Campbelltown City (0) vs Adelaide Comets (1)
Second leg of Semi-Final
Venue: Steve Woodcock Sports Centre
Date: 31/08/2019 03:00 PM
A priceless week off and a spot at the big dance is up for grabs on Saturday afternoon, and Adelaide Comets have the slight edge after a tense first-leg last week.
Allan Welsh’s header 17 minutes from time has put the Adelaide Comets 90 minutes away from their first-ever NPL Grand Final, but in their way is an extremely experienced Campbelltown City side who will not be panicking just yet. Make no mistake, Joe Mullen’s men will be calm and ready.
The Red Devils though will be without captain Iain Fyfe, after the skipper received a straight red card after the final whistle in last week’s showdown at SA Athletics Stadium after an altercation with an opponent.
In the regular season, both sides enjoyed a three-goal winning margin at their home venues, with a 3-0 win for Campbelltown in round 10, then a crushing 4-1 win for Comets in round 21.
Match Official: Daniel Elder Assistant Referees: Nick Elagin, Jack Robinson, Isabella Blaess
Campbelltown City: 1. Jamie Signorello, 2. Shaun Harvey (C), 5. Matthew Mullen, 6. Dion Kirk, 7. Joel Allwright, 8. Alexander Mullen, 9. Marc Marino, 10. Luigi Ditroia, 11. Anthony Ture, 12. Jacob Williams, 14. Adam Piscioneri, 15. Antony Piscioneri, 16. Daniel Mullen, 17. Brandon Centofanti, 20. Nicholas Harpas (GK), 23. Jake Halliday
Coaches: Joseph Mullen, Philip Stubbins, Edward Scalzi
Team Staff: Panfilo Ciccocioppo, David Cavaiuolo, Leslie Pogliacomi, Elio Bria
Adelaide Comets: 1. Alexander Woodlands (GK), 2. Harry Keramidas, 4. Tom Dittmar, 5. Adam Le Cornu, 6. Jack Bladen, 7. Thomas Cyganov, 8. Connor Gollan, 9. Andreas Wiens, 10. Lansana Smith, 11. Jayden Lobasso, 12. Tete Yengi, 14. Nathan Andijanto, 15. Philip Cash, 16. Stephan Travaglione, 17. Franz Pjetri, 18. Stefan Simic, 22. Allan Welsh (C), 23. Scott Nagel, 30. Julian Torresan
Coaches: Konstandinos Antoniou, Elias Demo, Antonios Galanopoulos, Chris Simpson
Team Staff: Evangelo Katsambis, Elsie Kenny, Bridget Siviour
Adelaide Olympic vs MetroStars
Elimination Final
Venue: VALO Football Centre
Date: 31/08/2019 06:00 PM
Words by Jason Cavey | @JasonKVOfficial
Olympic vs MetroStars is our Match of the Round and will be streamed live on our Facebook and YouTube channels.
MetroStars are coming off a comprehensive 4-0 win against Raiders (match highlights here) in their Elimination Final last Saturday.
MetroStars did very well to edge the first half, despite playing against the strong winds.
Christian Esposito opened the scoring in the 40th-minute mark, controlling a Nahuel Bonada cross before slotting home.
Liam Wooding earnt his team a penalty in the first minute of the second half. Nahuel Bonada stepped up and confidently dispatched the spot-kick.
Midfielder Hamish Gow capped off a man-of-the-match performance with a stunning free-kick which gave goalkeeper Nick Munro no chance.
Flying winger Matthew Dawber completed the rout in the final minute with an outrageous chip on the edge of the area.
Meanwhile, Adelaide Olympic will be preparing for their third game in seven days after a disappointing 3-1 loss at home to Hume City in the FFA Cup Wednesday night.
It started well for Olympic who took the lead on 23 minutes through a moment of individual brilliance from Mamadi Kamara.
In what may have been the goal of the round, Kamara made an incredible run down the run the left hand side, beating three defenders and blasting home into the bottom corner.
Olympic were dreaming of the last eight when until Hume striker Marko Delic equalised nine minutes later.
