State League One
West Adelaide’s slump in form continued over the weekend, as Western Strikers secured a crucial 1-0 victory. Frank Violi was the man of the moment in the 25th, and the home side managed to hold on for the remainder of the match. Hellas now sit in fourth and are in danger of falling away from promotion contention. Strikers remain firm in seventh, just two points of Hills in sixth.
Birkalla will be bitterly disappointed with the weekend’s 2-1 loss to Sturt, as all that stood between them and a massive point, was a last-minute winner. Gonzalo Rodriguez got things going for Lions in the 20th, however, Birkalla’s Davide Zerillo equalised in the 65th. Birkalla were mere moments away from taking points off second place, but due to Cooper Mullins’ heroics in the 92nd, fall further away from finals contention.
South Adelaide are simply unstoppable at the moment, as they surge towards automatic promotion. It was that man again, Jonathon Rideout, who secured yet another emphatic hattrick, spearheading Panthers to a 4-0 win over Seaford.
With Victory getting rolled, Viper’s securing a 2-1 win over Fulham could very well be season-defining. Goals from Ramadhan Kamugisha in the 57th, and a John Papapetros winner in the 85th, see Vipers just a point off safety.
The other in-form team of the competition, White City, grabbed a comprehensive 5-1 win over Adelaide Victory. Stefan Simic, one of the players of the season, banged four and looked in unbelievable touch. As stated, this result could have damning ramifications for Victory, who are a couple of bad performances away from State League Two. As for White City, they sit nicely in third and are in a good position to challenge for an NPL spot.
With Strikers breathing down their neck, Adelaide Hill’s 1-0 win over Playford may turn out to be one of their most important performances of the season. These two teams have given us some crackers this season, and with their own targets in mind, have been two of the League’s stand out teams. On this occasion, it was Hawks’ time to shine, specifically Daniel Pauli’s time to shine. His 28th-minute goal sees Hawks hold on to sixth, as Playford now sits in fifth.
State League Two
In their inaugural year, Pontian have turned heads with their attitude and ability to get a result anywhere. Omari Didero secured a famous win for the Eagles, as third-placed Vista will have a lot to think about as they look to bounce back in the biggest game of the season; Eastern United.
Eastern got the job down by overcoming Northern Demons comfortably, running out 3-0 winners. Macdonald, Duffield and Acton shared the load and earned their team a games worth of breathing room over their promotion opponents. Its Eastern’s to lose now, as a win against Vista will all but guarantee automatic promotion; the first in the club’s short history.
A memorable feature of the season has been Noarlunga’s late surge in form. Taking scalp after scalp, the latest of which being the unfortunate Salisbury United. Goals from Edmonds, Angove and finally Muscroft set the 3-1 away victory up.
Gawler are holding on to their finals spot for dear life and showed real grit and determination to overcome fellow finals contender pirates, 3-2. Two goals in the first twelve minutes laid the foundation, however, Pirates seemed to have snatched a point with two late goals. To the dismay of Pirates, and to the utter joy of Gawler; a 93rd minute own goal settled the affair.
Cove are up and about too, and they simply had to get past Mt Barker on the weekend. Sutherland got things moving early, and then the Scottish-born maestro Craig Atkinson put his boyhood club two goals to the good in the 56th. Thomas Prosser sealed the deal for Cove with a goal of his own in the 57th.
Cobras were yet another big team to fall short this round, as a rampant Adelaide Uni put together a strong performance. Uni were 3-2 winners, and it was super-sub Dion Guerrera who made the difference in the 75th, sending his side to fifth.
