Adelaide Comets edged out South Adelaide Panthers in a 7 goal thriller to claim all three points in Round 12 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia on Saturday.

After falling behind in the opening procession South Adelaide hit back, turning the game around and taking a 2-1 lead into the break.

Panthers Coach Danny Greystone felt it was crushing defeat and hinted that the change in spirit in the second 45 minutes lead to the defeat.

“Very disappointing, in the change room afterwards everyone was disappointed. You can imagine it wasn’t so much we lost the game in the last few minutes but I think we went out with the wrong attitude.”

He was unhappy with the teams timing and admitted to failing to capitalize on their position.

“We lifted the extra gear when we went behind which is not good enough. I don’t think we went out and took advantage of the fact that we were 2-1 ahead. We took our foot of the gas and you just can’t do that at this level.”

The blue & black outfit did the opposite with midfielder John Karatzas, believing his side upped the tempo in the middle of the park which reaped great reward.

“In the second half we were pressing the midfield a little bit quicker and that’s what enabled us to score those two goals early on in the half to go 3-2 up.”

He went on to sum up the emotions in the 90 minutes to be exciting but also nerve-racking. 

Karatzas knew what dangers they posed and stated there could have been better defensive work to thwart their attacks. 

“We knew what their dangers were. From set pieces which their goals came from so I guess we could have defended better but we got the three points at the end of the add and that’s what matters.”

It was from set pieces that gave the visitors hope and Greystone acknowledged the man responsible for creating those chances as well as other stand out performers.

“Justin Bralic particularly for his set piece delivery, we scored three goals from them.

“On top of that, Josip Grgic has come in and added some really valuable experience and Daniel Sullivan for his first half performance.”

Despite the loss, the head coach felt that his team were more worthy given the shift they put in.

“For me we were the better side all game…in terms of our performance we were the best side all day.”

The Comets winger said there was glimpses of dominance which was key to the victory.

“We played well in patches. We moved the ball very quickly and it was good combination. We won the ball a lot in their half which helped us create more scoring opportunities.”

Article by Andrew Lodiong - @Andrew_Lodiong