Adelaide Croatia Raiders vs Cumberland United
Venue: Croatian Sports Centre
Date: Tuesday 31 August, 7:00 PM
For the second time in just four days, Raiders and Cumberland face a huge clash against another side near the bottom of the table, with just one point separating them.
Raiders were unsuccessful in their crunch match against relegation rival Croydon FC, stumbling to a 2-0 defeat to now sit just one point above the drop zone and three points plus a hefty goal differential behind United in ninth and eighth-placed Croydon.
Cumberland missed a crucial opportunity to move out of the bottom two last weekend as they conceded an 88th-minute winner to fall to last-placed Blue Eagles 2-1, despite Benjamin Visser’s classy lob over the keeper to open the scoring.
It goes without saying that this is a massive three points on the line for both sides: a win to Raiders would give them a four point buffer over the relegation zone, but victory to Cumberland would catapult them above tonight’s opponents into tenth.
Adelaide Croatia Raiders line-up: Callum Martin, Harrison Rogers, Brodie Broadstock, 1. Vincent Barbaro, 2. Jackson Walls, 7. Dylan Pickert, 9. Massimo Falco, 10. Dion Kirk, 11. David Carosi, 12. Noah Blazeka, 13. Nicholas Munro (C) (GK), 17. Harley Gepp, 18. Julian Vella, 19. Vianne Kurikwimana, 20. Thanasis Lesi, 21. Jaxson Bullen, 22. Kelvin Kamburu, 38. James Temelkovski
Coaches: Terry Westwood, Steven Hughes, Steven Johnstone, Michael Paleka
Team Staff: Antonio Vella, Lisa Feleppa
Cumberland United line-up: Rocco Visconte, 1. Luke Schoen (GK), 2. Jack Schoen, 3. Joshua Harvey, 5. Sam Carmichael, 6. David Signore, 8. Harry Thannhauser, 9. JUAN GUTIERREZ, 10. Jumar Oakley, 11. Thomas Briscoe, 14. Cohan Morris, 17. Tom Dittmar, 23. Matthew Charalambous, 25. Charlie Ince, 29. Sam Styles, 30. Wesley Weetra, 31. Benjamin Visser, 111. Marijan Kolar (GK)
Coaches: Neil Young, Mathew Balopitos, Matthew Prodanovski
Team Staff: Jody Loomes, Sean Bushby, Steven O'Donnell
Adelaide Blue Eagles vs Adelaide United
Venue: Marden Sports Complex
Date: Tuesday 31 August, 8:15 PM
With seven points from their last four matches, a resurgent Blue Eagles now shape up as a difficult prospect for United, who’ve earned just one in five and now find themselves amongst the relegation scrap.
The hosts chalked up their second win of the season with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over fellow battler Cumberland, as Liam McCabe’s low strike into the bottom corner just evading the fingertips of the keeper to keep their season alive.
Nestor Irankunda and Jonny Yull combined for a fantastic goal, with Irankunda’s delightful throughball finding the feet of Yull who sent the keeper the wrong way, but it wasn’t enough to get the Young Reds the win as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Olympic.
The great escape could still be on if Blue Eagles come away with a win tonight, but three points to United would keep them at arm’s length and put an end to their opponents’ season.
Adelaide Blue Eagles line-up: 1. Richard Goss, 2. Caleb Evans, 3. Anik Warnakulasuriya, 4. Christian Sotira, 5. Chol Wel, 6. Kurt Kouakou, 7. Liam Mccabe, 9. Agar Mawan, 10. Hamish Mccabe, 11. Frederick Ankumah-Sey, 13. Ryan Wood, 14. Stanisa Velinov, 16. Raffaele De Lucia, 20. Isaac Mullen, 21. Alex Tsavalas, 25. Nikolas Harpas
Coaches: Jonathon Mccormack, Steven Melling
Team Staff: James Keating, VOJISLAV GLUSCEVIC, Henry Lambert
Adelaide United FC line-up: 6. Louis D’arrigo, 14. Binyam Kebede, 15. Kane Vidmar, 19. Yaya Dukuly, 24. Fergus Lynch, 35. Alhassan Toure, 37. Jonny Yull, 40. Ethan Cox, 44. Arbi Mollas, 48. Bernardo Oliveira, 50. James Delianov (GK), 53. Noah Mcnamara, 55. Ethan Alagich, 57. Adam Leombruno, 65. Mohamed Toure, 66. Nestor Irankunda
Coaches: Airton Andrioli, Elvis Markov, Vlado Blazeka, Joe Verringer
Team Staff: Will Mockridge, Justin Graetz, Katrina Smith
Adelaide City vs Sturt Lions
Venue: Adelaide City Park
Date: Wednesday 1 September, 7:30 PM
From clashes at the bottom tonight to a big fixture at the top tomorrow, City will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing result and take out one of their challengers in Sturt.
