National Premier League SA
Round 14
Adelaide Comets vs Adelaide Olympic
Venue: Jack Smith Park
Date: 14/06/2019 08:00 PM
In a repeat of the FFA Cup SA Qualifying Semi-final, Adelaide Comets take on finalists Adelaide Olympic in a Friday night encounter at Jack Smith Park.
The two sides faced off a little over a week ago at VALO Football Centre, where Olympic came from behind with goals from Pounendis and Karatzas to send their side to Coopers Stadium in next Saturday's final.
Since then, Comets suffered a 2-1 loss away at high flying Adelaide Blue Eagles. Le Cornu equalised for the Comets but two Testardi strikes sent Comets on their way from Marden with no points.
Olympic snatched a late, late point at Raiders, with Pounendis getting on the scoresheet in the 93rd minute to steal a point.
A win for Olympic would see them leapfrog their opponents tonight on goal difference.
Match Officials: Daniel Elder, Andrew Kite, Angus Macdonald
Adelaide Comets: 1. Julian Torresan, 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. Tete Yengi, 13. Jon Aurtenetxe Borde, 14. Nathan Andijanto, 15. Philip Cash, 16. Stephan Travaglione, 17. Franz Pjetri, 18. Stefan Simic, 22. Allan Welsh, 23. Scott Nagel, 30. Alexander Woodlands
Coaches: Konstandinos Antoniou, Elias Demo, Antonios Galanopoulos, Chris Simpson
Team Staff: Evangelo Katsambis, Elsie Kenny, Bridget Siviour
Adelaide Olympic: Ioannis Simosis, 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, 17. Paul Koutsampasis, 21. Nikolas Harpas, 23. Michael Alexandrou
Coaches: George Tsonis, Tony Sacca, Ali Sadick
Team Staff: Caroline Riemelmoser, Carl Robinson, Alex Abela
Adelaide United FC vs Adelaide City
Venue: VALO Football Centre
Date: 15/06/2019 03:00 PM
Words by Gianluca Filosi | @GianlucaFilosi
Adelaide United Youth defender, Cooper Nunn, believes the team’s improved defensive displays means they are close to snapping a six-game winless streak.
After losing four consecutive matches, the Young Reds have since recorded 1-1 draws against Adelaide Olympic and MetroStars respectively.
Nunn felt players from the NPL Reserves team have adapted seamlessly to the team and have helped re-establish that continuity in the squad.
That stability was previously sometimes difficult to maintain, given the personnel was changing week to week with the contracted Hyundai A-League players jumping between the Youth Team and the senior side.
“I think the boys are coming together really well,” he stated.
“I think we’re playing really good football as a team.
“It’s a lot more of a team game and we’re encouraging each other a lot more and using each other to our abilities.
“And I think we’re all training together all the time and we’re together and used to each other which is good and that’s key.
“It was hard with some of the A-League boys coming up and down and training with us it was a bit hard, but with everyone training together I think it’s been really good.
“We’ve had some really great games but just unfortunate not to get a result out of them.”
Another reason behind their improvement has been their resoluteness as a unit and particularly in defence.
“I think the boys have really lifted especially in the defensive half,” he said.
“We’ve been looking really solid and together and I think going from conceding as many as we were, to conceding a penalty… I think our defensive game has been really solid and I’m really happy about it.”
The Young Reds host relegation-threatened Adelaide City at the VALO Football Centre on Saturday, and Nunn knows just how crucial three points are at this stage of the campaign.
City lie in eleventh place and have also drawn their past two matches and will be desperate for a win to try and climb out of the drop zone.
“Every game is an important game especially from this part of the season on,” he said.
“It’s turning into a lot more of a desperate game and we need to win as many as we can in the last few games.
“I think going into the Adelaide City game if we play the game we’ve been playing, especially keeping our defensive half solid, I think the boys can easily get a win out of it and it just comes down to mentality and how we play on the day.”
Adelaide United FC: Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio, 2. Cooper Nunn, 5. Noah Smith, 6. Ryan Yates, 7. Taras Gomulka, 8. Jai King, 9. Ninko Beric, 11. Yared Abetew, 17. Aladin Irabona, 19. Alhassan Toure, 21. Domenic Costanzo, 23. Jason Konstandopoulos, 40. Dakota Ochsenham (GK), 44. Jared Clark
Coaches: Paul Pezos, Joshua Smith, Mario Karlovic
Team Staff: Robert Muscio, Julian Urlings, Agelo Kapnistis
Adelaide City: Joe Gauci, Marcos Flores, Haris Vuckic, Riley Ward, Zakariah Waters, Christopher Pepe, Stefan Casalbore, Tomas Maricic, Elliot Green, Adriano Pellegrino, Massimo Falco, 3. Bradley Corbo, 8. Joseph Costa, 9. Anthony Costa, 11. Nicholas Bucco, 16. Thomas Love
Coaches: Michael Matricciani, Geoff Hargreaves, Oliver Totani, Joe Verringer
Team Staff: Fabian Garuccio, Kevin Doan, Mark Zito
Croydon Kings vs Para Hills Knights
Venue: Polonia Reserve
Date: 15/06/2019 03:00 PM
Croydon Kings welcomes back captain Luke Klimek and Kerrin Stokes after serving suspensions. The home side will also have their coaches, Angelo Costanzo, and Maurice Natale back in the dugouts after they too served suspensions last weekend.
