R23 Preview: Croydon Kings v White City
Croydon Kings v White City
PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia
When: Saturday, July 25th. Kick-off 7:00pm
Where: Polonia Reserve, 7 Essex Crescent, CROYDON PARK
Teams:
Croydon Kings: 18 J. Brazzale, T. Dichiera, 4 M. Doyle, J. Farrell, 6 N. Farrell, J. Fighera, J. Francesca, 12 D. Gazettas, 20 S. Georgiadis, A. Irabona, 5 L. Klimek, 19 L. May, 7 S. Mcgreevy, 16 P. Mercurio, 2 J. Panagaris, 10 C. Pepe, 14 S. Pepper, 15 J. Punturieri, 11 F. Violi, 8 R. Visconte, 9 A. Wiens, C. Zacharopoulos, 1 N. Munro
White City: L. Barr, C. Bugeja, S. Buttery, S. Cali, J. Canny, M. Canny, M. Keens, J. Markham, K. Markham, N. Mileusnic, M. Mirkovic, J. Negrean, C. Noujaim, M. Petkovic, S. Popovic, S. Semiz, J. Wilson, P. Wilson, S. Zekanovic
Form:
Croydon Kings: W L W
Round 20: Croydon Kings 1 West Torrens Birkalla 0, Polonia Reserve
Round 21: Raiders 3 Croydon Kings 1, Croatian Sports Centre
Round 22: Croydon Kings 2 Adelaide City 0, Polonia Reserve
White City: D D L
Round 20: MetroStars 2 White City 2, TK Shutter Reserve
Round 21: White City 1 Pirates 1, Frank Mitchell Park
Round 22: Modbury Jets 1 White City 0, Jet Park
Preview:
Croydon Kings host White City and will attempt to make a move into first place as Ctiy look to thrust themselves from the bottom echelons of the table in Round 23 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia.
Kings talisman Andreas Wiens has found himself in ripping form after scoring three goals from his last game two games and providing a strong focal point up front for the Kings. While mentioning the extraordinary efforts of Rocky Visconte, Wiens talked about another major part in his recent purple patch.
“Yeah I’ve had a few chances but thanks to my team behind me because without them I couldn’t put them away and they’re giving me a lot of chances to score but lately I think I’ve been getting in the right places and putting them away.”
The Kings have won nine of their last ten games which was done in between qualifying for the FFA Cup and Wiens was asked if his side have hit peak form.
“I think we’ve hit good form, obviously before we won eight games before losing to Riaders where we got a bit unlucky but I think all the boys are very fit at the moment so I think we just have to keep backing up our performances.
“And our coach Brazzale (Mark) is definitely pushing us to the limit as well at training and he’s getting us switched on for every game so I think we’ve hit very good form and I think we’ll continue that if we don’t get any injuries.”
Despite the gap between the two sides on the table, WIens said there was no chance of complacency creeping in at Croydon.
“It’s coming to the end of the season so you have a lot of sides that are fighting and trying to stay up so I think every team looks very hard. It’s coming close them at the end of the season so you know you’re going to fight and we’ll be ready for it.”
White City enforcer Srdjan Semiz will be an instrumental player if City are to claim an upset and Semiz said playing a top side holds no fears for him and his team.
“To be honest we always do really well with the top sides. Looking back on our results this year we’ve played really close games with the top six sides so generally we stand up for these games.”
After finding themselves in the lower end of goal scoring in 2015, Semiz was asked what City can do to fix their lack of goals.
“We have to take more risks, put it that way. Not play it too safe, take risks and I think the goals will come because I think we’re thinking about not losing and we’re being too safe. If we take a bit more risks the goals will come because we do have very good attacking players.”
Scoring goals is only half the battle and it’s clear City know what is ahead of them.
“Well that’s one thing we do really well is defend as a team, we don’t generally concede many goals in games so if we take more risks of course we’ll be open at the back so we have to work extra hard to defend against the likes of Wiens, Visconte and McGreevy who have done really well this year.”
The Kings have won their last four home games but Semiz was adamant it would have no effect on City come Saturday night.
“It doesn’t really matter to us honestly, if you look at the results we’ve picked up just as many points as away because we do have a good following and our supporters do follow us to away games so it’s not a worry for us.”
Article by Matthew Carcich - @Matt_Carcich
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