Croydon Kings v MetroStars
PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia, Round 9

When: Saturday, April 30 2016 at 3PM.
Where: Polonia Reserve, Essex Crescent, Croydon Park.

Form:

Croydon Kings: D W L

Round 7: Croydon Kings 1-1 West Torrens-Birkalla, Polonia Reserve.
Round 8: South Adelaide 2-0 Croydon Kings, O’Sullivan’s Beach Sports & Community Centre.
Westfield FFA Qualifying Cup: Croydon Kings 4-1 Adelaide Uni-Grads Red, Polonia Reserve.

MetroStars: W L W

Round 7: MetroStars 4-2 South Adelaide, TK Shutter Reserve.
Round 8: MetroStars 1-2 Adelaide Olympic, TK Shutter Reserve.
Westfield FFA Qualifying Cup: Gawler SC 0-6 MetroStars, Karbeethan Reserve.

Preview:

Both Croydon Kings and MetroStars will be looking for three points in their Round 9 clash of the PlayStation4 National Premier Leagues South Australia at Polonia Reserve this Saturday.

Croydon suffered mixed results over the double-header weekend of NPL and Westfield FFA Qualifying Cup matches with the Kings losing in the league (2-0 against South Adelaide) and winning in the Cup (4-1 against Adelaide Uni-Grads Red).

Croydon captain Luke Klimek wasn’t entirely happy with his team’s performances over the double-header weekend and is looking to improve on it this week.

“We would’ve liked to have performed better in the two games, but we’re looking to improve on that this week,”Kilmek said.

Croydon is sitting eighth at the moment with a 3-1-4 win/draw/ lost record.

The Kings have been inconsistent this season, not being able to win consecutive matches this campaign.

Klimek struggles to pinpoint the cause for this problem:

“I can’t really put my finger on it,” he said,” but we’re definitely working hard to improve our performances; improve individually as well.”

“But yeah, it’s pretty hard to say it’s one particular thing.

“I think it’s more than just that.”

Like Croydon, the MetroStars have been struggling for consistency this season, sitting second from bottom with only seven points to their name.

Despite the MetroStars’ inconsistent performances, Klimek expects a tough encounter this weekend.

“It’s definitely going to be a very hard game,” he said.

“MetroStars is a very good team and we always have a hard battle against them.

“So we really got to be switched on and play to our best, otherwise we definitely won’t be getting the result over the game.

“So we got to come with the right frame of mind, otherwise we won’t get the result.”

MetroStars head into this clash with mixed results too, losing 2-1 against Adelaide Olympic in the league and winning 6-0 against Gawler SC.

MetroStars midfielder Bailey Truscott was thoroughly disappointed about his team’s performance against Olympic.

“It wasn’t what we wanted,” Truscott said,” It was a poor effort by everyone.”

“We really didn’t play well, but yeah, it was pretty disappointing.”

MetroStars were fighting for a top six spot last year, but this year they find themselves near the bottom of the table.

Truscott, having arrived from Para Hills Knights in the off season, isn’t quite sure what the reason is for the current slump in form.

However, he does insist that the mood inside the MetroStars camp is still positive.

“It’s all positive,” Truscott said,” We know we’re good enough to win games.”

“It’s just we lack a bit of heart at the moment – that’s all.”

Truscott confirms that the team is ready to go for this weekend’s clash against Croydon Kings.

“We’re all buzzing, all ready to go,” he said.

“We’ve been training really well and we all got the same goal as a team: And that’s play together and win.

“So, you know, hopefully we can get the result.”

Written by Christopher Munker