Adelaide Blue Eagles v Adelaide Comets

PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia Round 20

When: Saturday, July 30th. Kick-off 3pm
Where: Marden Sports Complex, Lower Portrush Road, MARDEN

Teams:

Adelaide Blue Eagles: Antoni Panagoulias, Alex Solari, Ilario Spano, Hamish Mccabe, Liam Mccabe, 1. Michael Catford (GK), 2. Adam Harris, 4. Christopher Atsikbasis, 5. Chris Christofilos, 6. Nathan Niutta, 7. Jean-Claude Boyokino, 8. Damien Crettenden, 9. Fortunato Filletti, 10. Evan Kounavelis, 13. Alemayo Kebede, 14. John Solari (GK), 15. Samuel Tesfagabr, 16. Matthew Charalambous, 17. Matthew Dawber, 18. Mattia Perrotti, 20. Anthony Dimas, 66. Pedram Sourjani (GK)
Coaches: Gianluca Lagati

Adelaide Comets: Anastasi Savvoudis, Vasilis Carapanayiotis, 4. Zachary Hristodoulopoulos, 5. Kingsley Francis, 6. Jack Bladen, 7. Evan Kostopoulos, 9. Steven Grelli, 10. Christopher Pepe, 11. Andreas Wiens, 13. Peter Eleftherakis, 15. Oliver Zafiridis, 17. Zakariah Waters, 18. Theo Balomenos, 21. Alexander Woodlands, 22. Allan Welsh, 23. Davide Zerillo, 33. Dyan Newall, 99. Kevin Mbuti

Form:

Adelaide Blue Eagles: W W L

Round 17: Croydon 0-3 Adelaide Blue Eagles, Polonia Reserve
Round 18: Adelaide Blue Eagles 2-0 West Adelaide, Marden Sports Complex
Round 19: Adelaide City 2-1 Adelaide Blue Eagles, Adelaide City Park

Adelaide Comets: W L W

Round 17: Adelaide Comets 2-0 Raiders, SA Athletics Stadium
Round 18: Adelaide Comets 1-3 Campbelltown City, SA Athletics Stadium
Round 19: Adelaide Comets 2-1 Adelaide United, SA Athletics Stadium

Preview:

Fourth position is up for grabs as Adelaide Blue Eagles hosts Adelaide Comets in Round 20 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia at Marden Sports Complex on Saturday.

Adelaide Blue Eagles, 30 points, fell to fifth place last weekend on the back of a 2-1 loss to leaders Adelaide City, despite a goal from Mattia Perrotti.

Winger Fortunato Filletti believes the result did not reflect Blue Eagles performance at Adelaide City Park.

“I thought we were a bit unlucky. They are a good team, but we were playing well. We just conceded at the wrong times,” he said.

“We played well during the game, we kept the ball and created chances.

“Unfortunately, they just got the goals and we didn’t put our chances away.”

The loss against the Black and Whites was Blue Eagles’ second in the past five matches. However, they need just one more victory to look ahead to finals action for yet another season.

Filletti – two goals in 2016 – is aware the clash against Comets will be a tough bump on the road to the top six campaign.

“We are in good form. That is how you want to be approaching the finals. We want to continue in this fashion.

“I think we need to be improving our defensive structure. We are missing a few players at the back and need to strengthen up as a team a bit more.

“The game against Comets will be a tough one. They are a good team. We will need to come out well to get the points.”

Adelaide Comets defeated Adelaide United last weekend, a 2-1 result sealed thanks to goals from Andreas Wiens and Christopher Pepe. The win allowed Comets to leapfrog Blue Eagles by two points.

Coach Theo Tsiounis says it was an important result.

“It was good to get the points in difficult conditions,” he stated.

“It was sloppy at times because of the rain, while both teams were desperate for points. Adelaide United were out to save themselves from relegation, while we were also looking for a win ahead of the finals.

“It was very important and we spoke about that going in. There’s very little between the sides on the table. We bounced back after a disappointing game against Campbelltown [City] the week before.”

Comets are all but assured a spot in the top six series, having last reached the finals in 2014.

Westfield FFA Cup SA Qualifying finalists, the Mile End club needs just one more win to plan for another crack at the championship.

“We want to carry form into the finals,” the coach said.

“We are looking to lift the intensity at training to help that. We are getting players back from injury and while we are still far from full strength, we are on the right track.

“Blue Eagles are a quality side, they have key players who can win games by themselves. We must be wary and come prepared, and do our best to get the points.”