Adelaide Blue Eagles and White City played out a thrilling 1-1 draw in Round 16 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia at Marden Sports Complex on Saturday.

Matt Canny gave the Warriors the lead on the stroke of half time, but the home side hit back just before the hour mark as Fortunato Filletti marked his return from injury with the equalising goal.

Blue Eagles captain Chris Annicchiarico says their character was pleasing, but believes the team can move up another gear.

“It was a tight tussle and unfortunately we didn’t get the three points as we would have liked. We showed character in the second half, but it was disappointing to concede a soft goal,” he stated.

“I think the fight-back can give us confidence. We haven’t had a great run and we are concentrating on getting that win to get back on track.

“At the break Gianluca [Lagati] emphasised where we were lacking and where to improve and I think we played better in the second half, but nowhere near our potential.”

White City coach Frank Tibaldi thinks his side’s performance could be the spur to a brighter end to the season.

“It was a good team performance. We played well as a unit. I always knew we had individual talents, but this was a good team showing,” he said.

“A performance like that will take us in the right direction. There are some areas we need to improve, such as the attacking third. We created chances and didn’t take them.

“Going forward we need to show the same discipline and commitment as this game. We showed a good level against an excellent side and will go in confident against South Adelaide on Monday.”

Alemayo Kebede was close to giving the home side the lead inside the opening half hour, his free header denied by a combination of a Joshua Negrean save and goal-line clearance.

The Warriors took the lead in first half stoppage time as Canny pounced on a loose ball inside the Blue Eagles penalty area from a free kick to tuck in.

Blue Eagles equalised in the 58th minute. Yvan Boyokino threaded the ball through the defence for Filletti’s unerring finish in the bottom corner.

Negrean’s error gave Filletti a near-repeat just two minutes later, this time the No 9 put his shot just wide of the post.

Lucas Andreucci then made a superb double save to ensure Blue Eagles grabbed a point. Nikola Mileusnic burst clear down the right but struck the near post and Lachlan Barr was denied by the goalkeeper from the rebound. The ball then fell to Miroslav Petkovic, who was also thwarted.

Article by Luca Cetta - @l_cetta