West Torrens Birkalla v West Adelaide
PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia Round 8

When: Saturday, April 23^rd. Kick-off 3pm
Where: Jack Smith Park, Morphett Road, NOVAR GARDENS

Teams:

West Torrens Birkalla: 80 J. Cirillo, 6 L. D'Arrigo, 4 T. Dittmar, 24 I. Kamau, 12 T. Kawamura, 28 A. Le Cornu, 2 M. Mangafakis, 5 S. Nagel,20 P. Pietrosanti, 18 W. Plush, 10 P. Radice, 3 K. Rowe, 8 C. Skull, 7 F. Suzuki, 11 R. Yates, 1 J. Torresan

West Adelaide: 22 M. Alexandrou, 14 N. Andijanto, 21 D. Atkins, 11 T. Briscoe, 10 R. Da Silva, 2 A. Haralampopoulos, 20 T. Hatzis, 15 R. James, 19 J. Karatzas, 16 A. Koutoulogenis, 5 R. Lippett, 17 P. Mitris, 23 M. Nicholson, 13 H. Tanaka, 12 T. Veart, 1 L. Moss

Form:

West Torrens Birkalla: W W D

FFA Cup Qualifying Round 1: West Torrens Birkalla 2-0 Adelaide Victory, Jack Smith Park
Round 6: West Torrens Birkalla 2-0 MetroStars, Jack Smith Park
Round 7: Croydon 1-1 West Torrens Birkalla, Roxby Leisure Centre 

West Adelaide: W L D

FFA Cup Qualifying Round 1: West Adelaide 4-0 Salisbury United, Adelaide Shores Football Centre
Round 6: Adelaide United 2-1 West Adelaide, Renmark Oval
Round 7: West Adelaide 2-2 Adelaide Blue Eagles, Adelaide Shores Football Centre 

Preview:

Both West Torrens Birkalla and West Adelaide will be aiming to return to the winners list in Round 8 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia at Jack Smith Park this Saturday. 

Birkalla’s trip to Roxby Downs last weekend against Croydon ended in a 1-1 draw after Paul Radice’s opener was cancelled out, making it five games unbeaten in the last six. 

Coach Steve De Giovanniello is happy with his side’s recent form. 

“I thought we were unlucky to not get maximum points. We went up a goal and were playing well. We created a number of opportunities,” he said.

“I am much happier with how we have been performing in recent weeks.

“It was a disjointed start to the season, but in the last few games we have been back to our best.”

Birkalla was the surprise team of 2015. They led for a number of weeks and eventually fell just a game short of the Grand Final.

De Giovanniello believes the team can still further improve as they prepares for a repeat of that Preliminary Final.

“We’ve had quite a few changes from last year and it takes a while for the team to settle.

“Even last year we didn’t come our firing. It was only around this time that we got on a good run; hopefully we can do the same.

“We need to turn dominance into goals. We create a lot of chances, but haven’t been able to convert. It’s a tight league and you cannot afford to drop points.

“West Adelaide still have quality. They will bounce back and we are expecting it will be a difficult game.”

West Adelaide twice equalised to ensure a draw against Adelaide Blue Eagles last weekend. Rob Lippett was on target, but the Blue and Whites then required a last-gasp Perry Mitris goal to grab a 2-2 draw.

While it still meant a third winless match in succession, Eli Vlassis says the team can take positives from the match.

“The positive we can get out of it is we got a point against a good opponent,” the injured captain said.

“In the second half we created a few more chances and we will look to take that into this week’s game.

“We want to keep improving each week.”

Dominant in each of the past two League seasons, the reigning champions are in an unusual position as they currently sit eighth with only nine points on the board ahead of this test against Birkalla.

Vlassis says West remains confident it can move up the table into Finals contention.

“Of course, we are still confident. If we work hard and go out there positive we know we can get results against anyone.

“Our focus is on scoring goals. We are not conceding too many, but going forward we need to be more active in the final third.

“Birkalla are a good side. We are under no illusions that they will go out there and perform and we need to be ready to do well too.”

Written by Luca Cetta - @l_cetta