Para Hills Knights v Croydon Kings
PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia Round 13

When: May 16^th, kick-off 3pm
Where: The Paddocks, Bridge Road, PARA HILLS

Teams:

Para Hills Knights: 23 T. Bailey, RGK T. Brookes, 21 D. Centrone, 5 T. Leahy, 7 B. Manticos, 10 F. Marafioti, 6 M. Marchioro, 20 J. Mottram, 8 A. Mullen, 4 Y. Nagai, 2 C. Sullivan, 13 B. Truscott, 17 S. Ward, 12 J. Williams, 19 J. Wyten, GK N. Guglielmucc

Croydon Kings: 18 J. Brazzale, T. Dichiera, 4 M. Doyle, J. Farrell, 6 N. Farrell, J. Fighera, 12 D. Gazettas, 20 S. Georgiadis, A. Irabona, 5 L. Klimek, 19 L. May, 7 S. Mcgreevy, 16 P. Mercurio, 1 N. Munro, 2 J. Panagaris, 10 C. Pepe, 14 S. Pepper, 15 J. Punturieri, 11 F. Violi, 8 R. Visconte, 9 A. Wiens, C. Zacharopoulos

Form:

Para Hills Knights: L L L
Round 10: MetroStars 3 Para Hills knights 0, TK Shutter Reserve
Round 11: Para Hills Knights 2 Pirates 4, The Paddocks
Round 12: Modbury Jets 3 Para Hills Knights 0, Jet Park

Croydon Kings: W D L
Round 10: White City 0 Croydon Kings 1, Frank Mitchell Park
Round 11: South Adelaide 0 Croydon Kings 0, O’Sullivans Beach Sports and Community Centre
Round 12: Croydon Kings 1 West Adelaide 3, Polonia Reserve

Preview:

Para Hills Knights will look to snap a poor run in results as they host mid-table side Croydon Kings on Saturday in Round 13 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia.

The Knights are dealt an injury blow with Captain Matthew Marchioro out for the home fixture this weekend, much to the despair of teammate Steven Ward.

“Losing a player of his calibre to an injury is not good and we have to send boys out there to pick up the slack to make up for the loss.”

Although Ward feels that there is still enough talent to fill Marchioro’s boots when the game kicks-off.

“We’ve got a deep squad with players that are capable to do the job, so whatever person comes in to fill that void will do a great job.”

Croydon skipper Luke Klimek is not over optimistic over a guaranteed win despite the ladder superiority.

“We are confident that we can get the win but it’s always tough to play Para Hills away and we are not expecting an easy game at all.”

He hints at business as usual when his team steps out on the park on Saturday afternoon.

“We will just continue playing our normal game, obviously then we won’t be changing much.”

The Knights sport a distressing defensive record in the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia this season and it is just that they’ve been trying to amend on the training ground.

“We are still conceding some goals so getting our defence structure right to plug up the gaps and trying to eliminate the silly mistakes which led to those goals” told Ward.

“We’d love to keep a clean sheet this weekend and that would go a long way to getting the three points.”

Klimek knows his side cannot have any sense of complacency when coming up against such under-dog opposition.

“We just need to respect them, focus on their strengths and try to nullify them as well as playing well ourselves.”

The Kings man would want to avoid an upset but will be pleased to come away with a modest outcome.

“Every game is crucial until the end of the season so three points will be great but we are just looking to get a result on the weekend.”

A win in a game like this could be just what the Para Hills based side would need to re-ignite their campaign and springboard themselves out of the bottom position as Ward noted.

“Momentum is everything in sport, so if we manage to get a win on the board it could set us up for the weeks to come and get a few more results to get us out of the situation we’re in at the moment.”

Article by Andrew Lodiong - @Andrew_Lodiong