Raiders picked up their first win of the season with a 3-0 success over MetroStars in Round 5 of the South Australia PlayStation4 National Premier League at the Croatian Sports Centre on Monday. 

Dylan Pickert opened the scoring just past the quarter-hour mark, while Elvis Kamsoba came to the fore after the interval as he bagged a double. 

Raiders were dominant throughout and coach Carl Maynard was happy with the result and clean sheet. 

“It’s a relief to get the points. We worked hard and deserved the win,” he said. 

“I couldn’t be happier with how we played at both ends of the field. The three points is most pleasing, but I was delighted to get a clean sheet – especially after last Friday’s loss. 

“You would hope we can kick on from here. I told the players we are a good side and just had to keep believing. I hope this win conveys belief, I want the players to understand they are good.” 

MetroStars coach Michael Pirone said Raiders deserved their win. 

“Raiders were the better side and deserved the three points. They worked harder than we did and were a lot hungrier,” Pirone stated. 

“They didn’t allow us time and space to get our normal game going. That’s a message to my players that others want to play against us. We will need to find a way around that. 

“We need to improve in our work rate and quality on the ball. We turned it over too many times, both with and without pressure.” 

Kamsoba was a menace for the MetroStars defence throughout, signalling his goalscoring intentions with just 30 seconds on the clock. Daniel Godley’s errant clearance fell to the young striker, who could only put it wide. 

It was a furious start from the home side, with Kamsoba and Nathan Fleetwood having further chances to break the deadlock. 

Godley fumbled a high ball into the penalty area in the 19^th minute to gift Raiders the opening goal, Pickert on hand to roll it into an empty net. 

Rocky Callisto gave MetroStars a rare look at goal, his header from Stefan Cali’s cross going wide of the far post. 

Raiders should have doubled their lead just before half time, but Yamin Jamal strayed offside as he latched on to Kamsoba’s pass and finished past Godley. 

Steven Grelli’s early second half free kick forced a fine save from Deale Chamberlain. 

Raiders threatened when Godley rushed off his line and palmed away Jackson Stephens’ free kick, with Fleetwood hooking the rebound on to the roof of the net. 

Yet they doubled the advantage on the hour mark. Kamsoba burst past two defenders, cut back on to his right foot and coolly finished into the far corner. 

MetroStars saw a header cleared off the line from a corner by Pickert as they looked for a way back into the match. 

Kamsoba sealed it with 10 minutes remaining. He was played through on goal, took the ball around Godley and had a tap-in for his second of the afternoon. 

He nearly turned provider for substitute Mimi Saric, whose low shot went the wrong side of the post.

Article by Luca Cetta - @l_cetta