Adelaide Blue Eagles v White City
South Australia National Premier League Round 18

When: Saturday, June 21st. Kick-off 3pm
Where: Marden Sports Complex, 65 Lower Portrush Road, MARDEN

Teams:

Adelaide Blue Eagles: S. Annicchiarico, C. Atsikbasis, J. Boyokino, M. Catford, D. Crettenden, F. Filletti, J. Giannitto, A. Harris, K. Harris, A. Kebede, C. Mbarga, S. Saccoh, M. Tosic, A. Vizzari

White City: J. Abadia, J. Atkinson, C. Bugeja, S. Gluscevic, M. Keens, N. Mileusnic, S. Nakamura, J. Negrean, S. Payne, M. Petkovic, D. Radojicic, A. Rastovac, S. Semiz, A. Simic, J. Wilson

Form:

Adelaide Blue Eagles: W W D

Round 15: Adelaide Blue Eagles 3-2 West Adelaide, Marden Sports Complex
Round 16: Adelaide Blue Eagles 3-1 Adelaide City, Marden Sports Complex
Round 17: Adelaide Blue Eagles 1-1 South Adelaide, Marden Sports Complex

White City: D W W

Round 15: Raiders 1-1 White City, Croatian Sports Centre
Round 16: White City 5-3 Campbelltown City, Frank Mitchell Park
Round 17: West Adelaide 1-2 White City, Adelaide Shores Football Centre

Preview:

In Round 18 of the South Australia National Premier League, fifth-placed Adelaide Blue Eagles host giant-killers White City at Marden Sports Complex.

Blue Eagles drew 1-1 with South Adelaide in Round 17, while White City scored a surprise 2-1 away win against West Adelaide.

Sharing 32 points with Croydon Kings and Adelaide Comets – sitting third and fourth respectively – Blue Eagles will be looking to gain all three points to make third position their own.

Blue Eagles winger Yvan Boyokino said it is important for his side to gain all three points against White City.

“Three points is really important. White City is in great form at the moment; they’ve just beaten West Adelaide so they’re pumped,” Boyokino said.

“It’s very important for us to win to keep the pace, so we can keep moving forward in the right way.

“The team is feeling good. We are really confident because we are building our game. We’re keeping the ball better and that is what we were missing.”

Last time these two sides met, White City clinched a 2-0 win, but Boyokino said this game will be very different to their previous encounter.

“I think the games are different. The first time we lost against White City we had a few chances, but we didn’t score and we were a bit unlucky.

“Since the last game, we are in good form now; we’ve got new players and a new way of playing. So the team is confident about the game.”

White City currently sit in eighth position – six points outside of the top six – but their confidence is sky-high after defeating powerhouses Campbelltown City and West Adelaide in the same week.

Miki Petkovic, who scored the winning goal against West Adelaide, said his side will be hoping to carry their good form into Saturday’s match.

“Over the past couple of weeks, the team has definitely gelled more as a unit. We’ve increased our training intensity, keeping the sessions short and sharp,” Petkovic said.

“We’ve looked to play more positively going forward and we’ll be looking to bring that form and gameplay into Saturday’s game.

“Three points is a must on Saturday as we look to take a step closer to making the top six and hopefully break away from the rest of the competition.

“It’s never easy playing against Blue Eagles at their own ground with the quality players they’ve got, especially after coming off some good results, but I believe our boys will come out firing and it should be a great match.”

Petkovic is wary that Blue Eagles will be looking to exact revenge after their first clash.  

“We go into every game feeling confident that we can take the points regardless of who we play.

“Blue Eagles underestimated us in the first encounter and they will come out strong, so we’ll have to be on our game.”