Sunasky is also looking to make a return against his former club.
Kings would have been disappointed with their 1-1 draw with South Adelaide last Friday night, especially after wins against Adelaide City and Comets.
Para Hills come into the game on the back three defeats on the spin against MetroStars, Raiders and Campbelltown City and will be nervously looking over their shoulder as they sit in 9th spot, five points above the drop zone.
Match Officials: Andrew Kite, Andrew Citti, Alexander Diamond
Croydon Kings: 1. Gianni Tramontin, 1. Sebastian Matosevic, 2. John Panagaris, 3. James Polli, 4. Alexander Sunasky, 6. Kerrin Stokes, 8. Andrew Maio, 9. Nathan Munro, 10. Luke Klimek (C), 11. Antoni Trimboli, 12. Christopher Vivian, 13. Eric Scardigno, 14. Peter Mercurio, 15. Jo Ichiguchi, 16. Adam Martinello, 17. Alex Demasi, 18. Jarrod Brazzale, 19. Masahiro Haruoka, 20. Zade Heinicke, 21. John Hall (GK), 23. Patrick Caraccia
Coaches: Angelo Costanzo, Maurice Natale, Robert Matosevic
Team Staff: Mario Catalano, Joshua Avery, Latham Byfield
Para Hills Knights: RGK. Jordan Findlay, 1. Timothy Ramsey (GK), 2. Elliot Sims, 3. Peter Eleftherakis, 4. Kieran McNally, 5. Tyson Herraman, 6. Matthew Marchioro, 8. Darsem Shaksi, 9. Michael Ndjekompte, 10. Luke Colalancia, 11. Andrew Butler, 12. Paul Reilly (GK), 14. Thilo Wilke, 15. Pierce Stephens, 16. Todd Leahy, 17. Mohammed Sumaoro, 18. Pietro Piantedosi, 20. Charlie Devereux, 21. Isaac Mullen, 22. Hirofumi Kochi, 23. Tyler Bailey
Coaches: Barney Smith, Paul Crout, Matthew Bates
Team Staff: Geoff Sullivan, Jamie Ocego-Kingsley, Dwayne Hall
Raiders vs Campbelltown City
Venue: Croatian Sports Centre
Date: 15/06/2019 03:00 PM
In this week's Kanga Match of the Round, Raiders welcome Campbelltown City to the Croatian Sports Centre in a special 'Heritage Match,' which has been organised by both clubs.
Raiders and Campbelltown City will be wearing special edition retro kits to celebrate their clubs histories. Raiders will wear a white jersey with a red, white and blue diagonal stripe, while Campbelltown will wear a red strip with a white bar in the middle.
Raiders come into the game four points off the visitors, who sit at the top of the NPL ladder with a single point lead.
Goals from Fyfe, Matsumoto, and Kirk sealed a 3-1 win last week over Para Hills Knights, while Raiders were seconds away from a win over Olympic, only to be pipped back to an agonising 1-1 draw.
Match Officials: Daniel Cook, Aaron Galanti, Cole Davey
Raiders: 2. Michael Acton, 3. Kalilou Kamara, 4. Paul Blefari, 5. Adam Van Dommele (C), 6. Omari Didero, 7. Jackson Walls, 8. Rocco Visconte, 9. Scott Tunbridge, 10. Terence Carter, 11. David Carosi, 13. Nicholas Munro (GK), 14. Oliver Zafiridis, 16. Ambesager Yosief, 18. Joshua Mori, 20. Aaron Acton, 21. Jake Monaco, 30. Giovanni Previtali, 33. Mark Ulaj, 91. Yasmin Sudic
Coaches: Nikica Kuzman, Larry Piscioneri, Michael Paleka, Lindsay Paterson
Team Staff: Antonio Vella, Lisa Feleppa, An-Phong Nguyen
Campbelltown City: Christian Cardinale, Antony Piscioneri, 1. Jamie Signorello, 2. Shaun Harvey, 4. Iain Fyfe (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, 16. Daniel Mullen, 17. Brandon Centofanti, 18. Yohei Matsumoto, 20. Nicholas Harpas (GK), 23. Jake Halliday
Coaches: Joseph Mullen, Philip Stubbins, Leslie Pogliacomi
Team Staff: David Cavaiuolo, Elio Bria
West Adelaide vs Adelaide Blue Eagles
Venue: Adelaide City Park
Date: 15/06/2019 03:00 PM
West Adelaide faces off against high flying Adelaide Blue Eagles at Oakden on Saturday afternoon, with both sides hungry for 3 massive points.
