Adelaide Cobras v Port Adelaide Pirates
South Australia National Premier League Round 8

When: Saturday, April 12th. Kick-off 7pm
Where: Adelaide Airport Stadium, 1 Meyer St, TORRENSVILLE

Teams:

Adelaide Cobras: M. Barisic, M. Cavallaro, A. Harous, D. Karagiannis, P. Karittevlis, M. Katopodis, F. Likouras, J. Mountzouris, A. Orphanou, K. Partou, G. Paspaliaris, K. Philippou, G. Piliouras, D. Scarsella

Port Adelaide Pirates: G. Agalidis, D. Cardellini, J. Coley, A. Costalos, R. Gray, N. Krznaric, J. Mavromatis, N. Mavromatis, K. Mc Fadyen, D. Pearce, J. Skeffington, M. Speer, D. Tapp

Form:

Adelaide Cobras: D D L

Round 5: Seaford Rangers 2-2 Adelaide Cobras, Karingal Reserve
Round 6: Sturt Lions 1-1 Adelaide Cobras, Adelaide Shores Football Centre
Round 7: Salisbury United 4-0 Adelaide Cobras, Steve Jarvis Park

Port Adelaide Pirates: W W W

Round 5: Western Toros 1-4 Port Adelaide Pirates, Rushworth Reserve
Round 6: Port Adelaide Pirates 5-0 Noarlunga United, Pirate Park
Round 7: Northern Demons 0-1 Port Adelaide Pirates, Byrne Park

Preview:

Adelaide Cobras will be looking to snap a three-game winless streak when they host the undefeated Port Adelaide Pirates at Adelaide Airport Stadium on Saturday night.

In Round 7, Cobras suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 4-0 to Salisbury United, while Pirates defeated Northern Demons 1-0 to claim their fourth straight win.

Cobras – on 10 points – have since slipped down to sixth position, but a win could propel them into third place.

Cobras midfielder Peter Vrettis believes his side is confident of overcoming recent results and getting a win this weekend.

“Everyone has remained positive and thinks we can get a result this week. We’ve put a couple hard weeks in and everyone has picked themselves up from the Salisbury game,” Vrettis said.

“Everyone is confident because you have to beat these sort of teams to push for promotion, so we are all pretty confident we can get a win at home.”

With no game last weekend, Vrettis said Cobras took the weekend to recuperate for the big clash.

“We took the opportunity to recharge and have a few days off to get the bodies right for this weekend’s game.”

Second-placed Pirates will be looking to continue their positive start to the season, and if results go their way, they could climb into first place by the end of Round 8.

Pirates’ George Agalidis feels there is a sense of rejuvenation around the club.

“I think sticking to our game plan and taking each game as it comes has been key,” Agalidis said.

“We’ve got a good mix of experience and youth, and a lot of boys that play for the club and the shirt.

“We’re confident every game we go into, but we never take an opponent lightly; prior to the previous round, Cobras were undefeated for the season and they’ve got a lot of experienced, quality players, so they’ll be a tough opponent on Saturday for sure.”

Agalidis said his side did not take last weekend’s break lightly, but instead trained hard in preparation for Saturday.

“Leading up to the weekend off, we trained relatively hard that week, then we had an internal match Saturday morning, so there was no letting up so to speak, and this week we’ve sort of eased it down in preparation for Saturday night’s game.”

Saturday April 12

The Cove v Modbury Jets
3pm – Wilfred Taylor Reserve, States Road, MORPHETT VALE

Sturt Lions v Salisbury United
3pm – Adelaide Shores Football Centre, West Beach Road, WEST BEACH

Eastern United v Adelaide Hills
3pm – Athelstone Recreation Reserve, 267 Lower Athelstone Road, ATHELSTONE

Gawler v Northern Demons
3pm – Karbeethan Reserve, Angle Vale Road, EVANSTON GARDENS

Playford Patriots v Seaford Rangers
3pm – Ramsay Park, Barfield Crescent, ELIZABETH WEST

Noarlunga United – BYE