Adelaide City and MetroStars shared the points after a tense 1-1 draw at Adelaide City Park in Round 19 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia.

City took the lead at the five minute mark after some excellent play up front from Anthony Costa set up Nicholas Bucco who expertly placed the ball into the right corner of the net.

MetroStars found an equaliser in the seventh minute after a goal mouth scramble from a corner saw Michael D’Aloisio smash the ball past Keeper Ryan Veitch.

It looked to be a repeat of the two sides’ high scoring Round 6 affair but both defences held strong. Both sides enjoyed periods of control and even a late push from City could not yield anymore goals.

City’s midfield architect Nicholas Bucco gave his thoughts on the City locker room post match.

“We played well and we can hold our heads high with the effort we put in. We could’ve possibly sneaked a winner at the end but it felt like we controlled the game well.”

Bucco was upfront as well about what could have been.

“Maybe I was guilty of not putting away my chances and a few of the other boys as well so yeah I definitely think it’s a missed opportunity for us but I guess it’s always better than losing.”

However he was overall delighted to see where City have come from compared to the Round 6 loss.

“Definitely, I think we learnt from the last game and you can tell we knew that they were dangerous on the break late in the second half because that’s how we lost it last time.”

“I think we have matured and to be honest I don’t think we gave away much though which is fantastic on our behalf. We didn’t really give them any goal scoring opportunities apart from set pieces.”

MetroStars’ stalwart Anthony Solagna said it was a sombre mood post game.

“We felt a little let down, I don’t think we didn’t play to our potential and to be honest coming off the park, it felt like a loss.”

“We didn’t play the way we wanted to and I guess we paid again for conceding early which means we were chasing from the start.”

Solagna gave a great insight when asked if not playing at your best and still getting a draw was a positive or a negative.

 “I think it’s a positive because you can play well and you can still lose games and although we’re not playing to our potential but we’re still getting the points and keeping us up towards the top of the table.

“We know we can only get better and start string some games together and getting some performances together towards the pointy end of the season.”

He also had praise for keeper Daniel Godley who put in another standout performance.

“He’s got better with age, every year he’s getting better and better and if it wasn’t for him, we could’ve lost 2-1 or 3-1.” 

City move to sixth position on 31 points and face Pirates in Round 20 while MetroStars remain fifth on 32 points and host White City.

Article by Matthew Carcich - @Matt_Carcich