West Adelaide, after their 0-0 stalemate with Adelaide City last weekend, finds themselves just three points above the relegation zone. However, De Giovanniello's men are a stubborn side to beat right about now, with the club drawing their last four matches.
Blue Eagles got back to winning ways last weekend with a 2-1 win over rivals Adelaide Comets. Testardi scoring either side of half time to give his side a first win in three matches.
Match Officials: Eric Ford Sestilli, Dion Turner, Thomas Temby
West Adelaide: 1. Lewis Moss (GK), 2. Joshua Papasian, 3. Matthew Di Matteo, 5. Gatlat Tongyik, 6. Ryuta Hamamatsu, 7. Perry Mitris (C), 8. Jack Yull, 9. Theo Balomenos, 10. Kosta Mantis, 11. Ibrahima Kamara, 12. Matthew Bouraee, 14. Alec Maiolo, 16. Jordan Maricic, 18. Tito Bontor, 19. Jaiden Diamantis, 20. Thanasis Lesi, 25. Rian Del Nido
Coaches: Steven De Giovanniello, Stavros Gelekis
Team Staff: Aaron Kaselouris, Charlie Larosa
Adelaide Blue Eagles: Harrison Taylor, Raffaele De Lucia, 1. Benjamin Jackson, 5. Christopher Annicchiarico, 7. Shekubah Hutton-Addy, 8. Damien Crettenden, 9. Emanuele Testardi, 10. Evan Kounavelis, 12. Zac Vannucci, 13. Alemayo Kebede, 14. Stefan Gluscevic, 15. Christian D'Angelo, 16. Hamish McCabe, 17. Liam McCabe, 18. Lucas Candeloro, 20. Chante Mayol, 23. Antoni Panagoulias, 24. Adrian Barone, 26. Richard Goss
Coaches: Vojislav Gluscevic, Danny Barone
Team Staff: Remo Gagliardi, Bhavik Dadia, Jackson Howie, Cale Amos
MetroStars vs South Adelaide
Venue: TK Shutter Reserve
Date: 15/06/2019 03:00 PM
Word by Jason Cavey | @JasonKVOfficial
MetroStars are coming off a 1-1 draw with Adelaide United (match highlights here) last Saturday afternoon. MetroStars went behind in the first half to an Aladdin Irabona penalty after Taras Gomulka was fouled inside the box. The Stars come out strong in the second half and United held firm for large portions of the game. A deflected shot from substitute Christian Esposito gave Metro a deserved point and, although both teams had chances to win it late on, a draw was probably a fair result.
Meanwhile, South Adelaide is coming off an encouraging 1-1 draw at home against Croydon Kings. A rocket of a shot from Jai Conroy put the Panthers ahead in the 22nd minute to give them half time lead. A 54th-minute strike from Japanese import Masahiro Haruoka brought Croydon level. Defender Christopher Reed received a straight red card on the 74th minute which means he will miss this weekend's game. Panthers held on for the last 15 minutes to earn a vital point to keep in touching distance of tenth-placed West Adelaide.
Fabian Barbiero will return to the squad after an absence last week. Liam Wooding is set to face his former club. Tom Strain and Cohan Morris are unlikely to feature. New arrival Nahuel Bonada is likely to feature in the Reserves after overcoming an injury.
Match Officials: Christian Verdicchio, Liam Miller, Harold Spanner
MetroStars: 1. Isaac Carmody (GK), 4. Justin Davis, 5. Timothy Henderson, 6. Lachlan Barr, 7. Michael Daloisio (C), 8. Rocky Callisto, 10. Anthony Solagna, 11. Matthew Charalambous, 12. Benjamin Head, 14. Dylan Smith, 16. Alexander Jakob, 17. Matthew Dawber, 18. Fabian Barbiero, 19. Jackson O'Donnell, 22. Hamish Gow, 23. Christian Esposito, 25. Cooper O'Donnell, 26. Stefan Cali
Coaches: Robert Saraceno, Terry Frangakis
Team Staff: Giorgio Capoccia, Joseph Polisena, Peter Terminello, George Laoutaris
South Adelaide: Michael Goode, Con Zacharopoulos, 1. Callum Nissen (GK), 3. Christopher Reed, 4. Robert Parker, 6. Brett Rayner, 7. Nicholas Harpas, 8. Sam Carmichael (C), 10. Donovan Pollock, 11. Jayden Lobasso, 13. Jai Conroy, 15. Christopher Ashwood, 16. Brayden Micallef, 17. Joel Smith
Coaches: Benjamin Dale, Dave Lee, Matthew Huntley, Fraser Mc Lean
Team Staff: Kym Goode, Lucy Boseley, Connor Fagan