Delic doubled his tally when he found himself unmarked at the far post and handed Hume the lead on the hour mark, before completing his hat-trick in the 71st minute.
Michael D'Aloisio and Dylan Smith are fit to play after both coming on as second half substitutes against Raiders. Fabian Barbiero will miss this game due to suspension following his red card against West Adelaide. Lachlan Barr and Tom Strain are unlikely to feature due to injury. Justin Davis and Matt Charalambous are both out with season ending injuries.
Fausto Erba and Christos Pounendis will come back into the squad after missing the midweek cup game through suspension.
There will be concerns over goalkeeper Daniel Vaughan though, who has been outstanding so far this season after he went off injured in the FFA Cup game.
The winner of Saturday's Elimination Final will go onto the face either Adelaide Comets or Campbelltown City for a spot in the Grand Final at Coopers Stadium.
Match Official: Christian Verdicchio Assistant Referees: Torin Cooper, Cole Davy, Nicholas Quirk
Adelaide Olympic: 1. Daniel Vaughan (GK), 2. Jacob Butler-Bowdon, 3. Matthew Halliday, 4. Thomas Brown, 5. David Makridis, 6. Elias Vlassis, 7. John Karatzas, 8. Manni Katopodis, 9. Christos Pounendis, 10. Ricardo DaSilva (C), 11. Alexandros Koutoulogenis, 12. Dimitri Toumazos, 13. Paul Espina, 14. Fausto Erba, 15. Jack Chivers, 16. John Tsimopoulos, 17. Paul Koutsampasis, 21. Nikolas Harpas
Coaches: George Tsonis, Tony Sacca, Ali Sadick
Team Staff: Caroline Riemelmoser, Carl Robinson, Alex Abela
MetroStars: 1. Isaac Carmody (GK), 3. Cohan Morris, 5. Timothy Henderson, 6. Lachlan Barr, 7. Michael Daloisio (C), 8. Rocky Callisto, 10. Anthony Solagna, 14. Dylan Smith, 15. Liam Wooding, 16. Alexander Jakob, 17. Matthew Dawber, 19. Cooper O'Donnell, 20. Luis Benedetti, 22. Hamish Gow, 23. Christian Esposito, 24. Nahuel Bonada, 25. Jackson O'Donnell, 26. Stefan Cali, 45. Jayden Spruyt
Coaches: Robert Saraceno, Travis Dodd, Terry Frangakis
Team Staff: Giorgio Capoccia, Joseph Polisena, Peter Terminello, George Laoutaris
State League 1
We enter the second week of the BORAL State League 1 Finals Series and its all to play for. Minor premiers and already promoted Modbury Jets take a 1-0 lead back home to Smith Partners for their second leg showdown against Sturt Lions. The Jets now only need a draw to secure a spot in the Grand Final in two weeks time. Both ties in the home and away season finished 2-2 so with no defeat to Sturt in the last three meetings, Jets will be feeling confident of a Coopers Stadium appearance.
In the elimination final, Cumberland United hosts Western United. United had to endure extra time to defeat a resilient WT Birkalla side last week while Western Strikers caused an upset by clinching a 1-0 win over White City, who in the league finished ten points ahead.
Cumberland United enjoyed 3-1 and 4-0 victories against their opponents this weekend so will be confident, but Western Strikers will be happy with the underdog label, especially after last weekend's upset.
State League 2
Adelaide Hills and Gawler Eagles are evenly poised heading into the secon-leg of their Semi-Final clash after a tense 0-0 draw in Gawler last weekend.
Hills only lost two games in the regular season, both against Gawler, home and away, so the game at Hawks Nest this Saturday night is nicely poised.
In the elimination finals, Vipers host Cobras at St Clair Oval on Saturday afternoon. Cobras were held to penalties in a classic match at Taperoo Reserve last Saturday night, while Vipers enjoyed a 4-2 win over Port Pirie's Northern Demons.
With just one point seperating Vipers and Cobras in the regualr season, the game is evenly matched. Vipers though were more clinical in front of goal though, shipping twelve more goals than their opponents in the league. However, Vipers could not get a win over Cobras over the two attempts last season.