Western Toros v Adelaide Olympic
NPL State League Round 8

When: Saturday, April 12th. Kick-off 3pm
Where: Rushworth Reserve, Anson Street, BLAIR ATHOL

Teams:

Western Toros: J. Anic-Kaliger, V. Carapanayiotis, A. Haralampopoulos, A. Jackson, T. Kasmeridis, S. Kezios, R. Kgatle, S. Lennon, M. Margaritis, H. Mohammadi, M. Nazari, S. Pearce, A. Toure, A. Violi

Adelaide Olympic: P. Alexandropoulos, M. Birbas, P. Deng, J. Dimopoulos, H. Fombason, B. Gebremindi, N. Gebreselasie, G. Hristakopoulos, K. Karpeh, M. Mazraeh, L. Mullan, M. Pelizzari, C. Pounendis, T. Waterhouse

Form:

Western Toros: L W

Round 5: Western Toros 1-4 Port Adelaide Pirates, Rushworth Reserve
Round 6: Gawler 1-3 Western Toros, Karbeethan Reserve
Round 7: BYE

Adelaide Olympic: L W D

Round 5: Adelaide Olympic 1-3 Playford Patriots, Ferryden Park
Round 6: The Cove 1-3 Adelaide Olympic, Cove Sports and Community Centre
Round 7: Adelaide Olympic 1-1 Eastern United, Ferryden Park

Preview:

With both sides sitting on 10 points, the NPL State League Round 8 clash between Western Toros and Adelaide Olympic at Rushworth Reserve on Saturday is set to be a six-pointer.

Western Toros - in fourth position - lead fifth-placed Olympic only by goal difference, as both teams have claimed three wins, two losses and one draw to start the season.

Toros were eliminated from the Coca-Cola Federation Cup last weekend after losing 4-1 to West Adelaide, but Toros’ Richmond Kgatle believes his team did very well.

“They are obviously in a league of their own, they’ve got some of South Australia’s best talents,” Kgatle said.

“I think we played the ball really well in parts and created good chances as well, but fair play to them, they were really good.”

Kgatle said getting a win in this weekend’s game is vital.

“We’ve spoken about this game the whole of this week. In the next week, there are three games so it’s very important we get off to a good start and make sure we get these three points.

“We’ve been working on ourselves this week and also looking at ways to exploit some of Olympic’s weaknesses.

“We know they’ve got a very good team but they’re a young team that lacks a bit of experience, so we are going to try to work as much as possible on their weaknesses and hopefully that gets us three points."

Olympic are also out of the Coca-Cola Federation Cup, losing 1-0 to The Cove, which full back Michael Birbas described as disappointing but not very important.

“We are very disappointed to get knocked out of the Cup but it wasn’t our main focus; we’re focusing on the league,” Birbas said.

“We were a bit undermanned because we had a few players out through injury and suspension.”

Birbas underlined the importance of getting three points against Western Toros.

“We’re going there to get the win; we need to get three points and nothing less than three points, so that’s what we’re looking to get.

“We’ve had a pretty tactical week, looking at the way we’re playing and focusing on playing the right football.

“Trying to score goals is our main focus, so hopefully we get the win and a few goals on the board too.”

A win for either side could see them climb into third position, depending on other results.

Saturday April 12

The Cove v Modbury Jets
3pm – Wilfred Taylor Reserve, States Road, MORPHETT VALE

Sturt Lions v Salisbury United
3pm – Adelaide Shores Football Centre, West Beach Road, WEST BEACH

Eastern United v Adelaide Hills
3pm – Athelstone Recreation Reserve, 267 Lower Athelstone Road, ATHELSTONE

Gawler v Northern Demons
3pm – Karbeethan Reserve, Angle Vale Road, EVANSTON GARDENS

Playford Patriots v Seaford Rangers
3pm – Ramsay Park, Barfield Crescent, ELIZABETH WEST

Noarlunga United – BYE