Raiders scored a goal in each half to stun Adelaide United and win 2-0 in Round 9 of the PlayStation 4 National Premier League South Australia at the Croatian Sports Centre on Saturday.

Matthew Mullen headed Raiders on their way inside the opening 20 minutes and David Carosi put the icing on the cake in the 66th minute to give them a second win of the campaign.

Raiders boss Joel Porter said the early goal was important.

“When you are sitting bottom of the table every win is a good win,” he said.

“We trained well during the week and put into practice what we had worked on. I thought we were dominant throughout the game.

“We didn’t deal with a few early corners they had, but offensively caused them problems. We looked dangerous on set pieces, but hadn’t really planned it that way.

“Our starts have been a weakness. We’ve been talking about it for weeks. Now it is up to individuals to carry on.”

Adelaide United fell to a third successive defeat and assistant boss Ivan Karlovic said his team lacked determination to claim the points.

“We were a little sluggish in the first half. I thought we played better in the second, but then conceded the goal. It was always going to be difficult from there,” he noted.

“Raiders had greater hunger and desire than we did. They also played the conditions better.

“We have a lot of young guys and it is about developing. It’s a learning curve, learning how to deal with being in a position like this and playing side fighting at the bottom of the table.”

Andrew Tamburrino’s cross was met by Raiders captain Michael Paleka, but his header could not generate enough power to get the better of goalkeeper Daniel Margush on a rainy evening.

The Reds shot-stopper was called into action again moments later as he had to come rushing out to cut down the angle, with Shekubah Huton-Addy attempting to lift the ball into an empty net.

Mullen netted on his Raiders debut when he attacked a Paleka corner and headed powerfully past Margush in the 18th minute.

The defender appeared to have doubled the lead with another header from a corner, but this time the goal was disallowed as the ball went out before curling back in.

Pietro Piantedosi then climbed highest to head Paleka’s free kick over the crossbar, with the Reds struggling to deal with Raiders in the air.

Blake Carpenter cut inside from the right hand side and drilled a shot just over the top on the hour mark, as the visitors looked for an equaliser.

But Raiders then extended their lead. Carosi got on the end of an inadvertent flick from Wilson and slotted in the bottom corner past Margush.

Mario Marcinko was denied by an excellent flying Margush save with 15 minutes remaining.

Jordan O’Doherty’s free kick was headed over by Johnny Koutroumbis in injury time, as Raiders then celebrated their victory.

Written by Luca Cetta - @l_cetta