Cumberland United v Para Hills Knights
South Australia National Premier League Round 13

When: Saturday, May 17th. Kick-off 3pm
Where: Gambier Centrals Soccer Club, 89 Bishops Road, MOUNT GAMBIER

Teams:

Cumberland United: Nav PANOZZO (GK), Jack SCHOEN, Josh HARVEY, Robbie LIPPETT (C), Troy RUTTER, Justin DAVIS, Brad GRAYSON, Carlisle WHITE, Ben EUSTACE-SMITH, Jordan PEGORARO, John HARDING, Coham MORRIS, Kegan OSBORNE, Dae LEE, Jim STAVRIDES, Luke SCHOEN (RGK)

Para Hills Knights: Tim RAMSEY (GK), Chris SULLIVAN, Liam MULVANEY, Todd LEAHY, Matthew MARCHIORO (C), Michael MULLEN, Dimitris PARHAS, Matthew WATSON, Jacob WILLIAMS, Bailey TRUSCOTT, Brett SELGA, Steven WARD, Joshua DONK, Jairus WYTEN, Jake MOTTRAM, Dylan CENTRONE, Joe TRIPODI, Tyler BAILEY, Nathan TRIPODI (RGK)

Form:

Cumberland United: L L L

Round 10: West Torrens Birkalla 4-1 Cumberland United, Jack Smith Park
Round 11: Cumberland United 1-2 Croydon Kings, A.A. Bailey Reserve
Round 12: Adelaide Comets 5-2 Cumberland United, Santos Stadium

Para Hills Knights: L L W

Round 10: Para Hills Knights 2-5 Adelaide Blue Eagles, The Paddocks
Round 11: South Adelaide 3-0 Para Hills Knights, O’Sullivans Beach Sports Complex
Round 12: Para Hills Knights 4-3 White City, The Paddocks

Preview:

In one of the three regional fixtures in Round 13 of the South Australia National Premier League, Cumberland United and Para Hills Knights will travel to Mount Gambier to do battle at the home of the Gambier Centrals.

Both sides will be desperate to come away with three points, with Para Hills – in 12th position – sitting five points above bottom-placed Cumberland.

In Round 12, Cumberland suffered their 10th consecutive loss, going down 5-2 to the high-flying Adelaide Comets.

Captain Robby Lippett said his side was simply beaten by a better team.

“We thought we played well in patches, but Comets are one of the best teams in the league, so we’ll put our hands up and say we were beaten by a better team,” Lippett said.

Lippett believes Regional Round will be great for the team and the club, noting that the match will be like a grand final for Cumberland.

“We’ve never done anything like this before; it will be a great bonding session for the team and the club.

“We’re saying that it will be the turning point of our season; it’s the last game of the first half of the year, so it’s a massive game, it’s a grand final for us, so we’ll treat it like it’s do or die.

“We’ve had a rough period, but the morale is back up in the team. We’re playing with a bit more confidence, we’re playing attacking football, we’re scoring goals, but we’re just not getting results.

“We thought we were the better team against Croydon and our goalkeeper didn’t have much to do, and against Comets we started really well, we went up, but then we were a bit unfortunate with a few defensive errors, but I think we’ll do pretty well next week.”

Para Hills ended an eight-match losing streak in Round 12, coming from three goals down to beat White City 4-3 in a remarkable comeback win.

Knights captain Matthew Marchioro said the win was massive for the team, especially coming off a number of losses.

“At 3-0 down, we could’ve just thought here we go again, but we stuck to it and we got one back, then got another one straight away,” Marchioro said.

“We showed a lot of heart that we’ve been missing throughout the season and ended up getting the win, which was massive for the team.”

Marchioro said his side is very excited for the trip to Mount Gambier, but will not be taking Cumberland lightly.

“We’ve been to Mount Gambier a couple of times over the last couple years and we really enjoy the trip up there.

“To go up there and play for points is something we’re really looking forward to and we’re looking forward to the challenge.

“We know they’re going to be hurting and they’re going to be doing everything possible to get a win, so we know we’re going to be in for a big game when we’re up there and we’re not going to be taking them lightly at all.”