comets coach and his players. Adelaide City midfielder Nicholas Bucco proceeded to place the forthcoming free kick into Dan Vaughan’s top corner to give his side the lead.
The Comets went close to an unlikely equaliser when City ‘keeper Dakota Ochsenham found a free kick hard to handle in the difficult conditions, but City hit back fast. Being a man light, the Comets were always going to be susceptible to counterattacks, and a lighting quick City move saw Majok set up Irabona for an easy finish with five minutes to go in the first half to double his sides lead.
It would have been easy for the Comets to accept their fate as the perennial bridesmaids of the competition, but a late goal from Nathan Andijanto after a string of headers originating from a throw in sent the Comets to the sheds with a sliver of hope and City with something to ponder.
City picked up where it left off in the second half, but the talking point was Comets ‘keeper Dan Vaughan who heroically kept his side in the game after saving a Majok shot to his own peril. The goalkeeper hurt his knee to go along with his already damaged hamstring.
Despite hobbling his way through the rest of the game, Vaughan made several key interventions to give the Comets a chance at snatching an unlikely goal. The hope nearly paid off when City defender Tom Brown slipped as Comets forward Jaiden Diamantis received the ball in the box, but the young forward snatched at his shot to send it over the bar.
Comets Captain Allan Welsh was sent forward in search for an equaliser, but City remained resolute to hold onto its slender lead, claiming its second consecutive Championship in front of 1764 people at Service FM Stadium.
Adelaide City’s jubilation was compounded by the fact that it became the first South Australian side to achieve a treble winning season since 2004 when the MetroStars last achieved that feat.
Full Time | RAANPLSA Grand Final 2022 | ServiceFM Stadium
Adelaide City 2-1 Adelaide Comets
Bucco 24’, Irabona 41’
Andijanto 45+3’
Attendance - 1764