Croydon v Adelaide City
Coca-Cola Federation Cup Semi-Final

When: Wednesday, May 7th, Kick-off 7pm
Where: Adelaide Shores Football Centre, West Beach Road, WEST BEACH

Teams:

Croydon: A. Boccaccio, J. Brazzale, D. Christison, A. Dimas, N. Farrell, D. Gazettas, M. Kamara, L. Klimek, S. Mcgreevy, J. Panagaris, M. Papacharalambous, C. Pepe, J. Reynolds, F. Rinaldo, D. Scordo, C. Scott-Mills, F. Violi, R. Visconte, A. Welsh, A. Wiens

Adelaide City: M. Acton, J. Allwright, P. Blefari, N. Bucco, N. Budin, A. Costa, S. Day, F. Garuccio, M. Halliday, T. Love, M. Mittiga, J. Mori, M. Mullen, L. Ostbye, P. Radice, A. Rideout, J. Rideout, A. Sunasky, V. Talladira, S. Tobias

Form:

Croydon: D W W

Round 10: Croydon 4-4 White City, Polonia Reserve
Coca-Cola Federation Cup Quarter-Final: The Cove 0-1 Croydon, Adelaide Shores Football Centre
Round 11: Cumberland United 1-2 Croydon, A.A Bailey Reserve

Adelaide City: W W W

Coca-Cola Federation Cup Quarter-Final: MetroStars 1-1 Adelaide City (4-5 on penalties)
Round 10: Raiders 0-2 Adelaide City, Croatian Sports Centre
Round 11: Adelaide City 3-0 West Torrens Birkalla

Preview:

A spot in the Final is up for grabs as Croydon and Adelaide City clash in the Coca-Cola Federation Cup Semi-Final at Adelaide Shores Football Centre on Wednesday.

The Kings kept hold of third place in the Premier League on Saturday with a second win in three matches, downing Cumberland United 2-1.

Coach Mark Brazzale was happy to get the points ahead of this last four encounter.

“It was good to get a result. It was always going to be difficult against a team which had just changed coach. So I was happy with the win,” Brazzale said.

“Our form has been good lately, but there’s room to improve. I think there is still a way to go until the guys are where I want them to be, but we take it just a week at a time. Now we face a big club in Adelaide City.”

Croydon – last Federation Cup Champions back in 2000 – eliminated The Cove with a late winner last week to make it to this stage. They face their toughest opponent yet in Adelaide City.

Brazzale is ready for the challenge.

“This will be a good test for us. We are expecting a tough game against a side with really good players, who are also well coached.

“Three trophies are up for grabs within a season. This is one of them. We are here to play for trophies so we are looking forward to it.”

Adelaide City have won four matches on the trot in all competitions, with Friday’s 3-0 victory over West Torrens Birkalla moving them back into the Premier League top six.

They’ve kept three clean sheets during that run and defender Matthew Mullen says City are gaining momentum.

“We were back to how we should be defensively. We have cut out the errors and are finally starting to find our feet,” Mullen noted.

“We were disappointed with our start to the season where we conceded too many goals. We knew we had to be stronger as a defensive unit. Training has been good and as a result we have gotten better recently.”

The reigning Federation Cup Champions, the black and whites have defeated Raiders, Adelaide Blue Eagles and MetroStars to get to the last four.

Mullen says they face another difficult adversary to go even further.

“We have beaten big teams to get here. If we were to go all the way then we could feel very happy in that we’ve beaten the best.

“Playing those sides in a cutthroat match could give us an edge.

“Croydon are a young team and will run all day. They’re very organised, with good individual players. We can win if we are at our best, but we must be ready for the challenge.”

The winner will meet Western Strikers or West Adelaide in the Final at Coopers Stadium on Saturday 31May.