R16 Preview: Adelaide Olympic v Adelaide Comets
Adelaide Olympic v Adelaide Comets
PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia Round 16
When: Sunday, July 3rd. Kick-off 3pm
Where: Elite Systems Football Centre, Cowan Street, ANGLE PARK
Teams:
Adelaide Olympic: Ioannis Simosis, Christos Pounendis, Gino De Lucia (GK), Manni Katopodis, Jairus Wyten, Michael Papacharalambous, David Makridis, Fausto Erba, Kosta Mantis, Sean Brennan, Oliver Totani, Matthew Bouzalas, Christopher Mara, Haris Vuckic
Adelaide Comets: 2. Guy Miller, 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, 19. Luke Colalancia, 21. Alexander Woodlands, 22. Allan Welsh, 23. Davide Zerillo, 25. Harry Keramidas, 33. Dyan Newall, 99. Kevin Mbuti
Form:
Adelaide Olympic: L L D
Round 13: Adelaide Olympic 4-5 Adelaide Blue Eagles, Elite Systems Football Centre
Round 14: Adelaide City 4-1 Adelaide Olympic, Adelaide City Park
Round 15: West Torrens Birkalla 3-3 Adelaide Olympic, Jack Smith Park
Adelaide Comets: W L L
Westfield FFA Cup Qualifying Semi-final: Adelaide Comets 2-1 Cumberland United, Adelaide Shores Football Centre
Round 15: Adelaide City 4-2 Adelaide Comets, Adelaide City Park
Westfield FFA Cup Qualifying Final: Adelaide Comets 0-1 MetroStars, Coopers Stadium
Preview:
Adelaide Olympic hopes to close in on the finals against an Adelaide Comets team aiming to overcome last weekend’s Cup Final disappointment, in Round 16 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia at Elite Systems Football Centre this Sunday.
A 3-3 draw a fortnight ago against West Torrens Birkalla sentenced Adelaide Olympic to a fifth successive winless outing. Olympic, currently eighth, sit five points outside the top six.
Despite failing to secure maximum points, captain Michael Papacharalambous has seen recent improvements.
“It was a very good performance. We matched them well and should have got the three points with a late chance,” he said.
“Defensively we were much better than in recent matches.
“We lost four of our first five games this season. In the return we have taken two points, with one game to play. We are doing better than at the start and that’s a positive, but we can still improve.”
Olympic have conceded 41 goals in 15 matches, the second leakiest defence in the top flight. Maurice Natale’s team have conceded 16 goals in the past four, but still have designs on making the top six.
Papacharalambous said that remains a goal ahead of facing Comets.
“We have spoken about the defensive problems. We will try to fix is as much as we can as we go. But it’s more lapses than anything.
“We still want to push for the top six. If we can get in, then fantastic. But we first have to survive and also start building for next season.
“We are at home, had a break compared to Comets and are carrying form from the Birkalla game. I don’t see why we can’t get the points.”
Adelaide Comets has lost three of its past four matches in all competitions, most tellingly the Westfield FFA Cup Qualifying Final to MetroStars last weekend.
Allan Welsh can only look back with frustration at the 1-0 defeat.
“It’s annoying considering we had more of the chances, but just couldn’t convert,” he said.
“We conceded a sloppy goal. In a final there can only be one winner and if you don’t take your chances you won’t win. There’s frustration at the result.
“They started well, but we played ourselves into the game and had chances. We thought it would come after half-time, but we conceded and then pushed hard. It just wasn’t falling for us.
“We have been making mistakes lately and giving away sloppy goals.”
Comets must quickly put the Cup Final disappointment behind them. Currently fifth and three points clear of seventh-placed MetroStars, it has the opportunity to emulate the class of 2014 which competed in the finals.
Welsh said they can use last weekend’s result as a spur, starting this Sunday.
“You could say it makes us hungrier to stay in the six and get a trophy at the end of the season. We want to win as a group and for the club which has not claimed any major trophies.
“It will be tough against Olympic. They are looking alright and it was tough the last time we played.
“We want to get back on track and get more points on the board.”
Written by Luca Cetta - @l_cetta
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