City fell to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Comets after conceding a late winner, a result which ended their nine-match unbeaten streak and cut down their lead in first place to just two points with four rounds to go.
Luke Fusco was the hero for Sturt last weekend, as his tap-in into an empty net on 84 minutes earned his side a valuable point with a 2-2 draw over MetroStars to keep them within two points of last weekend’s opponents with a game in hand.
The home side’s grip on top spot has slipped but victory will keep them at the league summit, while three points to the Lions would see them rise to third before this weekend’s matches.
Adelaide City line-up: 1. Alexander Woodlands (GK), 4. Matthew Halliday, 7. Daniel Bressan, 8. Joseph Costa, 9. Luka Chikwuba, 10. Nicholas Bucco, 11. Charlie devereux, 13. Lachlan Barr, 14. Aladin Irabona, 17. Thomas Brown, 20. Kur Kur, 23. Jai King-Byrne, 42. Austin Ayoubi, 45. Markus Orchard, 77. Asad Kasumovic
Coaches: Paul Pezos, Stavros Gelekis, Angelo Paul, Edward Scalzi
Team Staff: Fabian Garuccio, Luis Fernandez Astudillo
Sturt Lions line-up: Cale Nagle, Samuel Voigt, Daniel Snobl, Cooper Mullins, James Klappers (GK), Jasper Donovan, Alexander Sortini, Luke Fusco, Ben Woollard, Jonathan Fusco (C), Taine Harding, Michael Gravas, Toby Nelson, Akira Kobaishi, Brandon Centofanti, Jacob Atkinson, Oliver Sigley, Samed Altundag, Daniel Solari, Michael Marrone, Daniel Guastella, Valentino Esposito, Caden Yates, Bradley Davey, Gonzalo Rodriguez
Coaches: Lino Fusco, Frank Tibaldi, Gregory Videon, Michael Harkness
Team Staff: Ivan Piovesan, Jakson Messent, Andrew Ross
South Adelaide vs Adelaide Comets
Venue: O’Sullivan Beach Sports Centre
Date: Wednesday 1 September, 7:30 PM
South’s red-hot form has slipped with back-to-back losses and it won’t get any easier tomorrow night when they face a Comets outfit emboldened by their boosted premiership chances.
The hosts dropped out of the top six on goal difference after their 3-1 defeat to Campbelltown and face a tough run into the finals with City and Sturt still to play in addition to tomorrow night’s opponents.
Comets were mightily impressive in snatching a dramatic 2-1 victory over City, with Nathan Andijanto showing great skill to hit a deep cross on the volley and beat the keeper with power in the 90th minute to seal his side’s ascent into second place.
South are well and truly still in the conversation for the top six, with a win pressing their case further, while Comets know that they’ll need to keep winning to capitalise on any slip-ups from City.
South Adelaide line-up: Daniel Hosking, 1. Ryan Veitch (GK), 2. Michael Goode, 4. Robert Parker (C), 5. Declan Gray, 6. Liam Wooding, 9. Brett Rayner, 10. Jonathon Rideout, 11. Alexander Rideout, 13. Jai Conroy, 15. Jackson Stephens, 18. Blake Lindsay, 20. Jack Walker, 21. Jack Ellis, 24. Daniel Evans, 25. Callum Nissen, 31. Masaya Sasaki, 39. Awal Dut
Coaches: Andrew Calderbank, Anthony Rideout, Mitchell Daly, Fraser McLean
Team Staff: Wayne Harrington, Jacqueline Wingate, Aniket Dhabade
Adelaide Comets line-up: 1. Julian Torresan, 3. Manley Barnett, 4. Nathan Dimou, 5. Adam Le Cornu, 7. John Karatzas, 8. Ryan Yates, 10. Anthony Mavrolambados, 11. Jayden LoBasso, 12. Lukas Ikonomopoulos, 13. Benedek Futty-ferdinandy, 14. Nathan Andijanto, 16. Ninko Beric, 18. Thomas Giannakopoulos, 19. Jaiden Diamantis, 21. Nikolas Ikonomopoulos, 22. Allan Welsh (C), 23. Scott Nagel, 24. Lachlan Stead, 31. Daniel Vaughan, 77. Chris Christofilos
Coaches: Barney Smith, James Guffogg, Andreas Wiens, Matthew Bates
Team Staff: Evangelo Katsambis, Andrew Furner, Emma Gericke