RAA NPLSA
Campbelltown City vs Adelaide Comets
Preliminary Final
7:30 pm | Friday 2 September | Steve Woodcock Sports Centre
Last Meeting: (30/7/22) Round 20 | Campbelltown City 3 v Adelaide Comets 2
Campbelltown City and Adelaide Comets clash one final time this season to earn the prestigious spot to face Adelaide City in the RAA NPLSA Grand Final. Campbelltown City were left heartbroken in their second leg clash with Adelaide City last week after two late goals saw them miss the opportunity of becoming the first team in this season's RAA NPLSA Grand Final. Alex Mullen once again put his name to the scoresheet as he rose the highest to head the ball into the back of the net from a perfectly delivered Lui Ditroia cross in the seventh minute, while Campbelltown City regained their lead through an unlikely source in captain Shaun Harvey. However, two late Adelaide City goals in the 88th minute and fourth minute of injury time saw them secure their second consecutive Grand Final appearance, leaving Campbelltown City to face their rivals Adelaide Comets to book their place in next Friday's clash.
Campbelltown City enters the match with great belief of securing the victory, after winning all their last six matches against Adelaide Comets, while losing only once in their last twelve matches, which dates back to 2019. Adelaide Comets fell to defeat twice this season against Campbelltown City, with tonight’s home team securing a 2-1 in Round Nine and a memorable 3-2 win in Round 20 where Alex Mullen secured all three points in the 90th minute.
Although experiencing a tough end to the season, which saw them fall to two defeats in three games to end the RAA NPLSA season, Adelaide Comets have regained great form over their Finals Series campaign to go one step closer to making their fourth consecutive Grand Final appearance. Facing a difficult opponent in MetroStars in last week’s Elimination Final, it took the heroics of Daniel Vaughan in goals to see Adelaide Comets secure the win, with the goalkeeper saving the decisive kick in the penalty shootout. With Vaughan getting the plaudits for his penalty shootout performance, the team’s defensive work during the match cannot be overlooked, with numerous players producing various goal-line clearances to save the team from falling behind over the 120 minutes. While Adelaide Comets haven’t beaten Campbelltown City in their last six matches, no time is better to break that streak than now, with the team looking for revenge after their Grand Final defeats over the last few years.
Campbelltown City line-up: 1. Alexander Woodlands (GK), 2. Shaun Harvey (C), 3. Mario Orrico, 4. Connor Centofanti, 5. James Boffa, 6. Adam D'Agostino, 7. Joel Allwright, 8. Alexander Mullen, 9. Marc Marino, 10. Luigi Ditroia, 12. Nicholas Francese, 14. Adam Piscioneri, 15. Antony Piscioneri, 16. Daniel Mullen, 17. Nicholas Graves, 18. Yohei Matsumoto, 19. Joshua Barresi, 21. Jordan Maricic, 23. Jake Halliday
Coaches: Michael Matricciani, Adrian DAloia, brenton hiern, Edward Scalzi
Team Staff: Agelo Kapnistis, Liam Oates, Corey Artone
Adelaide Comets line-up: 4. Logan Marley-McFall, 5. Adam Le Cornu, 6. Boris Glushkov, 7. Augustus Williams, 8. Ryan Yates, 9. Ryan Cook, 10. Anthony Mavrolambados, 11. Thomas Briscoe, 12. Lukas Ikonomopoulos, 14. Nathan Andijanto, 16. Stelios Zacharakis, 18. Thomas Giannakopoulos, 19. Jaiden Diamantis, 21. Nikolas Ikonomopoulos, 22. Allan Welsh (C), 23. Scott Nagel, 24. Lachlan Stead, 31. Daniel Vaughan, 50. Harry Findlay, 66. Jayden LoBasso
Coaches: Barney Smith, John Falidis, Peter Eleftherakis
Team Staff: Evangelo Katsambis, Andrew Furner, Emma Gericke, Andreas Wiens, Ilias Tsakiris
State League One
Modbury Jets vs Para Hills Knights
Preliminary Final
3:00 pm | Saturday 3 September | Smith Partners Stadium
Last Meeting: (18/6/22) Round 15 | Para Hills Knights 2 v Modbury Jets 1
After what has been a dominant season by Modbury Jets, the team now must beat Para Hills Knights in this week's Preliminary Final to book their place in this season's Grand Final. Facing a promotion-hungry West Adelaide team in the two-legged Semi-Final clash this Finals Series, Modbury Jets fell to a 3-0 defeat and most recently a 1-1 draw where Matthew Mullen’s 66th-minute header was cancelled out by a last-minute West Adelaide goal, with the team losing 4-1 on aggregate. Although having already secured promotion, Modbury Jets will be eager to book their place in this season's Grand Final, especially after dropping out of the competition at this stage last season. West Adelaide will be hoping to see Modbury Jets secure the victory also, as a Jets win will see them gain promotion back into the RAA NPLSA.
It’s been two evenly contested encounters between Modbury Jets and Para Hills Knights this season. Modbury Jets secured a 2-0 victory during the team's early season winning streak, which saw the team score late twice to secure the win, while Para Hills Knights obtain a win in their most recent matchup, beating the Premiers 2-1 in Round 15 with an 89th minute Isaac Handley goal.
Losing numerous first-team players towards the end of the season, Para Hills Knights have not looked fazed since their player's departures, which has seen them win four of their last five matches, including two big wins to make the Preliminary Final. After a tightly contested encounter with Fulham United FC, it took the substitution of Jaweed Muradi in the extra-time to secure the victory as he scored the decisive goal only two minutes into his introduction. Facing relegation from the RAA NPLSA in 2020, this is Para Hills Knights's best opportunity at securing promotion after falling out of the Finals Series in Round One last season. A win this week will see them enter the State League One Grand Final against West Adelaide in a Promotion Playoff match.
State League Two
Adelaide Cobras vs Western Strikers
Preliminary Final
5:15 pm | Saturday 3 September | Pro Paint & Panel Oval – Weigall Oval
Last Meeting: (18/6/22) Round 15 | Western Strikers 1 v Adelaide Cobras 0
With Vipers FC booking their place in the State League Two Grand Final last week, the winner of Adelaide Cobras and Western Strikers will meet them in next week’s clash. Adelaide Cobras will be eager for redemption over Vipers FC after losing 6-1 on aggregate over their two-legged Semi-Final series. Although having already secured their promotion back into State League One for season 2023, Adelaide Cobras will be looked to not only secure the Championship to top off an excellent season, but to also get their revenge over Vipers FC. However, Vipers FC will be hoping to see Adelaide Cobras in the Grand Final, as a clash between both teams next week will see Vipers FC gain automatic promotion no matter the result.
Adelaide Cobras however face a difficult challenge as they clash with one team, they haven’t beat this season in Western Strikers. In their Round Four clash, Adelaide Cobras fought back from 3-0 down to gain a 3-3 draw with three goals in the final twelve minutes. While Western Strikers secured a 1-0 victory in Round 15 as Jacob Lavery scored the winner in the 85th minute.
Western Strikers search for the opportunity of fighting for promotion next week as they look to knock the State League Two Premiers out of the Finals Series. It’s been a reasonably strong showing from Western Strikers this Finals Series campaign, which has seen them knockout Northern Demons on penalties after restoring a two-goal deficit, while they beat Cove FC last week 3-1. Western Strikers booked their Preliminary Final place through early goals by Stefan Didone and Sebastian Mazzarino, while Athanasios Morakis sealed the victory with a goal in the seventh minute in injury time. After facing relegation from State League One in 2021, Western Strikers look to gain the opportunity of making their State League Two stay to one season.