MetroStars booked their place in the Westfield FFA Cup South Australian Qualifying Final against Adelaide Comets with an emphatic 3-1 victory over a sluggish Croydon Kings, in their Semi Final encounter at Elite Systems Football Centre last night. 

A dominant back four supported by an enterprising midfield was the catalyst for Metro’s resounding victory over a Croydon side that found themselves on the back foot for most of the contest.

Michael D'Alosio, Tim Henderson, Adam van Dommele and “Man of the Match” Justin Davis were solid in defence. The quartet were in brilliant form, especially Davis and van Dommele with their overlapping runs down the wings. 

Metro’s barometer Fabian Barbiero was in fine form early in the proceedings which gave a good indication that Metro would have a good night at the office. He was well supported by Anthony Solagna and the bustling Doni Pollock. 

Croydon tried hard all night to get into a rhythm, but Metro had the shackles well secured on Croydon’s midfield stars Rocky Visconte James Skeffington and Luke Klemik. 

The match opened in a lively pace with the ball moving up down the field in a brisk fashion. Barbiero was attracting the ball like a magnet. Travis Dodd and Stefan Simic were lively up front keeping the Croydon defenders under enormous forward pressure. Dodd nearly had the opening score on the board in the 6^th minute when he fired a shot on goal from the edge of the box, only to be denied by a great save by Nicholas Munro in the Croydon goal. 

Metro were pressing up high, and controlling the midfield forcing Croydon to play out wide which nullified the influence of their playmakers through the midfield. 

Metro got on the scoreboard first in the 15^th minute when a well weighted cross from Davis on the right found Dodd who headed into the path of Simic who drilled a shot at close range past a stranded Munro 

Croydon were back on parity within a minute when Frank Marafioti played a neat through ball to McGreevy who raced into the box and slotted the ball into the back of the net past the hapless Metro keeper Callum Piantadosi. 

Both teams tried hard to create some forward movements, but as the halftime break drew near it was Metro who was getting on top. They would go into the break on level terms but with all the momentum. 

Croydon opened the second half more adventurous with their forward movement. They had a good opening ten minutes of the half but couldn’t penetrate deep enough into their forward third to trouble the scorers. 

The work rate of the Metro side was always going to be the difference between the two teams. Barbiero’s hard running and influence through the midfield was causing concern for the Croydon coaching bench. While Davis’ forward runs of out of defence were overwhelming the Croydon defenders. 

Wooding came off the bench and scored Metro’s second goal in the 72^nd minute off a fortuitous deflection. The game was put beyond doubt in the 83^rd minute when a Dodd header from a Barbiero free kick found the back of the net. 

Justin Davis was pleased with the final result and said they knew coming into this game they had to work hard on and off the ball to get the win. He commended his fellow defenders for their efforts to stymie the influence of the Croydon forwards. 

“We came into the game knowing we had to lift our work rate on and off the ball, an area of the game we have let slip for the most part of this season. I think we all worked hard, running forward and back all night,” Davis said. 

“The midfielders were solid all night and they helped the back four defensively which made it hard for Croydon to get an easy path to goal.

“We now have to prepare ourselves for this weekend’s NPL game before we can start to focus on the Grand Final encounter against Comets which will be another tough match up,” he said. 

It was a work man like performance by Metro who were prepared to run and hustle the opposition all night, and for their efforts they have earned their place in the South Australian Grand Final to fight for the honour to represent the state in the next phase of the Westfield FFA Cup competition.

Written by: Joe Pangallo - 5RTI Sports 531AM

Twitter:      @JoJo_ontheball